The Watchman: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Serial Hacker Kevin Poulsen: Littman, Jonathan: 9780316528573: Amazon.com: Books

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Jonathan Littman

The Watchman: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Serial Hacker Kevin Poulsen Hardcover – March 31, 1997

by Jonathan Littman (Author)

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Written like a California noir thriller by way of William Gibson, The Watchman brings to life the wildest, most audacious crime spree in the history of cyberspace. Busted as a teenager for hacking into Pac Bell phone networks, Kevin Poulsen would find his punishment was a job with a Silicon Valley defense contractor. By day he seemed to have gone straight, toiling on systems for computer-aided war. But by night he burglarized telephone switching offices, adopting the personae and aliases of his favorite comic-book anti heroes - the Watchmen. When authorities found a locker crammed with swiped telecommunications equipment, Poulsen became a fugitive from the FBI, living the life of a cyberpunk in a neon Hollywood underground. Soon he made the front pages of the New York Times and became the first hacker charged with espionage. Littman takes us behind the headlines and into the world of Poulsen and his rogues' gallery of cyberthieves. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews with Poulsen, his confederates, and the authorities, he spins a thrilling chase story on the electronic frontier. The nation's phone network was Poulsen's playground. On Los Angeles's lucrative radio giveaways, Poulsen worked his magic, winning Porsches and tens of thousands of dollars. He secretly switched on the numbers of defunct Yellow Pages escort ads and took his cut of the profits. And he could wiretap or electronically stalk whomever he pleased, his childhood love or movie stars. The FBI seemed no match for Poulsen. But as Unsolved Mysteries prepared a broadcast on the hacker's crimes, LAPD vice stumbled onto his trail, and an undercover operation began on Sunset Strip.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Little, Brown and Company
Publication date

March 31, 1997
Dimensions

6 x 0.81 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0316528579
ISBN-13

978-0316528573
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This is a first-rate detective story--and all true. It's the story of a seemingly invincible electronic thief, con man, and stalker--and the people who tracked him down. Jonathan Littman brings his readers straight into the world of cyberpunk crime as he shows the origins, development, and climax of the wildest and most audacious known crime spree in cyberspace. Hundreds of hours of interviews allow Littman to tell much of the story through the eyes of those who lived it, and his own edgy style and excellent pacing make for a thriller that's hard to put down.

From Library Journal

Littman (The Fugitive Game: Online with Kevin Mitnick, LJ 1/96) takes us inside the mind of yet another notable computer hacker. Kevin Poulsen electronically seized the phone lines of a major Los Angeles radio station to make certain he was the 101st caller. Over time, he won two Porsches, $22,000 in cash, and two trips to Hawaii. He was caught and charged with numerous computer and telephone crimes, the most serious of which alleged that he obtained a classified document from a military database. Poulsen became the first computer hacker in history to be charged with espionage, and in all he was charged with 19 counts of computer fraud, wiretapping, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. Littman offers a perspective on the social phenomenon of hacking in addition to the intricate legal and privacy issues involved here. Relying on interviews with both hackers and pursuers, pages of court filings, court transcripts, and associated documents, the author blends narrative with action in this riveting account of digital malfeasance. Recommended.?Joe Accardi, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

More blatantly criminal than Kevin Mitnick, a cyber-outlaw whose downfall was told in Takedown by Tsutomu Shimomura , was a Californian hacker named Kevin Poulsen. A habitual burglar, purveyor of prostitution, and fixer of radio-station giveaways, he should probably consider the five-year jail term he finished in 1996 as light punishment. But not likely: Poulsen emerged from the early generation of antiauthoritarian hackers called "phone phreaks," who electronically broke into the local phone company's computers. Poulsen's compulsion went further: he physically broke into switching buildings to steal equipment that enabled him to break into the hush-hush realm of telephone taps. Littman, in "hundreds of hours" of jailhouse interviews, certainly squeezes a lot of juice out of Poulsen and serves it up as exciting true-crime fare, filled with aliases, FBI agents, stakeouts, and car chases--and with Poulsen's amoral attitude that nothing he was doing was wrong. A fast-paced yarn that re-creates the demimonde of computer criminals. Gilbert Taylor

From Kirkus Reviews

Having chronicled the digital-data brigandage of the notorious Kevin Mitnick (The Fugitive Game, 1996), Littman casts a cool, discerning eye on Kevin Poulsen, who led law-enforcement agencies in a merry chase along the Information Highway. Drawing on extensive interviews with 31-year-old Poulsen, his partners in crime, and the cops who chased them down, the author offers an absorbing, evenhanded portrait of the hacker as a dangerous young man. A technical virtuoso before he was out of his teens and in trouble with authorities early on, the disaffected young Californian (whose on-line alias, The Watchman, was taken from the antihero of a dark-side comic series) also held responsible programming jobs at both SRI and Sun Microsystems before his Pacific Tel break-ins and other computer felonies made him officially unemployed. Going outlaw on a full-time basis, Poulsen trespassed on the memory banks of machines linked by modem on the Internet, exposed the security weaknesses of government and university installations, played embarrassing pranks on rivals, and otherwise showcased his considerable talents for electronic wizardry. He rigged a contest run by an L.A. radio station (by diverting its phone lines) and collected a couple of Porsches as prizes. He also managed to ferret out wiretaps Big Brother's helpers (FBI, Secret Service, et al.) had planted on the ACLU, foreign consulates, suspected mobsters, and others. Despite his professed allegiance to a hacker code, Poulsen was not fastidious about profiting from his skills, putting them at the disposal of call-girl rings and shady private detectives. Eventually brought to book in 1990 on a wealth of charges, the chronic offender was allowed to cop a plea in the interests of protecting the feds' dirtier secrets. An arresting account of the career of a New Age intruder whose capacity to strike at will mocks the very notion of computer privacy and security. (photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

Jonathan Littman's account of Kevin Poulsen . . . reads like a cat-and-mouse-with-keyboards thriller. The Watchman is a guided tour through the subculture of "phreaks"--hackers obsessed with tapping into the telephone company. Mr. Littman does a good job of translating acronym-laden geekspeak into English, and his use of present-tense narrative gives one the feeling of looking over the shoulder as he hacks and hatches his schemes. -- The New York Times Book Review, J. D. Biersdorfer

From the Back Cover

Written like a California noir thriller by way of William Gibson, The Watchman brings to life the wildest, most audacious crime spree in the history of cyberspace. Busted as a teenager for hacking into Pac Bell phone networks, Kevin Poulsen would find his punishment was a job with a Silicon Valley defense contractor. By day he seemed to have gone straight, toiling on systems for computer-aided war. But by night he burglarized telephone switching offices, adopting the personae and aliases of his favorite comic-book anti heroes - the Watchmen. When authorities found a locker crammed with swiped telecommunications equipment, Poulsen became a fugitive from the FBI, living the life of a cyberpunk in a neon Hollywood underground. Soon he made the front pages of the New York Times and became the first hacker charged with espionage. Littman takes us behind the headlines and into the world of Poulsen and his rogues' gallery of cyberthieves. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews with Poulsen, his confederates, and the authorities, he spins a thrilling chase story on the electronic frontier. The nation's phone network was Poulsen's playground. On Los Angeles's lucrative radio giveaways, Poulsen worked his magic, winning Porsches and tens of thousands of dollars. He secretly switched on the numbers of defunct Yellow Pages escort ads and took his cut of the profits. And he could wiretap or electronically stalk whomever he pleased, his childhood love or movie stars. The FBI seemed no match for Poulsen. But as Unsolved Mysteries prepared a broadcast on the hacker's crimes, LAPD vice stumbled onto his trail, and an undercover operation began on Sunset Strip.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (March 31, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316528579
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316528573
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.42 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.81 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,201,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #140 in Computer & Technology Biographies
- #900 in Computer Hacking
- #2,280 in Scientist Biographies

Customer Reviews:
31 ratings

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Jonathan Littman
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Jonathan Littman is the author of The Fugitive Game and The Watchman and is a contributing writer for Red Herring magazine.
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Customer reviews

5 star		73%
4 star		4%
3 star		16%
2 star		4%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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True Story From A Great Writer

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2001

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I became interested in Kevin Poulson after reading several articles about his exploits. After learning about this new book from Jonathan Littman, I emailed the author for sources of more information. He (of course) advised that I purchase his two books on The Kevins: 1) "The Fugitive Game: Online With Kevin Mitnick", and 2) "The Watchman: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Serial Hacker Kevin Poulsen". I ordered the two books, along with "Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier" by John Markoff and Katie Hafner.
I read Jonathan Littman's two books first, and was very excited with the stories, and his factual presentation. His writing style is an excellent fit for the type of story he is telling. It was obvious that Littman researched the facts and presented them in an unbiased manner. I liked that he presented both the technical information and the human elements of the stories. I also liked that he exposed many myths and controversy regarding the players in the stories, like John Markoff's getting involved in the chase for Mitnick, crossing the ethical boundary between journalism and law enforcement.
I then read "Cyberpunk" by Markoff and Hafner. Boy, what a difference! Where Littman was factual, Markoff was more into storytelling. I cannot say who's right (I wasn't THERE), but Markoff just didn't come across as complete and factual, especially in light of Littman's comments on his questionable involvement in Mitnick's capture. I did, however, love Markoff's telling of the rtm story (Robert Tappan Morris - the sendmail internet worm guy). I'd give this book 3 stars.
I'd like to take a moment to comment on some other reviews that I think are unfair or inaccurate.
Regarding "The Watchman":
"Big Letdown" stated that there was too much technical information. I completely disagree. It's true that I personally enjoyed the technical details, but I also felt it was important insight into a hacker's curiosity response to forbidden systems. "Hmmm...Perhaps Jonathan should have done more research" stated that Littman didn't give Poulsen a chance, and made him out to be a monster. I wonder if we read the same book? I did not get the impression that Poulsen was a monster of any kind, just a kid addicted to the power and thrills of having absolute control over other people's forbidden systems. On the contrary, I think Littman did a professional, accurate, and entertaining presentation of the story and it's facts.
Regarding "The Fugitive Game":
"lots of clumsy writing here" stated that Littman tried to make Mitnick out to be a hero. Again, I have to wonder if we read the same book. Littman did no such thing. In fact, Littman "de-heroed" other characters that John Markoff pumped up in his telling of events. From reading the above-mentioned three books, Littman comes across as MUCH more factual. "Not Very good" stated that the story was boring, and to get other books like the Cuckoo's Egg, and maybe even At Large. The book was far from boring, but I'd have to agree that "The Watchman" was better (I give "The Fugitive Game" 4 stars, "The Watchman" 5 stars.) I guess I'll have to check out "Cuckoo's Egg" and "At Large" - at least the reviewer made alternative recommendations, which I thank him/her for.
Finally, to help the reader of this review judge how relevant my opinion is, I'll tell you where I'm coming from. I consider myself to be very technical. I really got started with computers back in 1978, about the same time these guys were getting going. I went through many of the same "phases" these hackers went through. I did things to computers that weren't supposed to be done - and got caught a couple times (ahh, the old days...) So I think I'm qualified to judge a "real" story. All three books were nostalgic for me, but Littman's were the most accurate, I think. In my opinion, he described what it was REALLY like: the curiosity, the intensity, the excitement of discovery, the thrill of the hunt, and the addiction of absolute control.

23 people found this helpful

Enjoyable biography of hacker Kevin Poulsen

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2012

Verified Purchase

The Watchman is a journalistic biography of hacker Kevin Poulsen who, during the 80s and 90s hacked into the telephone network and could control most of it himself. I felt the book was exceptionally well written and it was hard for me to stop reading ones I started. It is based on reality but reads quite much like a good novel (and, I do not know how much of the reality was real). I finished the book reasonably fast as I constantly was curious about what would happen next.

I won't tell too much about the book, except for its beginning and rough story. The book starts with teenager Kevin getting to know phone phreaking (blue-boxing) and he starts to learn about how the telephone networks works. He works together with his friend Ron Austin, but unfortunately they get caught... Kevin, being underage, isn't charged and starts to work as a programmer at Stanford Research Institute (the Dough Engelbert one!). He does continue his hacking with some new partners, but eventually get caught again.

While he is being charged, he continues to learn to be a better at controlling the telephone network... the rest of the story, I'll leave for the reader to read, though I can say that I found it all quite fascinating.

I enjoyed the book a lot and would (and have) recommended it to others who are interested to know about Kevin's hacks (again, not claiming it to be fact, but it is about the only book about Kevin at the moment). So, if you are interested in biographies of hackers, Watchman is definitive recommended.

A facinating tale

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

I sat down with this book last night and was a bit surprised when I'd finished over half of it by the time I went to bed. This book is absolutely not a technical explaination of his exploits, instead it follows the human himself as he haphazardly meanders through life, quite accidentally dodging a major bullet while he compulsively bends the American phone network to his bidding. The book really conveys his casual attitude to accidentally commiting extremely major crimes in the pursuit of one completely random goal or another (like getting his drivers license back).

Great story but disappointing writing style

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

The story of Kevin Poulsen is one that I have been interested in for a long time. So I was really excited about reading this book. However, I was really put off by the author's writing style. It felt to me as if he was trying to tell a technical story while only having a rudimentary knowledge of the techniques and science behind it all. I also felt as if he was trying a little too hard to be entertaining while all he really needed to do was just to tell the story straight out.

This is a good book to add to your collection of hacker stories. But I will not rate it as being up there with other stories such as Ghost in the Wires and the Cuckoo's Egg.

Kevin Poulsen redefines audacity

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2011

Verified Purchase

How does a fugitive on the run elude the FBI for a long time? Drive across the country and stay at a different motel every night and hope for the best? Not a chance. Kevin Poulsen stayed around home and tapped the phones of the FBI agents hunting him. When NBC aired Poulsen's story on Unsolved Mysteries, he crashed the show's phone system to prevent tips from coming in.

I've read countless books on true crime, from hackers to jewel thieves to serial killers, and I'm tempted to say there has never been anyone quite like Poulsen. I found myself admiring him and - should I say it? - cheering him on. Only Frank Abignale matches Poulsen's capacity for mischief, but Abignale couldn't watch the watchers.

The combination of the hacker's audacity and capability, plus Littman's excellent writing, made The Watchman one of the few books I've ever read cover to cover in one sitting.

5 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

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Mr. S.

excellent read for the non-phreaker/hacker

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2003

Verified Purchase

An interesting read even if viewed as fiction- entertaining, twisting plot and good character development.
Also valuable if looking for a case study of cyber criminals for academic reasons.
I read it on both levels, couldn't put it down, finished it within two days.Buy it!

One person found this helpful

Cliente Amazon

Abbastanza interessante

Reviewed in Italy on October 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

Sicuramente scritto meglio di "The fugitive game" ( The Fugitive Game: Online With Kevin Mitnick ), questo libro almeno si riesce a leggere in modo normale.
Interessante per la storia raccontata e per tanti aspetti dell'hacking di quel tempo non noti in Italia; comunque non comodissimo da leggere.

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frrusc

l'hacker odiato

Reviewed in Italy on December 29, 2012

Verified Purchase

kevin poulsen non è fra i miei hacker preferiti e questo volume che dovrebbe cantarne le gensta, mi indispone un po......
è comunque interessante la sua storia, per chi è interessato all'argomento

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