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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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CULT OF THE DEAD COW

Joseph Menn

How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World

A fast-paced, riveting narrative on hacktivism. Standing out from its competition and in the midst of all the doom and gloom with cyber security, this book has a rare positive message and shows how a small group of people are having an impact where others have failed.
The Cult of the Dead Cow is the story of the oldest, most respected and most famous hacking group of all time - the Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc). Its members invented the concept of hacktivism (portmanteau of hack and activism describing the use of technology to promote a political and social change), released both the top tool for cracking passwords and the reigning technique for controlling computers from afar, and spurred development of Snowden's anonymity tool of choice. With its origins in the earliest days of the Internet, the cDc is full of oddball characters - spies, activists, musicians, and politicians - who are now woven into the top ranks of the American establishment.

Today, this small group and their followers represent the best hope for making technology a force for good instead of for surveillance and oppression. Like a modern (and real) illuminati, cDc members have had the ears of presidents, secretaries of defense, and the CEO of Google. The Cult of the Dead Cow shows how today's cyber security issues have developed, where governments and corporations hold immense power over individuals, and how to fight back.

Joseph Menn not only utilizes sources from current and former intelligence officers from multiple countries, members of the highest echelon of the U.S. government, and some of the top minds of the past three generations of international security professors, but he was also granted unprecedented access to the cDc and he will reveal many of their names for the first time in this book.

Joseph Menn covers cyber-security and other technology issues for Reuters. Before that he was technology reporter for the Financial Times, after a decade on the same beat for the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of two books, Fatal System Error and All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster and a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award, the top prize in business reporting.
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Book

Published 2019-06-04 by Public Affairs

Book

Published 2019-06-04 by Public Affairs

Comments

Cult of the Dead Cow reveals a story few know about the origins of white hat hacking and the heroes it celebrates. Despite the title, hacking isn't dead yet!

Author Joe Menn just revealed in a first serial excerpt of his forthcoming book CULT OF THE DEAD COW that Beto O'Rourke was a member of the elite and secretive hacking group called the Cult of the Dead Cow. The piece is live on Reuters and is already picking up major traction. Read more...

Russia: Eksmo ;

"Today is the release of what promises to be one of the most interesting books about hackers to come out since, well, probably ever." Read more...

This dramatic story of how the Internet's first hackers learned to handle their outsized abilities can help us grapple to control the power of today's technology titans.

Cult of the Dead Cow is an exhilarating and essential look into a part of the hacker underground that has shaped the modern world in profound ways. Readers will be amazed by this crew of eccentric, impassioned geniuses who have so often served as the Internet's conscience while lurking unknown in the shadows. The depth of Joe Menn's reporting is as astonishing as his storytelling - no one could have captured this tale better.

Long before there was a multi-billion dollar cyber industry, there were some ethical hackers who showed us that the Silicon Valley emperors had no clothes. They looked like misfits, but they showed us how insecure the Internet was and how to make it better. Joe Menn makes this previously untold story entertaining and relevant to today's cyber threats.

"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." Read more...

Menn's work does serve as a spirited examination of the art of hacking and how it might be used for good.