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We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency Hardcover – June 5, 2012

by Parmy Olson (Author)

4.3 259 ratings

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A thrilling, exclusive exposè of the hacker collectives Anonymous and LulzSec.

We Are Anonymous is the first full account of how a loosely assembled group of hackers scattered across the globe formed a new kind of insurgency, seized headlines, and tortured the feds -- and the ultimate betrayal that would eventually bring them down. Parmy Olson goes behind the headlines and into the world of Anonymous and LulzSec with unprecedented access, drawing upon hundreds of conversations with the hackers themselves, including exclusive interviews with all six core members of LulzSec.

In late 2010, thousands of hacktivists joined a mass digital assault on the websites of VISA, MasterCard, and PayPal to protest their treatment of WikiLeaks. Other targets were wide ranging: the websites of corporations from Sony Entertainment and Fox to the Vatican and the Church of Scientology were hacked, defaced, and embarrassed, and the message was that no one was safe. Thousands of user accounts from pornography websites were released, exposing government employees and military personnel.

Although some attacks were perpetrated by masses of users who were rallied on the message boards of 4Chan, many others were masterminded by a small, tight-knit group of hackers who formed a splinter group of Anonymous called LulzSec. The legend of Anonymous and LulzSec grew in the wake of each ambitious hack. But how were they penetrating intricate corporate security systems? Were they anarchists or activists? Teams or lone wolves? A cabal of skilled hackers or a disorganized bunch of kids?

We Are Anonymous delves deep into the internet's underbelly to tell the incredible full story of the global cyber insurgency movement, and its implications for the future of computer security.

Length

512
Pages
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EN
English
Publisher

Little, Brown and Company
Publication date

2012
June 5
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6.5 x 1.8 x 9.5
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0316213543
ISBN-13

978-0316213547
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A lively, startling book that reads as 'The Social Network' for group hackers. As in that Facebook film the technological innovations created by a few people snowball wildly beyond expectation, until they have mass effect. But the human element - the mix of glee, malevolence, randomness, megalomania and just plain mischief that helped spawn these changes - is what Ms. Olson explores best...We Are Anonymous also captures the broad spectrum of reasons that Anonymous and LulzSec attracted followers."―Janet Maslin, New York Times

"Olson keeps We Are Anonymous moving quickly, as she jumps around in chronology, using dramatic cliffhangers to tie the different strands of the narrative together while commanding attention... An eminently human tale."-―Rowan Kaiser, AV Club

"An incredible story."―Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

"A remarkable inside account of the hacker movement."―New York Magazine

"A masterpiece of shoe-leather journalism, a fast-paced, richly detailed account of the group's beginnings, various schisms and most spectacular attacks"―The Daily

"Olson traces the origins of Anonymous, unmasking it leading characters to reveal their personal lives and motivations."―Booklist

"Spellbinding account of mischief and mayhem....With all the makings of a fast-paced espionage thriller, Olson...meticulously and impartially recreates the operations of Anonymous and LulzSec."―Publishers Weekly

"A detailed account of the hacker collective Anonymous and its splinter group, LulzSec....Certain to thrill 4chan readers, hackers and others on the Internet's fringe."―Kirkus Reviews

"We Are Anonymous is a highly recommended entry point to begin to understand what that hidden culture is, where it comes from, and how it's influencing the mainstream. Olson doesn't just give the reader a recap of events since 2008 (the first en masse attack by Anonymous), her sympathetic account shows why people find Anonymous attractive, and why, despite its rough edges, much of what it does and stands for is something that should be promoted." -- PopMatters

About the Author

Parmy Olson is the London Bureau Chief for Forbes Magazine.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; First Edition (June 5, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316213543
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316213547
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.85 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.75 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,359,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,476 in Computer Hacking
- #1,635 in Privacy & Online Safety
- #4,179 in Internet & Telecommunications

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Gubio3

Excellent book!

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2014

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed this book. There is a definite attempt to just record the events as some of the members report them. Parmy Olson was able to interview some of the key members of Anonymous and the smaller group, LulzSec. It provides detailed information on the development of these nebulous groups and focuses on specific 'hacks' they are known for, who was behind them and how they did it. I loved it. I find Anonymous an intriguing group. I am a teacher and want my students to examine Anonymous, good and bad, and discuss some of the issues they present: Can people use DDoS (denial of service) attacks as a form of protest, as an online sit in without fearing extreme prosecution from corporations trying to make an example of them? Should all information be public? How do kids who get involved with Anonymous protect themselves from some of the cyberbullying that some of these hackers perpetrate? Is cyber security really possible or are consumers relying too heavily on companies, banks, and other organizations to protect their private information when in reality, they can't? This is an excellent read!

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Rick Howard

Book Review: "We Are Anonymous" by Parmy Olson

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2013

Verified Purchase

Link to my Blog Site for the full review: [...]

Executive Summary:

This book is a must read for all cyber security professionals. It does not cover the entire Anonymous movement, but by focusing on the evolution of the Anonymous Franchise and the rise and fall of the LulzSec hacking group, Ms. Olson captures the essence of the hacktivist culture and what motivates its supporters. If you seek to understand the Hacktivist movement, this book is a primer.

Review:

The Anonymous Franchise really hit its stride between the years of 2010 and 2011. Hacktivism began earlier than that of course (1994 was the first documented case that I could find [12]), but it did not strike fear into the hearts of CEOs, CSOs and government officials until that two year run. It was the perfect storm of technology, disenfranchised youngish people, "Internet Pranks as an Art Form," empowerment and the hacking culture that came together into a gigantic hairball of activity and energy that caused governments from around the world to double-clutch on some of their more severe policies and caused business leaders to actually fear the impact to their bottom line. Trying to understand that phenomena is quite the task and Parmy Olson, in her 2012 book, "We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous and the Global Cyber Insurgency," is an apt guide. Through unprecedented access to some of the core players on many of the more infamous operations, Olson is able to capture the essence of how the hacktivist movement got started in earnest, to describe the inevitable drama between competing factions and to provide insight into how this franchise operates.

I call it a franchise because "Anonymous" is not a club. You do not pay dues. You do not register your name, email account and twitter handle with anybody in power. There is no singular power. The Anonymous Franchise is more of an idea than an organization. Hacktivists use that idea to get attention in the media and to get a reaction from the target they are pursuing.

For example, if I wanted to protest the US Senate's inability to pass gun-control legislation this year (2013)[22], I might write a scathing blog pointing out the dwarf-like physical characteristics of some of the key senators involved (if I was a law-abiding white-hat citizen). On the other hand, I might choose to go the other way and organize a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack against a few key senator's web pages or compromise the same senator's email accounts and publish their messages on a public site somewhere (if I was willing to live on the lawless side wearing a black hat). The point is that if I did those things, nobody would care. Nobody on the planet knows who I am and all of those activities (white hat and black hat) would just register as part of the noise. But, if I wrap myself around the trappings of the Anonymous Franchise - the imagery, the youtube videos with Matrix-like voiceovers and the Twitter public relations campaigns - I amplify the importance of my cause to the general public and clueless media outlets. The Anonymous Franchise has heft. By claiming to be a leader in the group, regardless if I am or not, I get instant recognition and have all the assumed powers that the public thinks the group has. Genius!

Key Terms:

Ms. Olson walks the reader through the history of how this franchise was built and does a really good job explaining the culture. Below are just some of the concepts that are important to understanding the Anonymous phenomenon.

4Chan: "A simple image-based bulletin board where anyone can post comments and share images anonymously [9]."

/b: One of the most popular boards on 4Chan with the most outrageous content; a place where many Anonymous Franchise contributors hang out [10].

Troll Bait: "Someone whose opinionated, volatile, easily offended, insecure nature makes them super-easy targets [for pranks] [21]." Going after trolls is one of the common themes in 4Chan and the /b forums.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC): simple, real-time chat system created in 1988 by a programmer named Jarkko "WiZ" Oikarinen. "IRC networks were helping Anonymous turn from an unpredictable, volatile mass of image board users into well-organized, sometimes-threatening groups [1]."

DDOS: Distributed Denial of Service Attack - Many computers launching packets at a single target in an effort to overwhelm the target and prevent it from functioning [23].

LOIC: Low Orbit Ion Cannon - Created by Praetox, a software client that makes it easy for one user to be part of a DDOS campaign; Anonymous Franchise tool of choice for a time [8]. Anonymous supporters later deployed Mobile LOIC that allowed users to launch LOIC from their phone (No client download needed) [1][35].
SQL Injection Attacks: The hacker delivers SQL commands to web applications that accept client input. Unprotected sites are vulnerable to outsiders reading sensitive database data, modifying database data or executing administration operations on the database. [32]

Guy Fawkes: Anonymous Franchise Icon. In history, an infamous conspirator [activist] to The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 in which a group of Catholics attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill the King. [7].

Along the way, Olson scuttles a few of the Anonymous Franchise myths. The main one is that not all contributors are elite hackers. In fact, most are not. Many of the Operation's leaders are, for sure, and some of them are quite skilled. But most contributors that consider themselves part of the Anonymous movement are enthusiastic activists with a lot of Internet savvy. They can run circles around the average Joe in terms of Internet communication, but not many have ever slung any real code.

Olson describes how the leaders of the more infamous operations (Chanology, Payback, Freedom Ops, etc) understood this and leveraged it. They treated these enthusiastic activists as trolls, in some kind of perverse recursive prank, and made them think they were more important than they really were. In the early days, leaders even provided the masses a tool, the Low Orbit Ion Cannon, which allowed them to easily participate in a DDOS raid of choice. Of course, the developers of the Low Orbit Ion Cannon did not initially protect the users from prying eyes like the FBI. Law Enforcement made many arrests [23]. But the Anonymous PR machine kept churning; proclaiming the success of the hacktivist masses against evil governments and commercial empires.

The dirty secret though was that as the targets got bigger (PayPal, MasterCard, Visa), the effectiveness of the Low Orbit Ion Cannon, even with thousands of contributors, did not put a dent in the defenses of these well defended targets. It was not until the leaders leveraged their own BotNets that these web sites were brought to their knees. Of course, that was not the message the PR machine generated. In order to completely leverage the Anonymous Franchise and get the attention of the media and the intended targets, they had to proclaim that the damage was being done by the Anonymous masses. Olson calls this
"... a mirage of power and scale [19]."

Open Source Hacktivism Milestones:

At the end of the book, Olson lists a comprehensive timeline of significant Hacktivist events. I culled it down to the below list and supplemented it with arrest information of the core members of LulzSec since many were not arrested by the time Olson published her book.

(November 5, 1994): First Documented Hacktivism: A group called the Zippies launches a DDoS attack on U.K. government websites, taking them down for a week starting on Guy Fawkes Day [1][12].
(1996): "Hacktivism" Coined: Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) member, Omega, coins the word "hacktivism" characterizing the group's political philosophy [12].

(September 29, 2003): 4Chan Created: Christopher "moot" Poole registers 4chan.net. (It is now 4chan.org.) [1][12].
(July 12, 2006): Habbo Hotel Attack: Users of 4chan's /b/ raid Habbo Hotel, a virtual hangout for teens. They join the online game en masse and flood it with avatars of a black man in a gray suit and an Afro hairstyle, blocking the entrance to the virtual pool and forming swastikas [1].

(January 21, 2008): Operation Chanology: A handful of Chanology participants publish a video on YouTube of a robotic voice declaring war on Scientology. This starts a multi-year campaign against the religious group. [1][13].

(February 10, 2008): Guy Fawkes Masks: Anonymous supporters don masks from the film, "V for Vendetta," and hold protests outside Scientology centers in key cities around the world such as New York, London, and Dallas, Texas [1][14].

(September 17, 2010): Operation Payback: Supporters of Anonymous launch a DDoS attack on Indian software company Aiplex after it admits to launching its own DDoS attacks on BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay. Anonymous launches several more attacks against copyright companies under the banner Operation Payback. Supporters collaborate on an array of IRC networks. Tflow uses SQL injection for the first time under the Anonymous banner [1][15]. Bottom of Form
(December 8, 2010): Transition from LOIC to Botnets: AnonOps launches a DDoS attack on PayPal.com, MasterCard.com , and Visa.com using 4,500 volunteers with LOIC but only becoming successful when one person using a botnet takes the site fully offline [1].

Note: Tflows use of SQL injection and the franchise's use of a Botnet marks the milestone where operation's leaders decide they can do more damage by moving away from crowd controlled DDOS attacks.

(2011 - 2012): Operation Tunisia / Operation Freedom Ops: OpTunisia was the first of what became the Freedom Ops, which focused largely on other Middle Eastern countries during the Arab Spring but spread much farther. For the first time, Anonymous had gotten on the winning side of a real fight, and it liked the feeling [1][14].

(February 6, 2011): Aaron Barr: "Anonymous" steals tens of thousands of Aaron Barr's corporate e-mails, private e-mails as well as those of two executives at sister company HBGary Inc. It also takes over his Twitter feed and DDoSes and defaces his site. HBGary federal goes out of business. [1][17].

(April 2011): LulzSec Forms: Sabu, Topiary, Kayla, Tflow, AVunit, and Pwnsauce break away from Anonymous to form LulzSec [1].
(May - June 2011): LulzSec 50 Day Hacking Spree: Sabu leads the newly formed team of elite hackers against 22 distinct commercial and government targets [1][18].

(June 7, 2011): FBI turns Sabu. Federal agents come to his apartment on New York's Lower East Side and threatened the 28-year-old with an array of charges that could add up to 124 years in prison. Sabu becomes an FBI informant [1].

(June 26, 2011): LulzSec Disbands / AntiSec Forms: LulzSec announces it is disbanding after "50 Days of Lulz, " rejoining Anonymous and creating a strictly political hacktivism group called AntiSec [1][18].

(July 19, 2011) Arrest: Tflow (Mustafa Al-Bassam) arrested by British police [28].

(July 27, 2011): Arrest: Topiary (Jake Davis) arrested by Shetland Islands Police [11].

(September 2, 2011): Arrest: Kayla (Ryan Ackroyd) arrested by British police [29].

(December 24, 2011): STRATFOR: Under the supervision of the FBI, AntiSec steals more than 5 million email messages from the U.S. security intelligence firm Stratfor and over $700,000 from Stratfor subscriber's credit cards. A week later, AntiSec turns all of the data over to Wikileaks; the largest public D0xing the Anonymous Franchise had ever accomplished. They also donated the stolen money to various charities [1][25].

(January 2012): Arrest: Pwnsauce (Darren Martyn) [24].

(March 6, 2012): FBI Outs Sabu: News breaks that Hector Monsegur has been acting as an informant for the FBI for the past eight months, helping them bring charges against Jeremy Hammond of Chicago and five people involved with LulzSec.[1] [26].
Arguably, the event that elevated the Anonymous movement to a force to be reckoned with in government and commercial circles was the HBGary attacks of February 2011. That hacktivist attack forced a corporation (HBGary Federal) to go out of business and the core set of hackers involved broke away from the Anonymous Franchise in April of 2011 to form LulzSec. For the next 50 days, LulzSec went on a hacking rampage that eventually led to their demise and the arrest of five out of their six members [1][17]. The bulk of Olson's book describes, in intimate detail, that one year period; the events that led to the forming of LulzSec, the drama that unfolded as they went on their 50 day hacking spree, Sabu's betrayal to LulzSec and the impact of that betrayal to the Anonymous movement. Ms. Olson gets the details right and although she does not cover the entire Anonymous movement - other Anonymous Franchise Operations happened in parallel that did not involve LulzSec - her description of these events gives a good sense about how the Anonymous franchise operates.

LulzSec Members:

Below is a list of the core LulzSec members. Other anonymous supporters helped but these people were the inner circle.

Sabu - Xavier Deleon - leon (Hector Xavier Montsegur): LulzSec leader and ultimately traitor. Well connected to the underground hacker scene; not a 4CHAN user. He conquered networks, then basked in his achievement. He was more interested in the cachet of taking over entire Internet service providers (ISPs) than pranking Scientologists. [1][26]

Topiary- atopiary (Jake Davis) - Spokesman; not a hacker but a charismatic mouthpiece that had a knack for manipulating and entertaining the press and Anonymous contributors. [1][26]

Kayla - lol - lolspoon (Ryan Mark Ackroyd ) - The Ninja Hacker. Kayla claimed to be a 14 year old girl. Ackroyd actually was twenty-five and had served in the British army for four years, spending some of that time in Iraq. He was the most extreme at protecting his/her private persona. [1][26]

Tflow (Mustafa Al-Bassam): Successful student and skilled hacker; under age at the time of his arrest. [28]

Pwnsauce - raepsauce - networkkitten (Darren Martyn): technically adept with a healthy professional life [24][26].

AVunit: Elite hacker and the only LulSec crew member that did not get caught [1].

The Tech:

Ms. Olson does a really good job of explaining the tech that some of the Anonymous Franchise members used.

Web Site Recon Tools: Kayla used a powerful web script that let her scan the Internet for websites with exploitable vulnerabilities [1].

Hashkiller.com: A website that stores cracked and ready-to-be-cracked password hashes [1].

Gigaloader / JMeter: Web stress tools adopted by early Anonymous supporters to direct DDOS attacks against targets [1][30][31].

Havij: Lulzsec member's favorite tool for SQL injection attacks [1]. "Automates bad guys' SQL injection attacks by detecting the database behind a targeted website, detecting whether it uses a string or integer parameter type, and testing different injection syntaxes on the target. Unlike a lot of penetration tools, Havij can not only point to potential vulnerabilities, it can also carry out data extraction and harvesting [34]."

HideMyAss: Sabu bought accounts with virtual private networks, like HideMyAss, to better hide their ring of supporters and also to get more server space. When the FBI came knocking though, HideMyAss gave them up [1].

Drive By Attacks: Enticing someone in a chat room to visit a compromised website and installing malware on their system as a result [1].

Money Laundering through Second Life Gaming Worlds:
Buy the in-game currency (Lindens).
Convert that money into U.S. dollars via a currency transfer site (VirWoX)
Place those dollars into a Moneybookers account.
Finally, transfer that money into a personal bank account.

Money Laundering through Bitcoin:
Bitcoin address 1 → Bitcoin address 2 → Bitcoin address 3 → Liberty Reserve (a Costa Rican payment processor) account → Bitcoin address 4 → Bitcoin address 5 → second Liberty Reserve account → PayPal account → bank account.

Kayla's OPSEC Procedures: By all accounts, Kayla was the most disciplined when it came to protecting her online persona. Below are just some of the things she routinely did. In the end though, the best OPSEC procedures could not protect her from an Insider Threat (Sabu).

Rotated passwords almost daily [1].

Hid data on tiny microSD cards [1].

Booted operating systems from a USB stick [1].

Used a VM (virtual machine) to do all hacking work. VMs acted as buffers between her computer and her life online. If anyone ever hacked her, he'd only get to the VM [1].

Avoided using a virtual private network (VPN). VPN providers could always provide details to the police (As did HackMyAss when the FBI asked them for the online records pertaining to LulzSec) [1].

Used a low-end cell phone with an unregistered SIM card record all her passwords [1].
Partitioned a small drive called sys on her phone that she used to store malicious code [1].

Stored operating systems on a microSD card inside an encrypted MP3 player: a 32 GB SanDisk microSD, inside an 8 GB SanDisk MP3, inside an encrypted volume. Opening it now required a password and several key files, which were five MP3 songs out of thousands on his player [1].

Conclusion:

This book is a must read for all cyber security professionals. It does not cover the entire Anonymous movement, but by focusing on the evolution of the Anonymous Franchise and the rise and fall of the LulzSec hacking group, Ms. Olson captures the essence of the hacktivist culture and what motivates its supporters. I would put this in my list of Essential Cyber Security Books for Historical Context; those books that represent a fundamental aspect to Cyber Security like

Cyber Crime:
"Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords" by Joseph Menn
"Kingpin" by Kevin Poulsen

Cyber Security Community
"Worm" by Mark Bowden

Cyber Warfare
"Cyber Warfare: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do about It" by Richard Clarke and Robert Knake
"Cyber Warfare: Techniques, Tactics and Tools for the Security Practitioners" by Jason Andress and Steven Winterfeld

Sources:

[1] "We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency," by Parmy Olson, Published June 5 2012 by Little Brown and Company.

[2] "We Are Legion," Documentary produced, written and directed by Brian Knappenberger, 2012, Last Visited 8 May 2013
[...]

[3] "LulzSec hackers plead guilty, admit attacks on CIA, SOCA, Sony and others," by Graham Cluely, nakedSecurity - Sophos, April 9 2012, Last Visited 8 May 2013
[...]

[4] "Teenager arrested on suspicion of hacking," by BBC News Technology, June 21 2011, Last Visited 8 May 2013
[...]

[5] "9 Ways Hacktivists Shocked The World In 2012," by Mathew J. Schwartz, InformationWeek Security, December 21, 2012, Last Visited 8 May 2013
[...]

[6] "Deconstructing the Al-Qassam Cyber Fighters Assault on US Banks," by Holden, Analysis Intelligence, January 2013, Last Visited 8 May 2013
[...]

[7] "V for Vendetta," Last Visited 8 May 2013
[...]

[8] "What is LOIC," by Joel Johnson, Gizmodo, December 8 2012, Last Visited 8 May 2013
[...]

[9] "What is 4chan," 4chan, Last Visited 8 May 2013,
[...]

[10] "An Interview With The Founder of 4chan," by Rex Sorgatz, Fimoculous, February 18 2009, Last Visited 8 May 2013
[...]

[11] "Man arrested over computer hacking claims," BBC News UK, July 27 2011, Last Visited 8 May 2013
[...]

[12] "Hacktivism: A Short History," by TY MCCORMICK, Foreign Policy, May/June 2013, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...]

[13] "How Anonymous Works," Nathan Chandler, HowStuffWorks.com, 09 May 2013, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...]

[14] "Dozens of masked protesters blast Scientology church," by John S. Forrester, boston.com, February 11, 2008, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...]

[15] "Operation Payback: WikiLeaks Avenged by Hacktivists," By Tony Bradley, PCWorld, Dec 7, 2010, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...] s.html

[16] "2011: The Year Anonymous Took On Cops, Dictators and Existential Dread," by BY QUINN NORTON , Wired, Jan 11, 2012, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...]

[17] "HBGary Federal's Aaron Barr Resigns After Anonymous Hack Scandal," by Andy Greenberg, Forbes, February 28, 2011, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...]

[18] "LulzSec Shutting Down After 50-Day Hacking Spree," by Chloe Albanesius, PCMAG.COM, June 25, 2011, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...]

[19] Parmy Olson Interview, John Stewart, The Daily Show, , June 18, 2012, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...]

[20] Parmy Olson Interview, RT News, April 6, 2013, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...]

[21] "Troll Bait", Urban Dictionary, Last Visited 9 May 2013
[...]%20BAIT

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[23] "WHAT IS A DDOS ATTACK?," Verisign, Last Visited 11 May 2013
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[23] "16 Arrested as F.B.I. Hits the Hacking Group Anonymous," By SOMINI SENGUPTA, New York Times, July 19, 2011, Last Visited 11 May 2013
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[24] ""BEHIND THE MASK, ACCUSED LULZSEC MEMBERS LEFT TRAIL OF CLUES ONLINE," By Paul Roberts, threat post, March 10, 2012, Last Visited 11 May 2013
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[25] "10 things you need to know about Anonymous' Stratfor hack," by Sean Ludwig, Venture Beat, December 28, 2011, Last Visited 11 May 2013
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3 people found this helpful

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D. Guthrie

Riveting, Relevant and Current

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2012

Verified Purchase

I poured through the book in a short couple days. I've been following the hacking scene, hacktivism, #Occupy, Wikileaks, the deployment of cyber-weapons by nation-states, and all the stories that cross an average nerd's retina by way of a well-tuned media feed. The book shed incredible light on many of the narratives I've been following, and Olson's narratives extend right up to the present.

The book is very much 'en medias res' - there's hints of a back-story (and promises of more details there from the forthcoming book by Barrett and Gregg), and a strong implication that there's much more to come. While it focuses on the Lulzsec 6 (demonstrating an impressive degree of access - and a remarkably objective approach, given the proclivity of hackers to misdirect), it really tells of the overall structure and culture of Anonymous. No hint is given of what the Hivemind will pull off next - but the book leaves us in the present, where Anonymous (as a strange collective) has clearly demonstrated its relevance (as a model and as an open brand) as a non-state actor.

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Buchheinz

Interessante Recherche

Reviewed in Germany on October 10, 2022

Verified Purchase

Witzig und interessant zu lesen. Traurig, wie jung manche Hacker sind, wenn sie in die Szene eintreten und mit welchen Themen sie konfrontiert werden. Interessant auch die Splittung der individuellen Visionen jedes einzelnen und die jeweilige Ausbreitung international.
"Schuh auf Kopf-Verarsche" fand ich sehr amüsant.

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Ivan Jetá

I loved this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book is a must read for people who spend a lot of time on the web. It gives you a very detailed look on what was and on how things were and others came to be. It's all reality but it reads better than a lot of political thrillers.

Martin Poirier

Poor Condition

Reviewed in Canada on May 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

I LOVE the book! BUT...

The book cover received was in poor condition.
There's a LOT of shelf wear.
There was also a big footprint on the cover like someone stomped on it.
AND like it wasn't bad enough there's also 2 permanent marker dots on the pages side.

AND IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE NEW!

Amazon Customer

Recommended.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2016

Verified Purchase

Interesting and detailed account of Anonymous and LulzSec. A gripping and informative read. Recommended.

Bella Giacomo

Accurato e appassionante

Reviewed in Italy on October 1, 2016

Verified Purchase

Scritto in maniera semplice, con il ritmo di un romanzo e l'approfondimento di un reportage ben fatto. Consigliato per iniziare a capire cosa è stato Anonymous e LulzSec

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