Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Fascinating report. "Today, with Gadhafi dead and a provisional government of former rebels in charge, we can begin to uncover the secret, high tech spying machine that helped the dictator and his regime cling to power"
Interview with fugitive hacker Christopher Doyon. "Right now we have access to every classified database in the US government. The access was given to us by the people who run the systems. The pimply-faced kid in the basement"
George Hotz started the hacker wars. The grungy teenager from New Jersey was the first person to unlock an iPhone. But it was when he defeated Sony's PS3 that things started getting really out of hand
The story of Chris Chaney, man who hacked the stars. Lewd celebrity pictures were his speciality, until the FBI got involved. Now he faces a long prison sentence, for inflitrating private lives of dozens of celebrities
US military over-reacts dangerously by declaring Anonymous a threat to national security. Anonymous is not a terrorist group, it is an expression of the spirit of the times, and most of its activities are frivolous or trivial
Seeking perfect cyber regulation is a mugs game. Flawed is often good enough: "Imperfectly anonymized data generates socially valuable research at little risk. And a leaky IP system still supports a thriving, diverse artistic scene"
"When Anonymous attacks they play right into the hands of those who want to re-engineer the Internet because of security concerns." Have they gone too far and violated principles of free speech? Some veteran hacktivists think so
Privacy, piracy, security, sovereignty. Just some of the battle lines drawn in the war over the Internet. And part of wider questions of freedom and control. Later this year, the key UN treaty will be revised. Here's what's at stake
FBI's chief cyber-cop leaves job, admits that current attempts to ward off hackers from corporate and government networks are "unsustainable". Computer criminals are just too talented. Is it reasonable to expect security any more?
Interview with Richard Clarke, counter-terrorism chief under three American presidents, now private security consultant. "Pretty clear" that America launched Stuxnet virus against Iranian nuclear programme—with Israeli help
"The story of every company begins with a clever hack. Pick any company, read its history, and I'm pretty sure there will be a well-documented origin story that will define its beginning and involves someone building something new"
Cyberwar is not war. The metaphor is dangerously misleading. At worst, cyberwarfare means disruption. Even then the effects are often exaggerated. Which would you rather undergo: A denial of service attack, or a shelling?
Image by The California National Guard on Flickr
