Hackers: Crime and the Digital Sublime [Hardcover]

Paul Taylor (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415180716 | ISBN-13: 978-0415180719 | Publication Date: October 20, 1999 | Edition: 1

The practice of computer hacking is increasingly being viewed as a major security dilemma in Western societies, by governments and security experts alike.
Using a wealth of material taken from interviews with a wide range of interested parties such as computer scientists, security experts and hackers themselves, Paul Taylor provides a uniquely revealing and richly sourced account of the debates that surround this controversial practice. By doing so, he reveals the dangers inherent in the extremes of conciliation and antagonism with which society reacts to hacking and argues that a new middle way must be found if we are to make the most of society's high-tech meddlers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hackers is an interesting and accessible account of this relatively new (in terms of its application to the web) phenomenon.
–TechDirections

...his European and sociological insight regarding illegal hackers and hacking culture are fascinating.
–Networker

...I would...highly recommend this book to anyone in the security field. ...Taylor's book is the most extensive and detailed examination of the cracker phenomenon I have ever read.
–Information Security

A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the hacking phenomenon that has swept the world..
–Dorothy Denning, Georgetown University

About the Author

Paul Taylor is lecturer in sociology at the University of Salford

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (October 20, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415180716
• ISBN-13: 978-0415180719
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,769,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Encyclopaedia of Hacking, December 10, 1999

By 

Tim Jordan (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hackers: Crime and the Digital Sublime (Paperback)

Taylor's Hackers is anextended and rigorous analyses of hacking as illicit computer intrusion (or cracking as some insist it should be called. Taylor explores in detail the nature of hacking from every angle. His book is based on over 60 in-depth interviews and is written sympathetically, treating hackers as human rather than as pathological teenagers. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Hackers. There are only two extended, academic pieces on hacking, this book and the complementary statistical analysis by John Howard (available at http://www.cert.org/research/JHThesis/index.html).Hackers also has the advantage of being accessible and well-written. Perhaps the best way to look at this book is as an encyclopaedia of hacking, because it provides extended quotes from hackers, computer security personnel and interested others (journalists, academics, etc.) on all relevant topics. An excellent piece of work.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first major intellectually rigorous study of hacking, November 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hackers: Crime and the Digital Sublime (Paperback)

Salem revisited

Twenty five years ago when I was starting out in my career as a computer barrister I ran into an elderly Queen's Counsel and got chatting. "I'll have none of your computery Kelman" he replied when I started talking about technology. 'Computery' was a word the QC made up on the spot which exactly matched his way of thinking - computers were magical and "computery" was like sorcery - a black art perpetrated by young dangerous wizards who did not know they place.

Dr Taylor's book takes the reader into this world where the establishment were frightened and yet fascinated by the 'computery', where young immature men (for it was mainly men) sought to use hacking to raise their social prestige and where hysteria and hype created a modern day Salem with show trials on both sides of the Atlantic. But while some of the hackers deserve to be considered young investigative journalists a large number engaged in primitive tribal rituals using their technical abilities in arcane coding for the pursuit of power without responsibility.

Dr Taylor documents this phenomenon and a revealing picture of the late twentieth century "new barbarian" culture (to use a phrase popularised by Professor Ian Angell of the London School of Academics). How society will embrace and extend its power over hackers with share options, main board directorships and new academic posts instead of punitive sanctions is the unwritten text of a latent follow-up volume.

This book on hackers is the first major intellectually rigorous study of this social phenomenon. I can commend it as required reading for anyone who is interested in the way society approaches threats which undermine the pecking order of society. Filled with quotes from the hackers themselves and visionary authors it is a mind expanding piece of literature which teaches while it entertains. Buy it.

Alistair Kelman Barrister and Visiting Research Fellow LSE Computer Security Research Centre The London School of Economics

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cracking Good Read!, March 4, 2000

By 

Joseph Morledge (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hackers: Crime and the Digital Sublime (Paperback)

This is the first serious study I have seen of a generally media sensationalised area. Being straight from the hackers' mouths, the source material gives a more balanced view than those given by previous authors who tend to be overly moralistic and prejudiced in their approach to the subject. True impartiality is on display as well as meticulous research. Well done Dr. Taylor. I found the grammatically ludicrous, error strewn review of Mr. Yamane particularly unhelpful and inaccurate. People in grass houses shouldn't throw stones.