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This Machine Kills Secrets: Julian Assange, the Cypherpunks, and Their...

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4.5 out of 5

67 global ratings

5 star		66%
4 star		25%
3 star		5%
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1 star		3%

This Machine Kills Secrets: Julian Assange, the Cypherpunks, and Their Fight to Empower Whistleblowers

byAndy Greenberg

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Timothy Hrushka

Important book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 24, 2022

Appropriate book for anyone interested in a high-level understanding. But with plenty of extra detail to entertain industry professionals too.

I'll continue buying any book Andy puts out!

Top critical review

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Kindle Customer

Lies under false pretenses

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 13, 2013

The advertising material on this lies - it is NOT favorable to Julian Assange. The authors slander him thoroughly while swearing they are supporting him. I'd rather an 'honest' upfront statement of what they are writing, like Domscheit-Berg's verbal assassination attempt. DDB was just crazy. These authors are writing deliberate character defamation under false pretenses.

2 people found this helpful

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From the United States

Timothy Hrushka

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

Appropriate book for anyone interested in a high-level understanding. But with plenty of extra detail to entertain industry professionals too.

I'll continue buying any book Andy puts out!

JYA aka Cryptome

Non Glib Ex Nihilo WikiLeaks Exploitation

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 13, 2012

Verified Purchase

9 October 2012

After re-reading on Kindle the book is even better. Searching, cross-linking and assembling one or more of Greenberg's characters provides different narratives than his unsettling multiple disjointedness. Read Tim May next to Julian Assange, Mudge next to John Gilmore, Adrian Lamo next to Jacob Appelbaum, Daniel Domscheit-Berg next to Phil Zimmermann. With Kindle these juxtapositions, and others, your own book can be read next to Greenberg's. The book should be put on the web for many variable readings -- it is that valuable to mine, reconfigure, rewrite, argue with its characters and author.

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This is a well-researched book that doesn't settle for glib exploitation of fictional ex nihilo WikiLeaks singularity.

Andy Greenberg has invented a gallery of "characters" (me among them) from selected debris of interviews for "This Machine Kills Secrets," an exceptionally informative account of the technical and philosophical global battle for control of communication between lock-step hierarchies of authorities armed with military-grade secrecy and armored with lie-dispensing public relations and diversely distributed, far smarter and agile, anarchical dissidents intending to swarm and undermine official "full-spectrum dominance" of information.

These challengers of abusive control of information see official secrecy as destructive of democracy and unfettered, unspied-upon communication among the citizenry. Their main weapon against the Big Iron Arms of authority (military, espionage, legislation, finance) is pervasive public encryption to protect personal privacy, identity and communication -- supplemented by creative ways to work around authoritative information control and censorship.

With unprecedented access to mostly little known key participants Greenberg amply describes the decades-long campaign for public secrecy and privacy, the deployment of unauthorized disclosures, anonymity, pseudonymity, untraceability, subterfuge, chicanery, feints, ploys, humor and ricidule for direct open confrontation and defiance of authority as exemplary demonstration of digital democracy in action.

This will serve as a worldwide guide to understand why authorities -- gov, com, edu, org -- dread loss of centralized power through the uncontrolled, decentralized, anonymous, open Internet and are feverishly, stupidly attempting to devise Big Iron control measures. As Greenberg warns -- hark journalists, himself, Forbes and ilk -- "get used to it, this machine for killing secrets will not stop."

I.e., a leak of the book's contents, list of characters and index: [URL deleted by Amazon, see cryptome.org, August 21, 2012]
[...]

19 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

An informative book on the history of leaking and the development of crypto.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 17, 2014

Verified Purchase

If you want to learn more about the history of leaking, this is a good book to read. It covers the material by focusing frequently on the prominent personalities that have shaped the technology and events in that history. And his interviews and brief bios of these people are a fascinating read.

As a layman, when it comes to understanding the technology of crypto systems, I found several rather lengthy sections in which the author tried to explain and describe the intricacies of those systems difficult to follow without slowing down and carefully analyzing the text. And these section were to me tedious at times.

Nevertheless, I feel I gain quite a bit of understanding about the challenges of keeping one's information secret and devising an unbreakable code.

Overall I found the book essential reading to keep up with what is happening in the online and non-online world. Enough so that I bought a copy for a friend who is taking computing courses in college. I felt he would be vitally interested in the content, given his college emphasis, and that he needs to know that content.

With books of this sort, which are really current history, accounts of "What's going on right now, with details," I always appreciate so conclusions on where all this secrecy verses "national security" tug-of-war is going. What are the implications for the future? And, there is some of that, but I would of liked to have read more along that line.

Recommended.

4 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Very very important book!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

One of the best technical books I have read in a long time. The author does a fantastic job of explaining how we got to where we are in the crypto debates and gives some scary hints where we could end up. This is not a black and white issue and it is way too nuanced and complicated to believe anything the main stream media reports on these issues. One thing is clear, people need to get educated on these issues because the lines are being drawn between those who advocate the free flow of information and accountability and those who want to close off those things even more. Gov ts and content providers are running scared and their sometime draconian efforts are proof of that. It is clear they currently have no idea how to incorporate the free flow of information into a new business/governing paradigm.

One person found this helpful

You can assume half of the stuff in this book ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

You can assume half of the stuff in this book via common sense. Someone just actually took the time to write it all down

One person found this helpful

Daniel Theriault

This was a great book.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 12, 2013

Verified Purchase

I had heard a little of Bradley Manning, and more recently, Snowden and the leaks of classified government material. This book put it all in a context that I was able to understand. Giving insight on the history of digital intelligence gathering and such, the book clarifies the newspaper and other articles I read.

3 people found this helpful

Intriguing book - full of facts and interesting overview of 20th century secrets disclosure in the 20th century

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 30, 2013

Verified Purchase

The book is well written and places Wiki Leaks in context with other whistle blowers in the 20th century, like Daniel Ellsberg. The author writes succinctly, but with outstanding observation about the leveling of secrecy throughout the world at the end of the 20th Century and beginning of the 21st. Century.

2 people found this helpful

This book is fantastic. I could hardly put it down from beginning ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 21, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book is fantastic. I could hardly put it down from beginning to end. If I was a human who didn't require sleep, I would have read it in one sitting. I highly recommend ALL people read this book.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

I couldn't put it down. Finishing the book was like saying goodbye to an old friend. I hope there's a sequel.

2 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Lies under false pretenses

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 13, 2013

Verified Purchase

The advertising material on this lies - it is NOT favorable to Julian Assange. The authors slander him thoroughly while swearing they are supporting him. I'd rather an 'honest' upfront statement of what they are writing, like Domscheit-Berg's verbal assassination attempt. DDB was just crazy. These authors are writing deliberate character defamation under false pretenses.

2 people found this helpful

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