Former hacker Kevin Poulsen has, over the past decade, built a reputation as one of the top investigative reporters on the cybercrime beat. In King...
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May 30, 2011
♥Xeni♥
rated it: 
Wow... what a powerful book! I noticed this on my friend's book update feed yesterday, searched around for an ebook, found one, started reading, and practically didn't even stop for much else. (Although there was a 16 hour break in between reading there :P)
Normally I don't like nonfiction books: they are dry, not engaging and just don't deal with subject matter in an interesting way that I can absorb readily. This book reads more like an action novel filled with tons of real life tidb More...
Normally I don't like nonfiction books: they are dry, not engaging and just don't deal with subject matter in an interesting way that I can absorb readily. This book reads more like an action novel filled with tons of real life tidb More...
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Jan 29, 2012
James
rated it: 
A good read that is fast paced and riveting due this being a true event with locales in my own backyards of San Francisco and Los Angeles. The book chronicles the life of a hacker from his well-intentioned beginnings to becoming the underground's digital mastermind.
Growing up in the age of the Internet makes this story ever more so real. Poulsen elaborates on events in the recent years that make us sit back and think, "Wow, he did that?". Indeed, Max did. Max's early beginnin More...
Growing up in the age of the Internet makes this story ever more so real. Poulsen elaborates on events in the recent years that make us sit back and think, "Wow, he did that?". Indeed, Max did. Max's early beginnin More...
Apr 04, 2011
Nick
rated it:
still too pissed off about my lost hour reviewing Hitch-22 to properly write; suffice to say that this is the best true hax0r crime book written as of April 2011 -- yes, i have read them all (previous title holder: The Hacker Crackdown. it pleases me to no longer need praise anything by confirmed mountebank Bruce Sterling, though he's been replaced by charlatan Kevin Poulsen....whom I think I must reassess).
so much nostalgia. i knew two characters, peripheral but named, personally, and More...
so much nostalgia. i knew two characters, peripheral but named, personally, and More...
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Jul 13, 2011
Lisa
rated it: 
I got this for Richard for Father's Day. After reading "The Girl..." series by Steig Larsson, the idea of reading a non-fiction account of high-level hacking was irresistible. This book is fine, but not fascinating or descriptive of an enviable world. The criminal lifestyle -- working around the clock, not having time to engage fully in relationships, doing boring things like shopping with other people's credit cards and then selling the merch on eBay, programming programming programmi
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Sep 23, 2011
Peter
rated it:
Kevin Poulsen dives deep into the underground world of 'carders' — individuals that steal, sell, and abuse credit card numbers. Prior to reading this book I thought that a lot of the fraud was based on stealing or intercepting credit card information from online merchants. This book tells the story, though, of stealing cards, printing them on actual plastic stock, and 'shopping' for merchandise that can be easily resold. [return][return]The pace of the book is fast, and with the wide variety of
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Feb 05, 2012
Lorenzo
rated it:
Loved it!
Not only do I enjoy cyberpunk yarns of heroic hackers indulging in various stripes of computer chaos, I like very much true-to-life stories of cyber-villains whose villainy isn't so cut-and-dry. Such were the electronic exploits of the lead figure in Kevin Poulsen's "Kingpin." Super hacker Max "Iceman" Butler.
This non-fiction work read almost like a novel, such were the audacious--and alarming--capers of Iceman and his underworld colleagues. I More...
Not only do I enjoy cyberpunk yarns of heroic hackers indulging in various stripes of computer chaos, I like very much true-to-life stories of cyber-villains whose villainy isn't so cut-and-dry. Such were the electronic exploits of the lead figure in Kevin Poulsen's "Kingpin." Super hacker Max "Iceman" Butler.
This non-fiction work read almost like a novel, such were the audacious--and alarming--capers of Iceman and his underworld colleagues. I More...
May 30, 2011
Kat
rated it:
Mostly good--the subject is fascinating--but occasionally over-simplified to an annoying degree or explained for a reader who is assumed to have no background at all in the technical aspects of computers while other aspects are not explained adequately. Timelines and dates were often muddy and description and background on some of the players was unpredictable in quality. Found myself not always sure when something happened or what other actions where happening at the same time. Over all it's a
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Oct 17, 2011
Mario
rated it:
GoodReads suggested this book just after I finished La reina en el palacio de las corrientes de aire and they did not get it wrong, I enjoyed it a lot. Since the story is based in real facts, the fight between criminals and intelligence agencies can be watched from a closer spot.
It's incredible how the carders use their knowledge to steal identities all around the world without victims even noticing it.
The book also makes you think about the eternal dilema between safety vs. More...
It's incredible how the carders use their knowledge to steal identities all around the world without victims even noticing it.
The book also makes you think about the eternal dilema between safety vs. More...
Nov 02, 2011
Mario
rated it:
Some non-fiction books tend to drag on without an end in sight,but since this subject appealed to my general interest in cyber-crime and it's counterpart cyber-security, I was attuned to keep reading even knowing many chapters would be speckled with hacker jargon and criminal backgrounds being described. Once you get through knowing the characters and the persons of interest in this book, the action does follow a climatic rise of one cyber-criminal who exploits flaws in phone systems, web server
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Oct 07, 2011
Christine
rated it:
Wow! This nonfiction book reads like a novel, sometimes a little too much so. The author is clearly hoping to option this to H'wood--it's got the requisite dramatic moments (truthful or just imagined) baked right in. And another quibble: a little too much gratuitous technical jargon. I mean, I live in Silicon Valley and am no stranger to computers, but a little goes a long way.
Still, a fascinating glimpse into the dark underbelly of the internet. Or, as my husband said after I lent him More...
Still, a fascinating glimpse into the dark underbelly of the internet. Or, as my husband said after I lent him More...
Aug 15, 2011
Reid
rated it:
This book is a tremendous amount of fun. I stumbled across it after listening to an interview with one of its subjects on NPR's Planet Money podcast, Keith "Master Splyntr" Mularski. It's a bit of a slow burn, but man, it is impossible to put this book down after the first 100 pages. Poulsen pulls off the neat trick of explaining the basics of the security exploits used in the book without getting bogged down in jargon or explanations.
All of your fears about hackers reac More...
All of your fears about hackers reac More...
May 30, 2011
Anthony
rated it:
A fast paced, easy, and interesting look at one of the largest credit card thieves and credit card theft forum operators around. Gives a good overview of how credit card breaches have happened, what businesses need to do to help prevent them, and how the feds have set up some pretty complicated stings to take down some of the people who perpetrate them. It may help that I have a tech background, but I found the book easy to read and follow, the technical explanations very good, and the book ov
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Mar 24, 2011
Jamie
rated it:
Only the Paranoid survive.
Every system or even encryption has a security loophole, you just have to know how to find it, exploit it and cover your tracks.
This is not a book for the paranoid or Internet Newbie. It will most likely scare the be-jesus out of them with regard to shopping with a credit card, especially online.
Recent IT Issues within Australian regarding the National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank will leave you deeply suspicious after reading this More...
Every system or even encryption has a security loophole, you just have to know how to find it, exploit it and cover your tracks.
This is not a book for the paranoid or Internet Newbie. It will most likely scare the be-jesus out of them with regard to shopping with a credit card, especially online.
Recent IT Issues within Australian regarding the National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank will leave you deeply suspicious after reading this More...
May 11, 2011
Katherine
rated it:
Poulsen’s name may be familiar to those who follow cyber-crime. He was a notorious hacker in his own right before serving time and emerging a WIRED correspondent. He knows the sub-culture of hacking, and that really makes this story feel “inside.” This is not the most “active” story, but it is one, like SOCIAL NETWORK, that takes us inside the minds of some brilliant people; introduces us to an intriguing world; and plays out cops and robbers in an entirely new way. And in a time of wikileak
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Nov 22, 2011
Richard
rated it:
A very interesting dive into a world that most of us don't even know exists. For me this was a story. I definitely consider my actions more carefully since reading it. What struck me was how much of a lucrative business this was; albeit it one of dishonesty and constant suspicion. The consideration that this dark side of the internet still very much exists makes me sick.
The book is incredibly well written. Incredibly factual, with real consideration into the story. Oh, and some educat More...
The book is incredibly well written. Incredibly factual, with real consideration into the story. Oh, and some educat More...
Nov 05, 2011
Jacobi
rated it:
This book is a fascinating chronicle of the rise, fall, rise, fall, rise, and then final fall of hacker Max Vision. Even though this book is a true account of Max's exploits, it reads like a fictional story in large parts. It's just riveting stuff to learn how Max moved from being a young punk hacker, to running massive identity and credit card theft schemes. Poulsen's writing is very clear and easy to follow. He isn't trying to be Truman Copete here, he's just relaying the story as he knows it,
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Aug 13, 2011
Brian
rated it:
(3.5) Very interesting topic, not that well written
But at least it's short and he didn't draw it out too much. Lots of goods on cybercriminals, stealing credit card info, identities etc. and big window on the black market in which these good are bought and sold regularly. I have to guess that there's a big bias in the main players covered in the book toward those who were caught and turned on their colleagues, as I got the impression that nearly everyone involved snitched on someone el More...
But at least it's short and he didn't draw it out too much. Lots of goods on cybercriminals, stealing credit card info, identities etc. and big window on the black market in which these good are bought and sold regularly. I have to guess that there's a big bias in the main players covered in the book toward those who were caught and turned on their colleagues, as I got the impression that nearly everyone involved snitched on someone el More...
Jul 10, 2011
Jim
rated it:
I rate some nonfiction books with five stars because of the importance of the subject matter. Some fiction earns five stars through insight into the frailty and transcendence of humankind. But some books, like this one, get five stars because they are just fascinating to read and impossible to put down. My internet connections and credit cards have lost whatever naive innocence they may have still held for me. I have to admire the FBI agent who goes undercover online and yet retains his sanity
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May 11, 2011
Tom
rated it:
4 stars for its descriptions of how hackers work, and of the techniques they use -- this book explains what SQL injection is, for instance, and manages to do it in just a couple of extremely clear paragraphs. Really a marvelous achievement from that perspective.
But as a psychological portrait of a hacker, I don't think it achieves the heights it's aiming for. I can relate to some of the obsessive traits that seem to have driven Max. But I don't understand them any better for havin More...
But as a psychological portrait of a hacker, I don't think it achieves the heights it's aiming for. I can relate to some of the obsessive traits that seem to have driven Max. But I don't understand them any better for havin More...
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Sep 04, 2011
Amar
rated it:
Not bad, but I'd wait for the paperback. Nothing really revelatory if you're interested in the hacker underground. I've seen better dark side articles from Wired, e.g. "The Shadow Internet". To be fair, the carding specific stuff in Kingpin was pretty interesting, and I hadn't seen it written about at length anywhere else. (though I had read about the TJ Maxx breach on slashdot.) Suffice to say after reading this book you will get the jimblies every time you swipe your card at a g
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Jun 29, 2011
Matt
rated it:
Poulsen tells the tale of a white then gray then black then white then black again -hat hacker and his rise and fall in the cybercriminal world. In the process he describes the Internet underground in fair detail. He describes the exploits in some detail, so you can kind of understand how they'd work and how to avoid them. Not all books like this do that. Often the hacking is sort of described as black-box magic.
Jun 24, 2011
Christopher
rated it:
Awesome non-fiction. Author does a great job keeping the drama and action going. I couldn't put this book down after I started reading it. Interesting to watch Max Butler's (aka Max Vision) downward spiral into cybercrime and black hat hacking. Very eye opening to read the details of how these talented hackers can cloak their infiltration and syphon information from computers for weeks or months.
Mar 17, 2011
Dave
rated it:
The narrative kept me engaged from start to finish. If you liked "the Cuckoo's Nest" so many years ago, this seems like an update. Max Butler is the conflicted personality who loves the simple thrill of hacking systems. He is caught between being a black hat and a white hat. Catch a clear glimpse of the cybercrime and cyberpolice work over the past 10 years.
Jul 04, 2011
Kelly
rated it:
Very good book on the identity theft and credit card stealing underground. The book is set up as a narrative following the history of one hacker. It's not very technical (I would have preferred more details on the hacks)
Scary story. After reading this book, I would think that just about everyone's credit card info has been stolen at some point.
Scary story. After reading this book, I would think that just about everyone's credit card info has been stolen at some point.
May 21, 2011
Jim
rated it:
Fantastic read. I couldn't put it down. I stayed up till 2 AM reading it. (I can't say that about many non-fiction reads.) It was technical enough so that you could get an insight into what these hackers were doing but full of enough non-technical details so that you got a full picture of these people's lives. I highly recommend it.
May 08, 2011
Dave
rated it:
A entertaining work that, with a little more research in to the security flaws and how the corporations failed to respond to the growing threat, could have become the Fast Food Nation of internet security. As is, well worth the read even if you currently have no understanding of what a hacker does other than watching War Games.
Jul 05, 2011
Michael
rated it:
Very fast-paced and fascinating look at the world of credit card theft.
As you might expect with a vast criminal conspiracy, there are tons of double and triple agents. Poulsen's writing is crisp; the book never drags.
Reads more like a thriller than non-fiction. Recommended for folks interested in the topic.
As you might expect with a vast criminal conspiracy, there are tons of double and triple agents. Poulsen's writing is crisp; the book never drags.
Reads more like a thriller than non-fiction. Recommended for folks interested in the topic.
Apr 03, 2011
Davis
rated it:
A fascinating look at the cyber crime underground mainly focusing on credit card fraud and how the Internet has made it so easy to do. After reading this book, you will feel that nothing is secure and probably isn't. It is just a matter of time before your credit cards are compromised, if they aren't already.
Sep 26, 2011
Augusto
rated it:
Directly from my "to read" to "read" shelf! Finished in just one week, an amazing report on the "carder" scene in the last ten years.
The subject of this book, Max Ray Butler (a.k.a Max Vision or "Iceman"), was part of the information security industry and a criminal, playing on both sides and exactly in the same time I started working on the field. It's impressive to see how close we can be too everything that he did or touched; I remember havin More...
The subject of this book, Max Ray Butler (a.k.a Max Vision or "Iceman"), was part of the information security industry and a criminal, playing on both sides and exactly in the same time I started working on the field. It's impressive to see how close we can be too everything that he did or touched; I remember havin More...
Aug 09, 2011
Dustin
rated it:
Amazing recount of the infamous credit card machine hacker, Max. Gives excellent insight into Max's personal life and the events that led up to his role in one of the largest card crime sprees in history.
Brilliantly written and worded, brings you into Max's head and tells you what he's thinking.
Brilliantly written and worded, brings you into Max's head and tells you what he's thinking.
