Hack to The Future: How World Governments Relentlessly Pursue and Domesticate Hackers

by Emily Crose

Hack to The The US Government’s Relentless Pursuit of Hackers is a deep dive into the history of the US government’s relationship with hacker culture and its role in domestic policy and geopolitics. Emily Crose, an experienced information security professional with ties to the US intelligence community, discusses significant events that have impacted the way the hacking community has been seen over the decades from three primary She describes how the US government managed to weaponize a subculture widely seen as misanthropic and awkward into a lever of geopolitical power in the span of 40 years. Moreover, Emily breaks down these historic events from a contemporary point-of-view, using primary sources like original government documents. Readers will learn about the release of the Morris worm, Stakkato attacks on NASA and other government agencies, the Melissa virus, as well as many more examples of breaches, malware, and individual hacker stories.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

Published December 5, 2024

Reviews

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely interesting and insightful account of the history of hackers and their evolution from pariahs to something like loveable or needed/necessary pariahs. Thought there might have been some editing issues with the book in terms of repeated passages or the flow of certain timelines being confusing to follow, but those were minor. Definitely would recommend this book if you’re geeky like me and love the intersection of technology, cybersecurity, and political and international events.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts out a bit boring, recounting the popular history of hackers through culture and history, but it does definitely go deeper into more esoteric and lesser known things in the second half. I ended up learning a bit from it.

[Jimmy Thomson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basic overview and history of hacking in the US. Book is filled with editing issues (repeated tidbits, hard to follow phrases, things slightly out of order).