Hackers Archives - Don Kasprzak

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy. The former chief technology correspondent for Newsweek, today Steven is an editor at Wired and author of eight books including Crypto, which won the Frankfurt ebook award for best non-fiction book of 2001.

So, the best way to introduce this release from 1984 is to simply define the term Hacker as ‘a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means.’

How times have certainly changed. Today popular culture has certainly morphed this term into someone who is able to subvert computer security for malicious purposes. This person should be more accurate defined as a cyber criminal. Needless to say there is a big difference since it will surprise many to discover the first computer game was written in 1961.

In fact, Steve provides a historical view of hackers dating back to 1946. At MIT, an on-camps model railroad club, the Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) was the first hacker club in America.

Indeed, a model railroad club on campus allowed talented introverts access to a locked room to construct HO scale railroad layouts. This makes the model railroading of my childhood seem like Dorthy in the Wizard of Oz.

This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World’s Information by Andy Greenberg. Andy a senior writer at Wired magazine and previously wrote for Forbes. This Machine Kills Secrets is a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection.

Andy is focusing on politically motivated whistleblowing resulting in data leaks of state secrets. In addition, stories of famous hackers including WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, L0pht, and Anonymous. A core understanding of cypherpunks and hacktivists is necessary. The bulk of the book is about WikiLeaks.

Perhaps Andy’s timing was unknowingly off by less than on year after publication. Edward Snowden had not yet leaked his trove of data.

However Andy begins with the long, famous history of The Pentagon Papers. Perhaps the most important takeaway is the timeframe of Daniel Ellsberg. I very much appreciated the efforts Andy shared that Daniel confronted in 1969

The key element not be overlooked is the use of technology. In 2022, technology used to leak the Pentagon Papers is in fact a common part of everyday life. A second factor is where Andy looks at Daniel’s vast role in the conduct of the war while at RAND, and his deep knowledge.

In contrast, Assange just wants anyone with access to sensitive data to steal and share it. WikiLeaks somewhat began under the principle of “principled leaking,” that allowed globally connected individuals to use the metaphors of a wiki to fight corruption. Yet the scale and impact of technology has greatly changed this landscape:

One of Manning’s Lady Gaga CDs offered enough capacity to have stored the Pentagon Papers about fifty times over, and the laser head that wrote to those discs could have accomplished in a minute or two what required a year of off-and-on work for Ellsberg and his photocopier.
p.39

Chaos pure and simple

Now add the ability for Putin’s old KGB to manipulate WikiLeaks. In fact, Assange drove WikiLeaks to become a source for classified documents:

The other goal in WikiLeaks’ game—or perhaps just a bonus perk for a fire-starter like Assange—was its potential for explosive chaos.
p. 219

This should not be understated: The goal Assange wanted to create was indeed chaos. Putin saw an opportunity.