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Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World
The shocking untold story of the elite secret society of hackers fighting to protect our privacy, our freedom, and even democracy itself.Cult of the Dead Cow is the tale of the oldest, most respected, and most famous American hacking group of all time. Though until now it has remained mostly anonymous, its members invented the concept of hacktivism, released the top tool for testing password security, and created what was for years the best technique for controlling computers from afar, forcing giant companies to work harder to protect customers. They contributed to the development of Tor, the most important privacy tool on the net, and helped build cyberweapons that advanced US security without injuring anyone.With its origins in the earliest days of the Internet, the cDc is full of oddball characters -- activists, artists, even future politicians. Many of these hackers have become top executives and advisors walking the corridors of power in Washington and Silicon Valley. The most famous is former Texas Congressman and current presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, whose time in the cDc set him up to found a tech business, launch an alternative publication in El Paso, and make long-shot bets on unconventional campaigns.Today, the group and its followers are battling electoral misinformation, making personal data safer, and battling to keep technology a force for good instead of for surveillance and oppression. Cult of the Dead Cow shows how governments, corporations, and criminals came to hold immense power over individuals and how we can fight back against them.
233 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2019
536 people are currently reading
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About the author
Joseph Menn
6 books88 followersJoseph Menn’s fourth book, "Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World," was published in June 2019 by PublicAffairs and in paperback in June 2020. It tells the story of the oldest, most respected and most famous American hacking group of all time. Its members invented the concept of hacktivism, released both the top tool for cracking passwords and the reigning technique for controlling computers from afar, and spurred development of Edward Snowden’s anonymity tool of choice. With its origins in the earliest days of the Internet, the cDc is full of oddball characters-activists, artists, and musicians-who are now woven into the top ranks of the American establishment.
Hudson Booksellers named "Cult of the Dead Cow" one of the 10 best nonfiction books of the year, and the Wall Street Journal called it one of the five cybersecurity books everyone should read. The New York Times Book Review called it "an invaluable resource...The tale of this small but influential group is a hugely important piece of the puzzle for anyone who wants to understand the forces shaping the internet age.”
Menn's "Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet," was published in 2010. Part true-life thriller and part expose, it became an immediate bestseller, with Menn interviewed on national television and radio programs in the US, Canada and elsewhere. Menn has spoken at major security conferences on his findings, which include hard evidence that the governments of Russia and China are protecting and directing the behavior of some of the world’s worst cyber-criminals.
“Fatal System Error accurately reveals the secretive global cyber cartels and their hidden multibillion-dollar business, proving cybercrime does pay and pays well,” said Richard A. Clarke, special advisor to President George W. Bush for cyber security and author of Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror. The New Yorker magazine said it was “riveted” by the tale, comparing it to the novels of Stieg Larsson.
Menn is an investigative reporter on cybersecurity at Reuters and formerly worked at the Financial Times and the Los Angeles Times, He is a three-time finalist for the Loeb Award, the most prestigious in financial journalism, and a ghree-time winner of a "Best in Business" award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.
His previous books include "All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning’s Napster," the definitive 2003 work selected as a book-of-the-year finalist by the trade group Investigative Reporters & Editors Inc. All the Rave reversed the conventional wisdom on what had been the most exhaustively covered start-up of the era. The New York Times wrote that All the Rave "provides a well-documented history of one of the most celebrated collapses of the Internet. But it goes far deeper, giving an inside account of the creation of Napster, the battle for its control and the maneuvering by big Silicon Valley names to try to turn music piracy into gold."
Menn is also co-author of The People vs. Big Tobacco: How the States Took on the Cigarette Giants (1998) and a principal editor of The Chronology: The Documented Day-by-Day Account of the Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Contras (1987). He was taught advanced technology and business writing at the University of California at Berkeley’s graduate school of journalism and lectured at other universities and conferences.
Menn began his professional career at The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer. He grew up in the Boston area and graduated with honors from Harvard College, where he was executive editor of The Harvard Crimson.
Hudson Booksellers named "Cult of the Dead Cow" one of the 10 best nonfiction books of the year, and the Wall Street Journal called it one of the five cybersecurity books everyone should read. The New York Times Book Review called it "an invaluable resource...The tale of this small but influential group is a hugely important piece of the puzzle for anyone who wants to understand the forces shaping the internet age.”
Menn's "Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet," was published in 2010. Part true-life thriller and part expose, it became an immediate bestseller, with Menn interviewed on national television and radio programs in the US, Canada and elsewhere. Menn has spoken at major security conferences on his findings, which include hard evidence that the governments of Russia and China are protecting and directing the behavior of some of the world’s worst cyber-criminals.
“Fatal System Error accurately reveals the secretive global cyber cartels and their hidden multibillion-dollar business, proving cybercrime does pay and pays well,” said Richard A. Clarke, special advisor to President George W. Bush for cyber security and author of Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror. The New Yorker magazine said it was “riveted” by the tale, comparing it to the novels of Stieg Larsson.
Menn is an investigative reporter on cybersecurity at Reuters and formerly worked at the Financial Times and the Los Angeles Times, He is a three-time finalist for the Loeb Award, the most prestigious in financial journalism, and a ghree-time winner of a "Best in Business" award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.
His previous books include "All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning’s Napster," the definitive 2003 work selected as a book-of-the-year finalist by the trade group Investigative Reporters & Editors Inc. All the Rave reversed the conventional wisdom on what had been the most exhaustively covered start-up of the era. The New York Times wrote that All the Rave "provides a well-documented history of one of the most celebrated collapses of the Internet. But it goes far deeper, giving an inside account of the creation of Napster, the battle for its control and the maneuvering by big Silicon Valley names to try to turn music piracy into gold."
Menn is also co-author of The People vs. Big Tobacco: How the States Took on the Cigarette Giants (1998) and a principal editor of The Chronology: The Documented Day-by-Day Account of the Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Contras (1987). He was taught advanced technology and business writing at the University of California at Berkeley’s graduate school of journalism and lectured at other universities and conferences.
Menn began his professional career at The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer. He grew up in the Boston area and graduated with honors from Harvard College, where he was executive editor of The Harvard Crimson.
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February 8, 2022
Exploration, anarchy, hacktivism/activism, schism
Every single tool humankind has created can be used for good or to hurt, how you decide to use it defines your ethics or lack thereof.
Cult of the Dead Cow, cDc, is one of the earliest and longest lasting hacker groups. This book follows the trajectory of the group and some of its members as time and events evolve.
A group of self-defined outsiders for the most part, they progressed through a sequence with some people coming and going as their ideological perspectives changed and how they decided to devote themselves.
cDc starts with teens mucking around on what would become the Internet. As the Internet expanded, the real dangers that academics never planned for since it was research space and security wasn’t a priority became glaring. Software was not built to be robust and hacking was easy.
This period is dominated by the cDc exhorting companies to do the right thing for consumers by embarrassing them. The Internet as a free space is tantamount. This is were the transition from anarchy to activism gains traction. Members find jobs in companies working inside to fix things. Also, with questionable personal histories many find that federal contractors provided a place for hackers to be paid for security research.
There are a bunch of schisms in the group as new offshoots emerge representing different focuses and ideologies. 9/11 was a catalyst for many things unsurprisingly. This is a broad overview of the cDc not internet history or geopolitical events, so if you need more information on those this is not the place to find them. But you will see how seismic events are related, touching on but not limited to: Assange, Wikileaks, Manning, Snowden, Russian intelligence, 2016 election, Beto O'Rourke, Ninja Strike Force, Free Tibet, Tiananmen Square Massacre, and more.
Paul Leonard’s quote regarding the sharp turn to far-right that Ninja Strike Force took pretty much sums up how I feel about social media:
Not sure how to rate this, but I'll go with 4 because of the readability.
Every single tool humankind has created can be used for good or to hurt, how you decide to use it defines your ethics or lack thereof.
Cult of the Dead Cow, cDc, is one of the earliest and longest lasting hacker groups. This book follows the trajectory of the group and some of its members as time and events evolve.
A group of self-defined outsiders for the most part, they progressed through a sequence with some people coming and going as their ideological perspectives changed and how they decided to devote themselves.
cDc starts with teens mucking around on what would become the Internet. As the Internet expanded, the real dangers that academics never planned for since it was research space and security wasn’t a priority became glaring. Software was not built to be robust and hacking was easy.
“But when hackers told only the companies of the flaws, the software makers usually ignore them. The only way to actually force things to get fixed was to expose the information. "
This period is dominated by the cDc exhorting companies to do the right thing for consumers by embarrassing them. The Internet as a free space is tantamount. This is were the transition from anarchy to activism gains traction. Members find jobs in companies working inside to fix things. Also, with questionable personal histories many find that federal contractors provided a place for hackers to be paid for security research.
There are a bunch of schisms in the group as new offshoots emerge representing different focuses and ideologies. 9/11 was a catalyst for many things unsurprisingly. This is a broad overview of the cDc not internet history or geopolitical events, so if you need more information on those this is not the place to find them. But you will see how seismic events are related, touching on but not limited to: Assange, Wikileaks, Manning, Snowden, Russian intelligence, 2016 election, Beto O'Rourke, Ninja Strike Force, Free Tibet, Tiananmen Square Massacre, and more.
Paul Leonard’s quote regarding the sharp turn to far-right that Ninja Strike Force took pretty much sums up how I feel about social media:
“Now I have to question this relationship and it pisses me off. I don’t really care about your politics, I don’t even care about your racial beliefs whether they’re heart-felt or just trolling. It bothers me that you don’t seem to have any kind of internal editor that can differentiate between amusing offensiveness, and the kind of tedious, boring, lowest common denominator type of offensive material that shouldn’t even make the grade.”
Not sure how to rate this, but I'll go with 4 because of the readability.
June 25, 2019
From exposing security issues during the early days of the Internet to quashing modern-day political misinformation, one group of hackers has been through it all: Cult of the Dead Cow. By latching onto their own branch of “hacktivism”, this group has morphed from an eclectic group of enthusiasts to a movement intent on fighting for greater online security.
Journalist Joseph Menn has pulled together perhaps the most encompassing looks at one the longest-serving hacker collectives. This in and of itself is a major feat considering the Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) remains a highly secretive organization. While some of the members have been open about their experiences, including presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, others have preferred the anonymity an online persona provides (under secure circumstances, of course). So Menn does deserve credit for pulling plenty of materials, including interviews with members, into a compelling, often entertaining, and somewhat perplexing narrative.
And what a story. Putting aside the often dubious legality of the cDc’s actions, their story starts with a group of bored teens in Texas during the mid-1980s and propels into a present where several members are professionals, working on cybersecurity— some in the Silicon Valley private sector and others for government entities. The path there is long and complex, but Menn successfully cultivates this story by sliding around tech-heavy jargon and focusing instead on the human idea of maturity— a gradual online process for the cDc.
These moments click, from the Black Orifice Microsoft debacle in the ‘90s to frustrations with WikiLeaks during the 2016 election, the group showcases obvious growth and an enriched viewpoint. With such a solid throughline, ultimately, Menn has crafted an interesting examination of how hacking has progressed in its use for good.
Journalist Joseph Menn has pulled together perhaps the most encompassing looks at one the longest-serving hacker collectives. This in and of itself is a major feat considering the Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) remains a highly secretive organization. While some of the members have been open about their experiences, including presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, others have preferred the anonymity an online persona provides (under secure circumstances, of course). So Menn does deserve credit for pulling plenty of materials, including interviews with members, into a compelling, often entertaining, and somewhat perplexing narrative.
And what a story. Putting aside the often dubious legality of the cDc’s actions, their story starts with a group of bored teens in Texas during the mid-1980s and propels into a present where several members are professionals, working on cybersecurity— some in the Silicon Valley private sector and others for government entities. The path there is long and complex, but Menn successfully cultivates this story by sliding around tech-heavy jargon and focusing instead on the human idea of maturity— a gradual online process for the cDc.
These moments click, from the Black Orifice Microsoft debacle in the ‘90s to frustrations with WikiLeaks during the 2016 election, the group showcases obvious growth and an enriched viewpoint. With such a solid throughline, ultimately, Menn has crafted an interesting examination of how hacking has progressed in its use for good.
August 11, 2019
Cult of the Dead Cow is the facetious name of an early group of hackers (white hat) that began as a computer bulletin board (BBS). Consisting originally of bored but talented teenagers who enjoyed reverse engineering phone systems and early computer software, they evolved into "hactivists" (hackers with a mission), many of whom went on the become influential and and important members of the establishment.
Menn follows the individual careers of cDc members who initially focused on security flaws in Windows. They were completely apolitical but then morphed into " human rights activists and internet freedom advocates, eventually becoming security advisers for powerful institutions.
The hackers all started out delighting in discovering security holes in early Windows software but were dismayed by the reaction of the software giant when these holes were pointed out to them. The reaction was a large ho-hum. suggesting that and if you wanted to have a secure system, "go buy Windows NT. That's an irony since no one "buys" software, you buy a license which immunizes the software developer from accountability and permits them to see access to a product that's defective.
Their dismay is illustrated by this anecdote. The cDc had created a program that revealed the flaws in Windows but it was also a tool that could be used for less than savory purposes. They released it free to everyone as open source so others could revise and manipulate it. The establishment wasn't sure what to make of it. The FBI, while trying to discourage its release decided it didn't violate any existing laws. The anti-virus business was not pleased as it also showed how weak their software was, but many security professionals decided it was a necessary evil if for no other reason than to force Microsoft to fix their security holes. “Microsoft is evil because they sell crap.” One of the cDc members took a copy of the program on a CD to a Microsoft higher-up. He said thanks and was about to insert it into his CD-ROM drive when she, horror-stricken, asked if his computer was networked. It was. She then asked if it was sand-boxed (programs loaded were quarantined until proven safe.) No, was the response, to which she, shocked, pointed out to him that he was just about to load a program from someone he didn't know, a self-identified hacker, into a computer that was not sand-boxed and connected to his entire network and therefore completely vulnerable. That was their state of mind.
Eventually, major businesses realized how important these hackers were and many moved on to become security professionals. As their prominence grew so did the counterculture environment of the early movement begin to fade and they became more political especially after the Chinese student movement was squashed. They began to create software intended for use by dissidents and other cultural reformers, anyone anti-authoritarian.
Under Obama, through Hillary Clinton’s State Department, the hacktivism championed by Brown and the cDc to help with dissident subversion of foreign governments would become American foreign policy, part of a program informally known as “internet in a box.” While generally laudatory, Menn doesn't like all of them. Julian Assange and Jake Applebaum of Wikileaks and the TOR project are not portrayed sympathetically, "draping themselves in morality while serving other causes.” Assange was known for his sexual straying and his current behavior certainly distracts from the more positive aspects of Wikileaks.
Menn is also not afraid to criticism the industry proposing that cybersecurity problems today are at least partly the result of terrible business and engineering decisions made decades ago. These decisions caused problems that still exist. Whether the movement of the hacktivists into the world of corporate and individual greed will be able to remedy some of those structural problems without becoming part of the problem themselves remains to be seen.
To some extent it's the old story: countercultural anti-authoritarian types find success and join the corporate elites. How many Vietnam's most vocal protesters went on to become a prominent part of the culture they had so despised? Beto O'Rourke, one of the early cDc members is now running for President and another is security chief for Facebook! How well did that go...
Great read.
Cult of the Dead Cow is the facetious name of an early group of hackers (white hat) that began as a computer bulletin board (BBS). Consisting originally of bored but talented teenagers who enjoyed reverse engineering phone systems and early computer software, they evolved into "hactivists" (hackers with a mission), many of whom went on the become influential and and important members of the establishment.
Menn follows the individual careers of cDc members who initially focused on security flaws in Windows. They were completely apolitical but then morphed into " human rights activists and internet freedom advocates, eventually becoming security advisers for powerful institutions.
The hackers all started out delighting in discovering security holes in early Windows software but were dismayed by the reaction of the software giant when these holes were pointed out to them. The reaction was a large ho-hum. suggesting that and if you wanted to have a secure system, "go buy Windows NT. That's an irony since no one "buys" software, you buy a license which immunizes the software developer from accountability and permits them to see access to a product that's defective.
Their dismay is illustrated by this anecdote. The cDc had created a program that revealed the flaws in Windows but it was also a tool that could be used for less than savory purposes. They released it free to everyone as open source so others could revise and manipulate it. The establishment wasn't sure what to make of it. The FBI, while trying to discourage its release decided it didn't violate any existing laws. The anti-virus business was not pleased as it also showed how weak their software was, but many security professionals decided it was a necessary evil if for no other reason than to force Microsoft to fix their security holes. “Microsoft is evil because they sell crap.” One of the cDc members took a copy of the program on a CD to a Microsoft higher-up. He said thanks and was about to insert it into his CD-ROM drive when she, horror-stricken, asked if his computer was networked. It was. She then asked if it was sand-boxed (programs loaded were quarantined until proven safe.) No, was the response, to which she, shocked, pointed out to him that he was just about to load a program from someone he didn't know, a self-identified hacker, into a computer that was not sand-boxed and connected to his entire network and therefore completely vulnerable. That was their state of mind.
Eventually, major businesses realized how important these hackers were and many moved on to become security professionals. As their prominence grew so did the counterculture environment of the early movement begin to fade and they became more political especially after the Chinese student movement was squashed. They began to create software intended for use by dissidents and other cultural reformers, anyone anti-authoritarian.
Under Obama, through Hillary Clinton’s State Department, the hacktivism championed by Brown and the cDc to help with dissident subversion of foreign governments would become American foreign policy, part of a program informally known as “internet in a box.” While generally laudatory, Menn doesn't like all of them. Julian Assange and Jake Applebaum of Wikileaks and the TOR project are not portrayed sympathetically, "draping themselves in morality while serving other causes.” Assange was known for his sexual straying and his current behavior certainly distracts from the more positive aspects of Wikileaks.
Menn is also not afraid to criticism the industry proposing that cybersecurity problems today are at least partly the result of terrible business and engineering decisions made decades ago. These decisions caused problems that still exist. Whether the movement of the hacktivists into the world of corporate and individual greed will be able to remedy some of those structural problems without becoming part of the problem themselves remains to be seen.
To some extent it's the old story: countercultural anti-authoritarian types find success and join the corporate elites. How many Vietnam's most vocal protesters went on to become a prominent part of the culture they had so despised? Beto O'Rourke, one of the early cDc members is now running for President and another is security chief for Facebook! How well did that go...
Great read.
August 19, 2019
Inaccurate, poor pacing, and confused timelines and explanations. Mixed up the l0pht and CDC, glossed over some pretty major events and characters.
This isn't an accurate history, it's a story, and not a particular good one.
Overall this felt like a weak cash-in/tie-in of Beto O'Rourke's political ambitions.
You're much better off reading Bruce Sterling's "The Hacker Crackdown", which is more accurate, has better pacing and explanations, and is an infinitely better read.
This isn't an accurate history, it's a story, and not a particular good one.
Overall this felt like a weak cash-in/tie-in of Beto O'Rourke's political ambitions.
You're much better off reading Bruce Sterling's "The Hacker Crackdown", which is more accurate, has better pacing and explanations, and is an infinitely better read.
April 10, 2019
Working in computer science and security, I'm always interested to hear some of the history that built up the industry I'm involved in. I was provided a copy of Cult of the Dead Cow by Joseph Menn by NetGalley and Perseus Books for review.
The book is a really great deep dive history of the hacker collected Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) which has recently come back into focus with the presidential campaign of cDc member Beto O'Rourke. The coverage of the foundation and growth of cDc is truly in depth and that may stand as the biggest point in favor and against the book.
Names (both actual and of the hacker variety) abound and without your computer on your lap to continuously Google stuff that comes up, it got really challenging to keep track of all the players and their various contributions. The historical context of the group and their involvement in other high profile hacker groups, government agencies and non-profit groups was very interesting but it was a lot to parse.
I'd recommend this book to IT/IS and information security experts and anyone with a genuine love for the history of the internet and all it's corresponding parts and pieces. It's a dense read but worthwhile, though definitely not for everyone. I don't think I'd recommend this to a casual reader.
The book is a really great deep dive history of the hacker collected Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) which has recently come back into focus with the presidential campaign of cDc member Beto O'Rourke. The coverage of the foundation and growth of cDc is truly in depth and that may stand as the biggest point in favor and against the book.
Names (both actual and of the hacker variety) abound and without your computer on your lap to continuously Google stuff that comes up, it got really challenging to keep track of all the players and their various contributions. The historical context of the group and their involvement in other high profile hacker groups, government agencies and non-profit groups was very interesting but it was a lot to parse.
I'd recommend this book to IT/IS and information security experts and anyone with a genuine love for the history of the internet and all it's corresponding parts and pieces. It's a dense read but worthwhile, though definitely not for everyone. I don't think I'd recommend this to a casual reader.
September 1, 2019
CDC has reoriented themselves around kowtowing to the establishment national security apparatus, and has uncritically adopted requisite client worldview. This book is their official coming out party. China: bad. Russia: bad. Assange: bad. Snowden: bad. NSA: good. CIA: Good. Politicians who are bland centrist ciphers like Beto O'rourke: good. They've done this not to "make the world safe for democracy," but to line their pockets with the lucre that comes with peddling the snake oil security products that are part and parcel to the industry.
March 31, 2024
Історично склалося, що технологічні компанії мають тільки одну мету — заробляти гроші. Але лиш до того, як хтось втручається та змінює ситуацію. Книга знайомить нас з низкою таких “хтось”.
Одна з найскладніших книг які я читав. Написана репортером і в репортерському стилі - сотні чи навіть тисячі імен, десятки назв компаній і груп, згадки про 2600, WikiLeaks, Сноудена, Google, Apple, Facebook, АНБ, Росію, Китай, США та навіть Україну. Такий формат може бути підходящим для невеликої журнальної статті, та для книги, він, як на мене, складнуватий. Кожне речення перевантажене деталями, і щоб втримати цілісну сюжетну лінію в голові, треба добряче мізкувати, а то і по кілька разів перечитувати щойно прочитане. Переклад вузькоспеціалізованих термінів - це окреме питання, до українських локалізаторів - навіщо?
Книга-стаття занурює нас в часи електронних онлайн дошок і T-файлів, коли інтернет в основному використовувався для розваг і хизування. З часом кмітливці почали використовувати його для більш вагомих цілей, спочатку для жартів, потім для привернення уваги, та навіть для зміни думок і поглядів людей. Одним з переломних моментів, була вдала спроба привернути увагу Microsoft до безпеки Windows в кінці 90-х, що отримало назву Back Orifice. В результаті це добряче стимулювало додання цифрових підписів до програмного забезпечення. З часом однодумці розходилися, сходилися, працювали на різні компанії, в різних країнах, на різні країни, тощо. Всі шпигували за всіма, іноді перетинаючи межі професійної етики. Книга закінчується президентськими виборами, котрі виграв Трамп, там було цікаво.
Це нішева книга, яка буде цікава обмеженому колу людей. Звичайний читач може спокійно її пропускати.
Одна з найскладніших книг які я читав. Написана репортером і в репортерському стилі - сотні чи навіть тисячі імен, десятки назв компаній і груп, згадки про 2600, WikiLeaks, Сноудена, Google, Apple, Facebook, АНБ, Росію, Китай, США та навіть Україну. Такий формат може бути підходящим для невеликої журнальної статті, та для книги, він, як на мене, складнуватий. Кожне речення перевантажене деталями, і щоб втримати цілісну сюжетну лінію в голові, треба добряче мізкувати, а то і по кілька разів перечитувати щойно прочитане. Переклад вузькоспеціалізованих термінів - це окреме питання, до українських локалізаторів - навіщо?
Книга-стаття занурює нас в часи електронних онлайн дошок і T-файлів, коли інтернет в основному використовувався для розваг і хизування. З часом кмітливці почали використовувати його для більш вагомих цілей, спочатку для жартів, потім для привернення уваги, та навіть для зміни думок і поглядів людей. Одним з переломних моментів, була вдала спроба привернути увагу Microsoft до безпеки Windows в кінці 90-х, що отримало назву Back Orifice. В результаті це добряче стимулювало додання цифрових підписів до програмного забезпечення. З часом однодумці розходилися, сходилися, працювали на різні компанії, в різних країнах, на різні країни, тощо. Всі шпигували за всіма, іноді перетинаючи межі професійної етики. Книга закінчується президентськими виборами, котрі виграв Трамп, там було цікаво.
Це нішева книга, яка буде цікава обмеженому колу людей. Звичайний читач може спокійно її пропускати.
June 15, 2019
This is not a book for everyone.
The topic is very interesting and author is more then capable to write about it but this is incredibly dense book. I am a big non fiction fan. The facts and good research are very important to me, but here I had a feeling as if I was reading a collection of bullet points in PowerPoint presentation. The amount of information that author complied in just one page without giving a reader moment to digest was overwhelming and made reading a struggle. There was no flow.
I was really interested in a topic (history of the oldest and well known hacker group in the US called CDC) but the form was just too dense for my taste. I command author for a great research though, there was a lot of work put into this book.
The topic is very interesting and author is more then capable to write about it but this is incredibly dense book. I am a big non fiction fan. The facts and good research are very important to me, but here I had a feeling as if I was reading a collection of bullet points in PowerPoint presentation. The amount of information that author complied in just one page without giving a reader moment to digest was overwhelming and made reading a struggle. There was no flow.
I was really interested in a topic (history of the oldest and well known hacker group in the US called CDC) but the form was just too dense for my taste. I command author for a great research though, there was a lot of work put into this book.
June 23, 2019
I was waiting for this book, not because recent career of R. O'Rourke , but because I remember CDC from the ol' good times ;P I've used BO & BO2k and I wanted to learn more about the group.
Unfortunately, I didn't.
There's very little revealed, clearly the group has kept its integrity & 95% of meaty facts are still kept very private. Contrary to my fears, this is not a panegyric ode to RO'R (which is covered rather briefly, but very positively), but there's almost no content in it :( Author tries to exploit any thread that he could somehow (indirectly) link to CDC, but it's just annoying - not only because it's just too obvious, but also because he's just very speculative & doesn't bring many facts.
Big disappointment, even embarrassment.
1.5-1.7 stars.
Unfortunately, I didn't.
There's very little revealed, clearly the group has kept its integrity & 95% of meaty facts are still kept very private. Contrary to my fears, this is not a panegyric ode to RO'R (which is covered rather briefly, but very positively), but there's almost no content in it :( Author tries to exploit any thread that he could somehow (indirectly) link to CDC, but it's just annoying - not only because it's just too obvious, but also because he's just very speculative & doesn't bring many facts.
Big disappointment, even embarrassment.
1.5-1.7 stars.
April 9, 2022
Really great book about the history of hacking… I think many engineers, especially if you are interested in the security world would enjoy it.
The only thing I struggled with reading this is how the book was structured, is the stories felt extremely all over the place and to me it felt it was jumping around about different people in a random and non-chronological order. This made my reading experience harder to properly follow the events.
The only thing I struggled with reading this is how the book was structured, is the stories felt extremely all over the place and to me it felt it was jumping around about different people in a random and non-chronological order. This made my reading experience harder to properly follow the events.
May 16, 2021
Executive Summary: I've had this book on my radar for a bit. I was in the mood for some non-fiction was able to pick this up from the library. I thought it was interesting at times but not as good as some of the other books about the early days of hacking that I've read. 3.5 stars.
Full Review
I got my first computer in the late 80s, but didn't get my first modem until the mid 90s. I played around a bit on bulletin boards, but missed a lot of the heyday that lead to development of formation of the cDc.
I don't recall where I first encountered the cDc in my early internet travels. I never used any of their tools. I think I might have read a few of their t-files, but it was so long ago now that I can't really be sure. I was kind of curious to see what sort of things this book would cover. Turns out not a lot. You get some heavily curated history, but not any real juicy stories.
Unlike most other books I've read on this subject, much of the content comes directly from the people involved, rather than some kind of investigative journalist. That has led to some interesting anecdotes and inside knowledge, but can make the book feel a bit biased at times.
I found it a bit remenecist of Kevin Mitnick's book Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker where you sometimes had to take things with a bit of skepticism.
That said as someone who loves reading on the early days of the internet and hacker culture, this was a pretty enjoyable read overall. I wish we had gotten some more detail, but unlike Mr. Mitnick some of those details could lead to legal issues rather than recounting history they'd already served jail time for.
As a side note the author recommended the 8-part documentary series from 2005: BBS which includes some interviews with cDc members, (in particular during episode 6), and I probably found that even more enjoyable than this book.
Full Review
I got my first computer in the late 80s, but didn't get my first modem until the mid 90s. I played around a bit on bulletin boards, but missed a lot of the heyday that lead to development of formation of the cDc.
I don't recall where I first encountered the cDc in my early internet travels. I never used any of their tools. I think I might have read a few of their t-files, but it was so long ago now that I can't really be sure. I was kind of curious to see what sort of things this book would cover. Turns out not a lot. You get some heavily curated history, but not any real juicy stories.
Unlike most other books I've read on this subject, much of the content comes directly from the people involved, rather than some kind of investigative journalist. That has led to some interesting anecdotes and inside knowledge, but can make the book feel a bit biased at times.
I found it a bit remenecist of Kevin Mitnick's book Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker where you sometimes had to take things with a bit of skepticism.
That said as someone who loves reading on the early days of the internet and hacker culture, this was a pretty enjoyable read overall. I wish we had gotten some more detail, but unlike Mr. Mitnick some of those details could lead to legal issues rather than recounting history they'd already served jail time for.
As a side note the author recommended the 8-part documentary series from 2005: BBS which includes some interviews with cDc members, (in particular during episode 6), and I probably found that even more enjoyable than this book.
August 24, 2019
Disclaimer: I work in tech so this may be more interesting to me but if you want a really good view at how companies have avoided security in lieu of profit this is the history of the internet. Hackers often viewed as evil really spawned a lot of the improved security we are seeing today.
April 9, 2022
It is an interesting topic to read on but I found the book too boring to read for me.
This book may just interest you if you are interested in the history and feats of CDC
This book may just interest you if you are interested in the history and feats of CDC
March 29, 2023
No one in the world is a bigger fan of tech industry people, than tech industry people. Joseph, I have a bone to pick with you.
OK actually, Joseph, don't read this. I have a lot of Very Mean Things To Say about this work. Point number one, of one! -- I’m disappointed. This year I have been obsessively interested in early internet history but know jack shit about coding, so I was super excited to find out this book existed. Unfortunately I feel like this book was not actually written with the intent of informing the reader about hacking, nor even really reporting on the culture of the hacking world.
This feels like a book written for a person who works in tech, is VERY proud of themselves, and they want to tell someone else that they read a book about Cult of the Dead Cow.
For the first 8 chapters or so, Menn engages in a staggering amount of flattery. For example, we begin with a very, very, very long backstory, about how cDc successfully trolled the media in their early years and took advantage of people's general computer illiteracy in order to scare everyone. This much checks out. However, Menn's story would have you believe that there wasn’t a single person with computer literacy nor common sense at the time, unless they were a super megamind galaxy brain hacker. The way I found out about cDc in the first place was by watching the Net Cafe episode "Hackers", a mid-90's PBS tech show in which cDc members were interviewed and asked *outright* how much they were fucking with the media, and how seriously they took themselves. And hey, maybe my singular point of reference is an anomaly, but that Net Cafe episode felt like a much more on-the-level assessment of cDc, especially since those cDc members leveled with the interviewer. The book appears to be dick-riding in contrast.
In fact, cDc regularly appears to be more critical of themselves than Menn, throughout quite a bit of the book. He quotes member Kevin Wheeler when he's reviewing new members applying to be part of cDc: “These guys are all tech guys… why are we 95% white males?” Menn doesn’t have an answer for this, instead he follows the question up with glowing compliments: “It was true… the new tech talent attracted more like themselves: highly educated, curious technologists, with a skeptical view of the world.” Bro, I can't lie, this had me cringing into a fucking black hole.
We're also meant to think that cDc members are cool and edgy, as we're regularly reminded that these guys are into music and drugs. Wow so cool! Love it. Menn in the same breath illustrates how “rough” one of the locations of the hacker homes is by stating that “Luke once caught a woman hiding behind his bulk to smoke crack on the sidewalk”. I really can’t believe an editor didn’t catch this.
Speaking of cool, I think it’s kind of telling how rarely 'Wanting To Be Cool' comes up in relation to 'Being A Hacker'. Time and again it’s brought up how these guys are ACTUALLY, ACTUALLY motivated by altruism. Honestly I think the cDc members are genuine about this. But why don't we get any connective tissue between edgy coolness and the behaviour that becomes tolerated via edgy coolness? For example, the cDc’s lax treatment of racism within the community is touched upon only much later in the history of the group, towards the end of the book. It comes up in the form of cDc members supposedly knowing the difference between edgy humor and Actual Racism. Lol that's so crazy that your group is 95% white males!
This all, more-or-less, highlights my feelings in general about hacktivism slash vigilantism.
Can it be good? Maybe. But based on the information gleaned here, these are not the vigilantes I'm hoping for, personally. Standing here in the absolute wreck of 2023, the book's subtitle: “How The Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save The World” feels COMPLETELY insane.
The contents of Cult of the Dead Cow feel like they’re fighting against the cDc’s own ethos. I don't feel like I'm getting a raw feed of disseminated information, I feel like I'm getting two thirds of a puff piece plus one third of a Wikipedia article read aloud. Around chapter 9 the book becomes a relatively straightforward, if shallow account of cyber security headlines from 2010-ish through 2018ish. This part would maybe sit better with me, if I hadn't spent so much time reading fluff-- and if those later, presumably better documented years, made up more of the book.
Perhaps these are my own off-topic expectations, but if I wanted to write a book about hackers, I would actually make an effort to introduce the layman to the inner-workings of the computer with, say, an analogy or two? Any kind of explanation of what cDc members were actually doing all day. You could at least give me as much information on the Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generator as you do the origin story of Laird's hacker name.
After all, if you don’t actually have any interest in computer literacy, then why write about the cDc in the first place?
Unfortunately, too much of this book is a mythologizing account about how a bunch of nerds were actually megamind troll geniuses, always several steps ahead of everyone else. It's yet another patch in the infinitely expanding quilt of tech people writing their own glorious history. And I didn't even TOUCH on the international political stuff, but I would have to write my own book if I were to start in on that.
Sorry, I had a lot to say because I had really high expectations. That was all very mean. Get good at writing. Lol. Lmao.
OK actually, Joseph, don't read this. I have a lot of Very Mean Things To Say about this work. Point number one, of one! -- I’m disappointed. This year I have been obsessively interested in early internet history but know jack shit about coding, so I was super excited to find out this book existed. Unfortunately I feel like this book was not actually written with the intent of informing the reader about hacking, nor even really reporting on the culture of the hacking world.
This feels like a book written for a person who works in tech, is VERY proud of themselves, and they want to tell someone else that they read a book about Cult of the Dead Cow.
For the first 8 chapters or so, Menn engages in a staggering amount of flattery. For example, we begin with a very, very, very long backstory, about how cDc successfully trolled the media in their early years and took advantage of people's general computer illiteracy in order to scare everyone. This much checks out. However, Menn's story would have you believe that there wasn’t a single person with computer literacy nor common sense at the time, unless they were a super megamind galaxy brain hacker. The way I found out about cDc in the first place was by watching the Net Cafe episode "Hackers", a mid-90's PBS tech show in which cDc members were interviewed and asked *outright* how much they were fucking with the media, and how seriously they took themselves. And hey, maybe my singular point of reference is an anomaly, but that Net Cafe episode felt like a much more on-the-level assessment of cDc, especially since those cDc members leveled with the interviewer. The book appears to be dick-riding in contrast.
In fact, cDc regularly appears to be more critical of themselves than Menn, throughout quite a bit of the book. He quotes member Kevin Wheeler when he's reviewing new members applying to be part of cDc: “These guys are all tech guys… why are we 95% white males?” Menn doesn’t have an answer for this, instead he follows the question up with glowing compliments: “It was true… the new tech talent attracted more like themselves: highly educated, curious technologists, with a skeptical view of the world.” Bro, I can't lie, this had me cringing into a fucking black hole.
We're also meant to think that cDc members are cool and edgy, as we're regularly reminded that these guys are into music and drugs. Wow so cool! Love it. Menn in the same breath illustrates how “rough” one of the locations of the hacker homes is by stating that “Luke once caught a woman hiding behind his bulk to smoke crack on the sidewalk”. I really can’t believe an editor didn’t catch this.
Speaking of cool, I think it’s kind of telling how rarely 'Wanting To Be Cool' comes up in relation to 'Being A Hacker'. Time and again it’s brought up how these guys are ACTUALLY, ACTUALLY motivated by altruism. Honestly I think the cDc members are genuine about this. But why don't we get any connective tissue between edgy coolness and the behaviour that becomes tolerated via edgy coolness? For example, the cDc’s lax treatment of racism within the community is touched upon only much later in the history of the group, towards the end of the book. It comes up in the form of cDc members supposedly knowing the difference between edgy humor and Actual Racism. Lol that's so crazy that your group is 95% white males!
This all, more-or-less, highlights my feelings in general about hacktivism slash vigilantism.
Can it be good? Maybe. But based on the information gleaned here, these are not the vigilantes I'm hoping for, personally. Standing here in the absolute wreck of 2023, the book's subtitle: “How The Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save The World” feels COMPLETELY insane.
The contents of Cult of the Dead Cow feel like they’re fighting against the cDc’s own ethos. I don't feel like I'm getting a raw feed of disseminated information, I feel like I'm getting two thirds of a puff piece plus one third of a Wikipedia article read aloud. Around chapter 9 the book becomes a relatively straightforward, if shallow account of cyber security headlines from 2010-ish through 2018ish. This part would maybe sit better with me, if I hadn't spent so much time reading fluff-- and if those later, presumably better documented years, made up more of the book.
Perhaps these are my own off-topic expectations, but if I wanted to write a book about hackers, I would actually make an effort to introduce the layman to the inner-workings of the computer with, say, an analogy or two? Any kind of explanation of what cDc members were actually doing all day. You could at least give me as much information on the Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generator as you do the origin story of Laird's hacker name.
After all, if you don’t actually have any interest in computer literacy, then why write about the cDc in the first place?
Unfortunately, too much of this book is a mythologizing account about how a bunch of nerds were actually megamind troll geniuses, always several steps ahead of everyone else. It's yet another patch in the infinitely expanding quilt of tech people writing their own glorious history. And I didn't even TOUCH on the international political stuff, but I would have to write my own book if I were to start in on that.
Sorry, I had a lot to say because I had really high expectations. That was all very mean. Get good at writing. Lol. Lmao.
June 15, 2019
El título no es nada presuntuoso. Las acciones tomadas por algunas personas en la escena de la seguridad informática ha cambiado el mundo como lo vivimos. Tanto así que puedo vincular esta reseña a las consecuencias de nuestro entorno digital: información personal y perfiles asociados, privacidad y transmisión de los datos, preservación de la información, espionaje, algoritmos de aprendizaje y lamentablemente, armamento tecnológico. Hemos visto los escándalos como el de Cambridge Analytica, a diario escuchamos que algún sitió fué vulnerado dejando al descubierto de cientos a miles de perfiles o bien, recibimos correos indeseados que buscan explotar alguna vulnerabilidad en nuestra computadora o móvil. Todo esto ha sido advertido por profesionales del computo desde hace años donde los miembros del cDc han jugado un papel esencial en esa historia.
El libro es un excelente trabajo periodístico que relata los origenes y el paso del tiempo hasta nuestros días del grupo hacktivista cDc: Cult of the Dead Cow. Describe hechos históricos de los que sus miembros fueron directa o indirectamente protagonistas. Sobre todo, de aquellos que decidieron poner a la luz su pertenencia al grupo en la vida real (¿alejados del teclado?). Algunos tienen posiciones gerenciales altas en corporaciones que afectan la vida de millones tal como Facebook, Google o Yahoo. Incluso, un dato que estará sonando en los próximos años es acerca del político estadounidense Beto O'Rourke quien fué miembro del grupo.
Un punto a resaltar (que me pareció excelente encontrar) es la reflexión ética que se presenta. El autor la hace notar desde la perspectiva de los miembros del grupo y los profesionales del cómputo. Sin embargo, hace un llamado personal a darle mayor importancia a nivel institucional.
La razón de dar 3 estrellas (mas como un 3.5) es que me quedé ávido de escuchar mas historias relacionadas en el plano internacional . Si bien mencionan el caso de Pegasus (documentado por Aristegui quien también fue objetivo del espionaje por el gobierno mexicano) o bien la historia de FinFisher; a manera de supoción, creo que las relaciones del grupo fueron o son mucho mas extensas en el plano global.
-----
Este fue mi primer libro en formato de audio. Puede que algunos detalles los haya perdido por esta razón; sin embargo, disfruté bastante la narración y el epílogo es fundamental.
El libro es un excelente trabajo periodístico que relata los origenes y el paso del tiempo hasta nuestros días del grupo hacktivista cDc: Cult of the Dead Cow. Describe hechos históricos de los que sus miembros fueron directa o indirectamente protagonistas. Sobre todo, de aquellos que decidieron poner a la luz su pertenencia al grupo en la vida real (¿alejados del teclado?). Algunos tienen posiciones gerenciales altas en corporaciones que afectan la vida de millones tal como Facebook, Google o Yahoo. Incluso, un dato que estará sonando en los próximos años es acerca del político estadounidense Beto O'Rourke quien fué miembro del grupo.
Un punto a resaltar (que me pareció excelente encontrar) es la reflexión ética que se presenta. El autor la hace notar desde la perspectiva de los miembros del grupo y los profesionales del cómputo. Sin embargo, hace un llamado personal a darle mayor importancia a nivel institucional.
La razón de dar 3 estrellas (mas como un 3.5) es que me quedé ávido de escuchar mas historias relacionadas en el plano internacional . Si bien mencionan el caso de Pegasus (documentado por Aristegui quien también fue objetivo del espionaje por el gobierno mexicano) o bien la historia de FinFisher; a manera de supoción, creo que las relaciones del grupo fueron o son mucho mas extensas en el plano global.
-----
Este fue mi primer libro en formato de audio. Puede que algunos detalles los haya perdido por esta razón; sin embargo, disfruté bastante la narración y el epílogo es fundamental.
June 1, 2020
**WARNING: This book is highly politically charged and written by the author with a very clear political agenda.**
This is my first experience with this and I am highly disappointed. This could have been a much better book and would have deserved a much better rating, if the author didn't vomit his political views all over the pages within this book.
I first heard about cDc back in the late 90's when I was active on mIRC and really big into online gaming. cDc, myg0t, l0pht were also gamers back then and I probably 1v1'd them in mulch_dm for all I know. So when I saw this book available I was super excited to actually learn more about what they were actually doing back then. Me at the time... I was more worried about my upcoming OGL, IGL, GFL, STL matches. If you actually know what any of these acronyms are referring to... you are very familar with the golden age of online gaming and competitive online gaming leagues.
Anyway.. back to this cDc book, which I say again, could have been a very enjoyable read if it wasn't so twisted by the authors political opinions.
This book is full of drug use glamorization, anti-establishment/anti-authority viewpoints, and totally unsubstantiated and highly opinionated political crap.
If your political party aligns with the authors, you're into acid, and you think the government is out to get you ... you will probably love this book.
If you are looking for a professional development type book on technology, hacking, and the history of the cDC... I imagine you will feel the same way I did after reading this and feel like you need to go take a shower afterwards.
I was tempted to give this 2 stars, but after reading over my review before hitting submit.... yeah, it deserves a 1.
Save your self the ~300 pages. Just go to Wikipedia and type in the search box "Cult of the Dead Cow" and you'll be far better off.
I highly recommend staying away from this one!
This is my first experience with this and I am highly disappointed. This could have been a much better book and would have deserved a much better rating, if the author didn't vomit his political views all over the pages within this book.
I first heard about cDc back in the late 90's when I was active on mIRC and really big into online gaming. cDc, myg0t, l0pht were also gamers back then and I probably 1v1'd them in mulch_dm for all I know. So when I saw this book available I was super excited to actually learn more about what they were actually doing back then. Me at the time... I was more worried about my upcoming OGL, IGL, GFL, STL matches. If you actually know what any of these acronyms are referring to... you are very familar with the golden age of online gaming and competitive online gaming leagues.
Anyway.. back to this cDc book, which I say again, could have been a very enjoyable read if it wasn't so twisted by the authors political opinions.
This book is full of drug use glamorization, anti-establishment/anti-authority viewpoints, and totally unsubstantiated and highly opinionated political crap.
If your political party aligns with the authors, you're into acid, and you think the government is out to get you ... you will probably love this book.
If you are looking for a professional development type book on technology, hacking, and the history of the cDC... I imagine you will feel the same way I did after reading this and feel like you need to go take a shower afterwards.
I was tempted to give this 2 stars, but after reading over my review before hitting submit.... yeah, it deserves a 1.
Save your self the ~300 pages. Just go to Wikipedia and type in the search box "Cult of the Dead Cow" and you'll be far better off.
I highly recommend staying away from this one!
October 2, 2019
High level review: The author is clearly a great researcher but really didn’t execute well on pulling it all together into something that was fluid and engaging.
Interesting history and collection of information about overall evolution of hackers and hacker culture, but the book sinks as it is weighted down by detailed minutiae / factual documentation. I don’t need to know the exact date and time of a every small hangout that happened in the 80s. At times this reads like a list of names and shoutouts to individual people (who are not public figures) and the narrative storyline is totally lost / secondary.
And yet - so many details that I was interested in and questions I wanted answered are left out. I kept wanting to understand more of the technical sequence of discovery and security defenses. I wanted to understand specific stories of how individuals were hacking and learning and evolving.
The tone is a bit heavy handed congratulatory / in awe but doesn’t actually explain in real terms what exactly the CDC was doing that was new / different / genius that justified the reverence. The reader has to do work to filter out the meaningless info and connect the dots to infer the narrative.
Interesting history and collection of information about overall evolution of hackers and hacker culture, but the book sinks as it is weighted down by detailed minutiae / factual documentation. I don’t need to know the exact date and time of a every small hangout that happened in the 80s. At times this reads like a list of names and shoutouts to individual people (who are not public figures) and the narrative storyline is totally lost / secondary.
And yet - so many details that I was interested in and questions I wanted answered are left out. I kept wanting to understand more of the technical sequence of discovery and security defenses. I wanted to understand specific stories of how individuals were hacking and learning and evolving.
The tone is a bit heavy handed congratulatory / in awe but doesn’t actually explain in real terms what exactly the CDC was doing that was new / different / genius that justified the reverence. The reader has to do work to filter out the meaningless info and connect the dots to infer the narrative.
October 12, 2023
I remember cDc text files and an occasional cracked software package from the BBS era of the 90s. Fascinating how the curious teenagers grew up and spread around to influence topics from WikiLeaks, Russian info ops, Valley tech companies and even US presidential elections with a candidate.
Also cool: positioning original hacker culture as "critical thinking" the world is dearly lacking and should cherish more.
Also cool: positioning original hacker culture as "critical thinking" the world is dearly lacking and should cherish more.
December 2, 2020
I'm still completely unsure what possessed me to search out this book and read it, but I am so glad I did. I saw it on Goodreads from a guy I went to HS with, who does not have the same taste in books as me, and I was immediately intrigued. Hacking has always fascinated me. The movie/book persona of hacking. I know nothing of coding/programming/hardware/cyber-security. I ask my teenager often for help when I need assistance on my computer. I am amazed that this book pulled me in and most of the time I knew what they were talking about. I assumed I would get it from the library, read a few pages and give up. Instead I kept reading and learning, fascinated by the whole history that I knew nothing about and this whole other side of hacking besides some asshole that steals my credit card number. The people around me heard way more about hacking this week than they ever wanted to.
This introduced to me this whole concept that hackers began as a sort of guardians of the internet as they saw how quickly it was growing and completely unchecked with no thought given to security of data. Hackers made their point by breaking into a company's data/software and exposing how easily it could be done to force their hand to fix it. The Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) was a pre-internet hacking group: which I also had no idea existed like dork communes who had conferences, newsletters and everything. Different hacking groups had different priorities, some were to be assholes, but the cDc prided themselves on trying to fix the internet and by extension the world. They didn't always do so legally, but they did have a very strong code of morality. Most often they would find an issue, share it with the company and give them time to fix it and if they didn't they would go public: inviting hackers everywhere to reek havoc on their system. And they would share information with the FBI and other government agencies to ensure security.
They also went global against countries who censor and spy on their citizens. Finding ways behind the Chinese Firewall and giving access to its citizens. They also worked closely with exiled Tibetans in securing their systems that were full of spyware from the Chinese government. And similar projects with against government censure and spying on both dissidents and ordinary citizens. They testified in Congressional hearings, they became the first Security Directors of major software companies, and they went to work for government agencies, often as contractors because no one would give them a security clearance.
Like all groups with any longevity there were highlights and embarrassments, victories and scandal. The members and alumni of this exclusive group are a who's who of the IT world (if I had known who those people were beforehand) up to and including presidential candidate, Beto O'Rourke.
If I had a complaint about this book it's that there were so many players (and their code names) that it was hard to keep them all straight.
The book wraps up in present day going over security breaches and the role of social media during the 2016 election.
Like I said, I found this all highly fascinating and eye-opening to issues I was only vaguely aware of, if at all. If you loved watching Netflix, Social Dilemma, I would recommend this to dive deeper into the technology that rules our everyday life.
This introduced to me this whole concept that hackers began as a sort of guardians of the internet as they saw how quickly it was growing and completely unchecked with no thought given to security of data. Hackers made their point by breaking into a company's data/software and exposing how easily it could be done to force their hand to fix it. The Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) was a pre-internet hacking group: which I also had no idea existed like dork communes who had conferences, newsletters and everything. Different hacking groups had different priorities, some were to be assholes, but the cDc prided themselves on trying to fix the internet and by extension the world. They didn't always do so legally, but they did have a very strong code of morality. Most often they would find an issue, share it with the company and give them time to fix it and if they didn't they would go public: inviting hackers everywhere to reek havoc on their system. And they would share information with the FBI and other government agencies to ensure security.
They also went global against countries who censor and spy on their citizens. Finding ways behind the Chinese Firewall and giving access to its citizens. They also worked closely with exiled Tibetans in securing their systems that were full of spyware from the Chinese government. And similar projects with against government censure and spying on both dissidents and ordinary citizens. They testified in Congressional hearings, they became the first Security Directors of major software companies, and they went to work for government agencies, often as contractors because no one would give them a security clearance.
Like all groups with any longevity there were highlights and embarrassments, victories and scandal. The members and alumni of this exclusive group are a who's who of the IT world (if I had known who those people were beforehand) up to and including presidential candidate, Beto O'Rourke.
If I had a complaint about this book it's that there were so many players (and their code names) that it was hard to keep them all straight.
The book wraps up in present day going over security breaches and the role of social media during the 2016 election.
Like I said, I found this all highly fascinating and eye-opening to issues I was only vaguely aware of, if at all. If you loved watching Netflix, Social Dilemma, I would recommend this to dive deeper into the technology that rules our everyday life.
November 19, 2022
This book quickly went from a two-star to a four-star investigative reporting. If you're a general reader like me, the first three chapters don't make sense. It was a litany of events and names and don't make sense unless you're already an insider and this is another layer of insider information. The author forgot to include the analysis of why we have to care about these events and numerous people and their handles (a multitude listing of soft drug events and basic juvenile naughtiness)! Let me do the analysis for you.
The first three chapters outline the rise of hacking among outsiders finding their community. So the accounts of rebel musicians, artists, poets and writers littered the early cDc community. It helps that a simple tool such as writing .txt files require little coding expertise except minimal hacking of dial-up long distance connections and creating BBS (bulletin boards). These are tinkerers and Makers who were isolated and looking for like minded people. The early online technology paved the way for early sharing of files and ideas.
The succeeding chapters up until about six, show an evolution of community composition. You can see the lines moving towards a very educated white male group that were highly aware of the impending control and influence of the internet but we're also coding geniuses that saw the impending doom of insecure infrastructures. This gave the rise of a generation of cDc that were cryptographers and security coders. Exactly what early cDc artist rebel founders saw as an exclusionary principle in the community. This historical juncture included the growing occurrence of like to like chains of connections that predisposed the reproduction of similar player backgrounds coming from elite universities and partly explained the lack of diversity at the top. Even Mudge's wife Sarah merely got
a one liner towards the end eventhough apparently she is a hacker herself and worked with him on big projects like the consumer report for security.
However with the explosion of technology evolution by the late 90's to early 2000, the rise and influence of ultra elite hackers would become lords of the programming community. (The diversity field shrinks drastically, whether there are less female hack geniuses than we know remains to be seen if they are structurally eliminated before we know it). If you connect this book with others, say Clive Thompson's Coder and and Mary Gray's and Siddharth Suri's Ghost work, the global programming hierarchy becomes evident. At the top, you will have a handful, here, mainly 2-3 individuals trafficking and correcting the programming errors and bugs of everyone else as an outcome of developing software. (The everyone else category more broadly include some diverse players with minorities playing at the very bottom ring and doing blue collar code work). This is a common denominator across these books (include the damning report by Nadya Eghbal's called Roads and Bridges about the precarious state of open source software maintenance). The key difference here is that cDc is concerned about security. All this digital infrastructure so weak and unsecured stemming from the time of Windows 95 and 98, platforms we all used and up until the mid- 2000 a lot of bureaucratic machines are run in this OS.
After chapter 6, this what made it interesting, the recent history of events, bad actors, and players become relatable to the average Joe. The insider relationship between cDc with Wikileaks and how the latter group contributed to the Trump campaign. The conversation and the author himself now added analysis and more context to the moral imperative in security issues. You'll get to read the pathways of defensive and offensive programming behind the NSA, DARPA and the private sectors. Since the elite hackers are such a tiny community of less than 10 or so, these people shift between government, private, and non profit. As the last defenders and beacons of security, these individuals had to move from highly paid work to survive periods of unpaid project work to develop their own ideas and programs that would essentially save the world. This is again common, there's no money in good voluntary work. As such, hackers moved through different spaces and pathways to sustain themselves financially and emotionally. The stories of Mudge and Christien Roux is one of the more organized chapters that show the different impact in the government (DARPA) and private sector (veracode and hailstone) for thinking and doing security.
The latter chapters turn to the significance of the moral imperative in all hacking and security issues. This is where it becomes quite significant. Ultimately, while the author didn't explicitly discuss it, moral codes are the last bastion and foundation of how security should be done especially with the advent and power of platforms into our lives. This leads to the importance of data rights but also when leaking information becomes detrimental. Out of the cDc community evolved members who became extremists and racists (NSF) and embroiled in sexual assaults (Jake Applebaum and Julien Assange). The author ties up together separate accounts of Snowden, Wikileaks, and cDc to make sense of a cohesive issue of morality embroiling the security community. I actually read the book because I wanted to know more how Beto O'Rourke was involved with cDc. I didn't get much because he was a fringe player at cDc but I got how important his run was for the unknown cDc today. Obviously he dropped so early from the race because despite all the money and free press publicity and grooming he got from pundits, the DNC itself was to blame for lacking any vision (they ignored security recommendations even after the hacking). Personally, he didn't have the overall vision and platform like @AndrewYang to confront the ills of capitalism head-on for the general population.
Stick to this book beyond the early hippie chapters and you'll be rewarded with some short oneliners and inside scoop into Facebook, Yahoo, and Mueller reports and all sorts of stuff you read from headlines. If the mainstream press doesn't give you the full story, this one, though incoherent at times, ties up some pieces (e.g. did Cambridge Analytica misuse Facebook info? Yes and no. Were Russians behind it? Yes and no.) It's one book to understand the evolving complexity of money, politics, and digital security. But you would have to do this yourself critically as the author became engrossed in the details and missed the forest for the trees. The trees were the great journalist scoop! The author also suggested great secondary reading and careful of attribution. It's always a good sign. I'll have to move on to the other work by Gabriella Coleman on Coding Freedom.
The first three chapters outline the rise of hacking among outsiders finding their community. So the accounts of rebel musicians, artists, poets and writers littered the early cDc community. It helps that a simple tool such as writing .txt files require little coding expertise except minimal hacking of dial-up long distance connections and creating BBS (bulletin boards). These are tinkerers and Makers who were isolated and looking for like minded people. The early online technology paved the way for early sharing of files and ideas.
The succeeding chapters up until about six, show an evolution of community composition. You can see the lines moving towards a very educated white male group that were highly aware of the impending control and influence of the internet but we're also coding geniuses that saw the impending doom of insecure infrastructures. This gave the rise of a generation of cDc that were cryptographers and security coders. Exactly what early cDc artist rebel founders saw as an exclusionary principle in the community. This historical juncture included the growing occurrence of like to like chains of connections that predisposed the reproduction of similar player backgrounds coming from elite universities and partly explained the lack of diversity at the top. Even Mudge's wife Sarah merely got
a one liner towards the end eventhough apparently she is a hacker herself and worked with him on big projects like the consumer report for security.
However with the explosion of technology evolution by the late 90's to early 2000, the rise and influence of ultra elite hackers would become lords of the programming community. (The diversity field shrinks drastically, whether there are less female hack geniuses than we know remains to be seen if they are structurally eliminated before we know it). If you connect this book with others, say Clive Thompson's Coder and and Mary Gray's and Siddharth Suri's Ghost work, the global programming hierarchy becomes evident. At the top, you will have a handful, here, mainly 2-3 individuals trafficking and correcting the programming errors and bugs of everyone else as an outcome of developing software. (The everyone else category more broadly include some diverse players with minorities playing at the very bottom ring and doing blue collar code work). This is a common denominator across these books (include the damning report by Nadya Eghbal's called Roads and Bridges about the precarious state of open source software maintenance). The key difference here is that cDc is concerned about security. All this digital infrastructure so weak and unsecured stemming from the time of Windows 95 and 98, platforms we all used and up until the mid- 2000 a lot of bureaucratic machines are run in this OS.
After chapter 6, this what made it interesting, the recent history of events, bad actors, and players become relatable to the average Joe. The insider relationship between cDc with Wikileaks and how the latter group contributed to the Trump campaign. The conversation and the author himself now added analysis and more context to the moral imperative in security issues. You'll get to read the pathways of defensive and offensive programming behind the NSA, DARPA and the private sectors. Since the elite hackers are such a tiny community of less than 10 or so, these people shift between government, private, and non profit. As the last defenders and beacons of security, these individuals had to move from highly paid work to survive periods of unpaid project work to develop their own ideas and programs that would essentially save the world. This is again common, there's no money in good voluntary work. As such, hackers moved through different spaces and pathways to sustain themselves financially and emotionally. The stories of Mudge and Christien Roux is one of the more organized chapters that show the different impact in the government (DARPA) and private sector (veracode and hailstone) for thinking and doing security.
The latter chapters turn to the significance of the moral imperative in all hacking and security issues. This is where it becomes quite significant. Ultimately, while the author didn't explicitly discuss it, moral codes are the last bastion and foundation of how security should be done especially with the advent and power of platforms into our lives. This leads to the importance of data rights but also when leaking information becomes detrimental. Out of the cDc community evolved members who became extremists and racists (NSF) and embroiled in sexual assaults (Jake Applebaum and Julien Assange). The author ties up together separate accounts of Snowden, Wikileaks, and cDc to make sense of a cohesive issue of morality embroiling the security community. I actually read the book because I wanted to know more how Beto O'Rourke was involved with cDc. I didn't get much because he was a fringe player at cDc but I got how important his run was for the unknown cDc today. Obviously he dropped so early from the race because despite all the money and free press publicity and grooming he got from pundits, the DNC itself was to blame for lacking any vision (they ignored security recommendations even after the hacking). Personally, he didn't have the overall vision and platform like @AndrewYang to confront the ills of capitalism head-on for the general population.
Stick to this book beyond the early hippie chapters and you'll be rewarded with some short oneliners and inside scoop into Facebook, Yahoo, and Mueller reports and all sorts of stuff you read from headlines. If the mainstream press doesn't give you the full story, this one, though incoherent at times, ties up some pieces (e.g. did Cambridge Analytica misuse Facebook info? Yes and no. Were Russians behind it? Yes and no.) It's one book to understand the evolving complexity of money, politics, and digital security. But you would have to do this yourself critically as the author became engrossed in the details and missed the forest for the trees. The trees were the great journalist scoop! The author also suggested great secondary reading and careful of attribution. It's always a good sign. I'll have to move on to the other work by Gabriella Coleman on Coding Freedom.
August 22, 2025
Читається це швидше як історія про культуру інтернету, ніж про технічні хаки. Про те, як купа жартів, тролінгу, фейків і підліткової безбашеності раптом виросли в політичну силу, яка почала голосно говорити про свободу інформації та безпеку цензури. Тож по суті це історія інтернет-панку, який став серйозним.
«Ми були більше культурним явищем, ніж технічним».
Мені найбільше сподобалась ідея, що для cDc код - це була форма протесту. Історії про їхні утиліти й програмни, напр. Back Orifice виглядав як троян, але насправді був маніфестом: подивіться, наскільки дирява ваша безпека, ви можете краще. Це, власне, і є хартмівізм - ламати, щоб показати проблему, а не просто зламати. А також, що комп’ютерні злами можуть мати моральний сенс, як протест чи акція громадянської непокори.
Якщо читати тако між рядків, то там проглядається й чітке попередження: корпораціям завжди, завжди буде глибоко в байдужісінько до вашої безпеки, якщо ви самі про неї не подбаєте. І в цьому хактивізм cDc звучить дохіба актуально зараз.
Може не для кожного, розраховано швидше на вузький спектр, та й написано доволі складно. Це репортаж із багатьма деталями, бекґраундом, вставками з інтерв’ю , тьмою імен та історичними контекстами, але загалом захопливо дізнаватись як поступово формувалась кібербезпека, народжувались перші політичні рухи онлайн і як усе це впливало на інфо простір. Місцями важко читати, зате відчуваєш, що це справжня «археологія інтернету»
«Ми були більше культурним явищем, ніж технічним».
Мені найбільше сподобалась ідея, що для cDc код - це була форма протесту. Історії про їхні утиліти й програмни, напр. Back Orifice виглядав як троян, але насправді був маніфестом: подивіться, наскільки дирява ваша безпека, ви можете краще. Це, власне, і є хартмівізм - ламати, щоб показати проблему, а не просто зламати. А також, що комп’ютерні злами можуть мати моральний сенс, як протест чи акція громадянської непокори.
Якщо читати тако між рядків, то там проглядається й чітке попередження: корпораціям завжди, завжди буде глибоко в байдужісінько до вашої безпеки, якщо ви самі про неї не подбаєте. І в цьому хактивізм cDc звучить дохіба актуально зараз.
Може не для кожного, розраховано швидше на вузький спектр, та й написано доволі складно. Це репортаж із багатьма деталями, бекґраундом, вставками з інтерв’ю , тьмою імен та історичними контекстами, але загалом захопливо дізнаватись як поступово формувалась кібербезпека, народжувались перші політичні рухи онлайн і як усе це впливало на інфо простір. Місцями важко читати, зате відчуваєш, що це справжня «археологія інтернету»
March 20, 2025
А дійсно могла б. Зараз і правда велика криза в питанні етики, просто згадайде, що зараз коїться з цим так званним "ШІ". Книга мене дуже надихнула, а точніше всі ці гакерські групи за часів динозаврів з dial-up модемами, а також в дечому здивувала, наприклад, інформацією щодо виборів в США. Я й сам досить ідейна людина зі своїми історіями гакінгу та програмування, яка постійно намагалася нести цінності волі та конфіденційності в технічному плані у маси, тому мене підбадьорює те, що я не один такий, те що були такі класні люди, що намагалися зробити суспільство кращим, замість того аби просто егоїстично живитися тим, що тобі дає капіталізм. Знаєте, це мене мотивує і далі працювати над тим аби змінювати суспільство і поширювати свою ідеологію з ти же Fedivers-ом чи Open Source кодом.
Додам ще що переклад не дуже, деякі слова мають неправильну транслітерацію, зросійшення чи машинно перекладені. Схоже автор перекладу не дуже знайомий з технічним світом. Ще там багато дуже іноземних імен які важко запам'ятати, тож постійно плутаєшся. Проте від цього книга не стає поганою, я отримав щире задоволення читаючи цю історію, ба більше написав історію свого проєкту надихнувшися стилем оповіді.
Додам ще що переклад не дуже, деякі слова мають неправильну транслітерацію, зросійшення чи машинно перекладені. Схоже автор перекладу не дуже знайомий з технічним світом. Ще там багато дуже іноземних імен які важко запам'ятати, тож постійно плутаєшся. Проте від цього книга не стає поганою, я отримав щире задоволення читаючи цю історію, ба більше написав історію свого проєкту надихнувшися стилем оповіді.
July 14, 2019
“The more powerful machines become, the sharper human ethics have to be. If the combination of mindless, profit-seeking algorithms, dedicated geopolitical adversaries, and corrupt US opportunists over the past few years have taught us anything, it is that serious applied thinking is a form of critical infrastructure. The best hackers are masters of applied thinking, and we cannot afford to ignore them. Likewise, they should not ignore us. We need more good in the world. If it can’t be lawful, then let it be chaotic.”
- Cult of the Dead Cow, Joe Menn, 2019
I first became aware of Joe Menn after he published his 2010 book about the early days of cyber crime called “Fatal System Error.” The Cybersecurity Canon Committee nominated it as a Hall of Fame candidate in 2014. But, Joe has been a journalist covering cybersecurity since the Internet was young and for the past eight years has been working for Thomson Reuters. For this book, he chose to explore one of the more infamous hactivists groups from the early internet hacker culture: The Cult of the Dead Cow or cDc.
At first glance, “”Cult of the Dead Cow,” the book, is a remembrance of a fascinating time in cybersecurity history, early 1980s to mid-2000s, when the world transitioned from dial-up modems to the beginnings of what the internet is today, when the term “hacker” identified clever people who were interested in how the world works, and when Gen Xers were old enough to understand what their baby boomer parents did in the 1960s and were eager to see what they could do in the exponentially expanding digital age. If that was all the book was, it would be a worthwhile read. But Joe has something bigger in mind.
From his point of view, Joe has noticed a missing element in “Big Tech” thinking as companies like Google and Facebook have grown to dominate the world’s culture. He believes that the leadership in these companies don’t consider even basic ethics when they make decisions to drive the growth of their companies. He hopes that by describing the maturity journey of the cDc, from internet pranksters to seasoned and respected graybeards, that these new millennials, born between early 2000s and present day, and now in charge of “Big Tech” might use that journey as a blueprint to guide them in the future.
The cDc is probably most well known for orchestrating two big hacker moments: the development and marketing of a powerful hacking tool called Back Orifice and running probably the first hactivist campaign centered around a fictitious Chinese hacker group called the Hong Kong Blondes. In fact, cDc member Misha Kubecka (Omega) invented the term “hactivism.” But the book also covers many of the not-so-well known activities of the cDC membership. Many of these stories show how the cDc was trying to bring good into the world, but Joe doesn’t shy away from the cDc dark side either. There are lessons to be learned from both sides.
The last sentence in the quote above refers to the role playing game called Dungeons and Dragons and a character alignment system that shows where any particular game character sits on a two-dimensional scale of morality. The Y-Axis moves from Good to Neutral to Evil. The X-Axis moves from Lawful to Neutral to Chaotic. The alignment of any one character falls within the spectrum of that two-dimensional grid. For example, Captain America is the perfect example of Lawful Good while the Joker is the perfect example of Chaotic Evil. In the book, Menn weaves stories about cDc members that fill the entire space of character alignment. He chronicles their actions that dance back and forth between lawful and chaotic, but for the most part, moral. But he does not shy away from the evil parts either. He points to some of these first generation hactivists as the example that he would like the new millennials to emulate. In other words, to make positive change in this digital world, endeavor to stay lawful but consider that sometimes you have to move to the chaotic side. It is an interesting idea and something that the leaders in “Big Tech” should at least consider. And for that, I recommend this book for the Cybersecurity Canon Hall of Fame.
Sources
"Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World,” by Joseph Mean, Book Review by Rick Howard, Published by PublicAffairs, 4 June 2019, Last Visited 8 June 2019,
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
"Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet,” by Joseph Menn, Published by PublicAffairs, 26 January 2010, Last Visited 8 June 2019,
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
"The Cybersecurity Canon: Fatal System Error,” by Rick Howard, The Cybersecurity Canon Project, 20 February 2014, , Last Visited 8 June 2019,
https://blog.paloaltonetworks.com/201...
- Cult of the Dead Cow, Joe Menn, 2019
I first became aware of Joe Menn after he published his 2010 book about the early days of cyber crime called “Fatal System Error.” The Cybersecurity Canon Committee nominated it as a Hall of Fame candidate in 2014. But, Joe has been a journalist covering cybersecurity since the Internet was young and for the past eight years has been working for Thomson Reuters. For this book, he chose to explore one of the more infamous hactivists groups from the early internet hacker culture: The Cult of the Dead Cow or cDc.
At first glance, “”Cult of the Dead Cow,” the book, is a remembrance of a fascinating time in cybersecurity history, early 1980s to mid-2000s, when the world transitioned from dial-up modems to the beginnings of what the internet is today, when the term “hacker” identified clever people who were interested in how the world works, and when Gen Xers were old enough to understand what their baby boomer parents did in the 1960s and were eager to see what they could do in the exponentially expanding digital age. If that was all the book was, it would be a worthwhile read. But Joe has something bigger in mind.
From his point of view, Joe has noticed a missing element in “Big Tech” thinking as companies like Google and Facebook have grown to dominate the world’s culture. He believes that the leadership in these companies don’t consider even basic ethics when they make decisions to drive the growth of their companies. He hopes that by describing the maturity journey of the cDc, from internet pranksters to seasoned and respected graybeards, that these new millennials, born between early 2000s and present day, and now in charge of “Big Tech” might use that journey as a blueprint to guide them in the future.
The cDc is probably most well known for orchestrating two big hacker moments: the development and marketing of a powerful hacking tool called Back Orifice and running probably the first hactivist campaign centered around a fictitious Chinese hacker group called the Hong Kong Blondes. In fact, cDc member Misha Kubecka (Omega) invented the term “hactivism.” But the book also covers many of the not-so-well known activities of the cDC membership. Many of these stories show how the cDc was trying to bring good into the world, but Joe doesn’t shy away from the cDc dark side either. There are lessons to be learned from both sides.
The last sentence in the quote above refers to the role playing game called Dungeons and Dragons and a character alignment system that shows where any particular game character sits on a two-dimensional scale of morality. The Y-Axis moves from Good to Neutral to Evil. The X-Axis moves from Lawful to Neutral to Chaotic. The alignment of any one character falls within the spectrum of that two-dimensional grid. For example, Captain America is the perfect example of Lawful Good while the Joker is the perfect example of Chaotic Evil. In the book, Menn weaves stories about cDc members that fill the entire space of character alignment. He chronicles their actions that dance back and forth between lawful and chaotic, but for the most part, moral. But he does not shy away from the evil parts either. He points to some of these first generation hactivists as the example that he would like the new millennials to emulate. In other words, to make positive change in this digital world, endeavor to stay lawful but consider that sometimes you have to move to the chaotic side. It is an interesting idea and something that the leaders in “Big Tech” should at least consider. And for that, I recommend this book for the Cybersecurity Canon Hall of Fame.
Sources
"Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World,” by Joseph Mean, Book Review by Rick Howard, Published by PublicAffairs, 4 June 2019, Last Visited 8 June 2019,
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
"Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet,” by Joseph Menn, Published by PublicAffairs, 26 January 2010, Last Visited 8 June 2019,
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
"The Cybersecurity Canon: Fatal System Error,” by Rick Howard, The Cybersecurity Canon Project, 20 February 2014, , Last Visited 8 June 2019,
https://blog.paloaltonetworks.com/201...
May 31, 2019
It’s 2019 and there still has not been a movie made about hackers, that is historically accurate and demonstrative of what hackers truly do. Should someone make 'Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World'into a movie, and stay true to the story, it would make a most compelling, and possibly Oscar nominated movie.
Written by investigative reporter Joseph Menn, this is his follow-up to Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet, which detailed the cyber gangs who operate on the Internet.
When you have a fascinating story and a great storyteller, you know the output is going to be an engaging read, and Menn doesn’t disappoint here. He tells for the first time the full history of the legendary hacking group Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc). Formed in 1984, cDc was the most dominant and perhaps most important hacking group in history.
The biggest revelation in the book is that one of the early cDc members was Democratic presidential contender Beto O’Rourke. He was known as Psychedelic Warlord during his cDc tenure. In an interview elsewhere, O’Rourke said that “part of my success was being exposed to people who thought differently and explored how things work”. That observation perfectly encapsulates what cDc was all about. O’Rourke also credited the group with influencing his thinking in a number of ways that he had brought to bear already.
Menn details the rise and development of the group. From a software perspective, they created a number of first-generation security hacking tools. Their output included security tools including Back Orifice, BO2k, Whisker and many more.
During its early years, the standard response by Microsoft was that vulnerabilities in Windows were theoretical and didn’t have real world consequences. To which the cDc often brought them to their knees with such claims, by showing them how these vulnerabilities were quite possible.
When cDc released their Back Orifice tool in 1998, it enabled users to connect with a Microsoft Windows device remotely. While Back Orifice only ran on Windows 95 and 98; BO2k ran on Windows NT, 2000 and XP.
In this fascinating read, Menn tells the story of the cDc, and how they were the consummate hacking group. Menn details the group’s development, and both the good times and bad times within the cDc. This included their mission, but also internal strife, kicking out a member for his maleficence, and more.
cDc were the original hacktivist group and knew how to use the media to get their message across, most often against Microsoft. At the end of the day, the cDc was trying to make technology safer, and the world a better place.
The cDc was also a launching pad for some of the smartest minds in the industry, and from there a number of information security software firms emanated. cDc members included Christien Rioux and Chris Wysopal who founded application security service provider Veracode, Peiter Zatko, better known as Mudge, founder of @stake; and Window Snyder, former CSO at Mozilla, and many others.
In the early days of the cDc, their biggest moral issue was abusing long-distance phone calls. As they matured, they quickly became critical thinkers in an era where that skill was in short supply. They evolved and then led the development of internet security, and later went on to forge consensus on the issue of vulnerability disclosure. They showed the security software was an idea whose time had come. Menn details the tension within the group in how they had to deal with these and other issues, which at time caused conflict between the members.
The book also tells the story of some of the firms that were spawned from cDc, mainly @stake and Vercode. When trying to get Adobe to deal with the many Flash security issues, Menn quotes Christien Rioux, who echoes the sentiments of many in the information security field when he said “I hate Adobe”.
The story of the cDc is in part the story of the internet and internet security itself. Menn has written an engaging book that captures the esprit de corps of the group, the challenges they faced, and the inner workings of one of the most legendary, and productive hacking groups in history.
Written by investigative reporter Joseph Menn, this is his follow-up to Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet, which detailed the cyber gangs who operate on the Internet.
When you have a fascinating story and a great storyteller, you know the output is going to be an engaging read, and Menn doesn’t disappoint here. He tells for the first time the full history of the legendary hacking group Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc). Formed in 1984, cDc was the most dominant and perhaps most important hacking group in history.
The biggest revelation in the book is that one of the early cDc members was Democratic presidential contender Beto O’Rourke. He was known as Psychedelic Warlord during his cDc tenure. In an interview elsewhere, O’Rourke said that “part of my success was being exposed to people who thought differently and explored how things work”. That observation perfectly encapsulates what cDc was all about. O’Rourke also credited the group with influencing his thinking in a number of ways that he had brought to bear already.
Menn details the rise and development of the group. From a software perspective, they created a number of first-generation security hacking tools. Their output included security tools including Back Orifice, BO2k, Whisker and many more.
During its early years, the standard response by Microsoft was that vulnerabilities in Windows were theoretical and didn’t have real world consequences. To which the cDc often brought them to their knees with such claims, by showing them how these vulnerabilities were quite possible.
When cDc released their Back Orifice tool in 1998, it enabled users to connect with a Microsoft Windows device remotely. While Back Orifice only ran on Windows 95 and 98; BO2k ran on Windows NT, 2000 and XP.
In this fascinating read, Menn tells the story of the cDc, and how they were the consummate hacking group. Menn details the group’s development, and both the good times and bad times within the cDc. This included their mission, but also internal strife, kicking out a member for his maleficence, and more.
cDc were the original hacktivist group and knew how to use the media to get their message across, most often against Microsoft. At the end of the day, the cDc was trying to make technology safer, and the world a better place.
The cDc was also a launching pad for some of the smartest minds in the industry, and from there a number of information security software firms emanated. cDc members included Christien Rioux and Chris Wysopal who founded application security service provider Veracode, Peiter Zatko, better known as Mudge, founder of @stake; and Window Snyder, former CSO at Mozilla, and many others.
In the early days of the cDc, their biggest moral issue was abusing long-distance phone calls. As they matured, they quickly became critical thinkers in an era where that skill was in short supply. They evolved and then led the development of internet security, and later went on to forge consensus on the issue of vulnerability disclosure. They showed the security software was an idea whose time had come. Menn details the tension within the group in how they had to deal with these and other issues, which at time caused conflict between the members.
The book also tells the story of some of the firms that were spawned from cDc, mainly @stake and Vercode. When trying to get Adobe to deal with the many Flash security issues, Menn quotes Christien Rioux, who echoes the sentiments of many in the information security field when he said “I hate Adobe”.
The story of the cDc is in part the story of the internet and internet security itself. Menn has written an engaging book that captures the esprit de corps of the group, the challenges they faced, and the inner workings of one of the most legendary, and productive hacking groups in history.
July 24, 2020
Hmm ok, so this book has interesting topics, some of it I felt was reported in a pretty dry and straightforward way. Normally I appreciate the non-sensationalist approach, but there were long stretches of this audiobook where I sort of just zoned out and listened, much like I do with informational podcasts, where I just want to hear a voice saying interesting words and not really absorbing much of the info.
I am honestly not sure whether I can fault the author or narrator here, because this might simply be a case of quarantine brain melt :/ I will say that I don't think this book is bad, just maybe not as engaging in some parts as I would have needed to keep my attention 100% all the way through. I didn't have much knowledge of the source material going in though, I just thought it sounded interesting, so perhaps if this is more up your alley it will be different for you!
I am honestly not sure whether I can fault the author or narrator here, because this might simply be a case of quarantine brain melt :/ I will say that I don't think this book is bad, just maybe not as engaging in some parts as I would have needed to keep my attention 100% all the way through. I didn't have much knowledge of the source material going in though, I just thought it sounded interesting, so perhaps if this is more up your alley it will be different for you!
June 19, 2019
A fascinating, in-depth analysis of the social groups of hackers who would go on to shape the field of cybersecurity and influence major tech companies. This book explores the ethical considerations of technology, as well issues of cybersecurity that frequently appear in today's news stories. Above all, it's a gripping and informative read on a field that is often portrayed as too technical for the average person to understand: Joseph Menn has done a fantastic job with the reporting in this book.
July 16, 2019
"Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto." Mentor's Last Words
"It was a time of moral reckoning. People realized the power that they had." MUCH @STAKE: THE BAND OF HACKERS THAT DEFINED AN ERA
"It was a time of moral reckoning. People realized the power that they had." MUCH @STAKE: THE BAND OF HACKERS THAT DEFINED AN ERA
November 11, 2022
I expected at least a gentle technical narration style similar to Darknet Diaries. "The computer guys did some computer stuff" is the level of detail this book offers. The author can barely hide his contempt for the subject matter.
The focus instead is on projecting 2018 political correctness backwards through time and telling us how great it is that this hackivist group randomly acquired all the values, PR tactics and strategic interests of the CIA with no hint of irony.
The focus instead is on projecting 2018 political correctness backwards through time and telling us how great it is that this hackivist group randomly acquired all the values, PR tactics and strategic interests of the CIA with no hint of irony.
February 6, 2023
This book really wasn't about a hacking group.
It was really about Beto O'Rourke and his liberal agenda.
Waste of effort to read. And hopefully most people didn't even pay for it.
I borrowed it from a library and will be returning it quickly.
It was really about Beto O'Rourke and his liberal agenda.
Waste of effort to read. And hopefully most people didn't even pay for it.
I borrowed it from a library and will be returning it quickly.
June 20, 2019
Just laughably bad and boring. This may be the most boring book I’ve finished. Please read this book so I’m not the only one who wastes his life on this overlong below average Time article.
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