46 ratings | 5 reviews | avg rating:4.39

Joseph Menn’s Followers (73)

Joseph’s Bookshelves

read (48)
currently-reading (0)
to-read (0)

Joseph’s Friends (336)

Nicki Pogue

122 books | 189 friends

Rob Enderle

1,033 books | 425 friends

M.J.

698 books | 3,945 friends

Leland

1,880 books | 498 friends

Chris Gaither

908 books | 135 friends

Deb

1,509 books | 168 friends

Sophfronia Scott

630 books | 815 friends

May Petry

467 books | 35 friends

More friends…

Joseph Menn

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/contributor/...

Twitter

josephmenn

Genre

Nonfiction, Computers & Internet, Security

Member Since

April 2010

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/josephmenn

edit data

Joseph 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 Joseph 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.

...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Joseph Menn questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Joseph Menn’s books

Average rating: 3.73 · 2,971 ratings · 324 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World 3.75 avg rating — 1,660 ratings — published 2019 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet 3.69 avg rating — 1,082 ratings — published 2010 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster 3.72 avg rating — 229 ratings — published 2003 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

2 posts
Joseph Menn's Blog

Paperback out June 2!

Hi everyone, the paperback of Cult of the Dead Cow is out on June 2.
I revised and updated it, and I think it is more timely than ever, since hackers are coming together in more ways, including by protecting hospitals and vaccine researchers during the Covid pandemic.
More info on Twitter: https://twitter.com/josephmenn/status...
Oh, and I will be joining a Goodreads discussion about the book June 9 Read more of this blog post »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 30, 2020 15:47 • Tags: hacking-cybersecurity-infosec

View all 2 posts »

Quotes by Joseph Menn (?)

“Security is about how you configure power, and who has access to what. That is political,” Song said.”
― Joseph Menn, Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World

tags: hacking, hacktivism, security

1 likes

“The phreakers were a diverse group, including John Draper, who called himself Cap’n Crunch after learning that whistles given out with that breakfast cereal could be used to blow 2600 hertz, which allowed free calls.”
― Joseph Menn, Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World

0 likes

“It wasn’t just that politicians needed to think more about technology and its unique multidisciplinary role in the world. Those in technology needed to think a lot more about politics.”
― Joseph Menn, Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World

0 likes

See all Joseph Menn's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Choice ...: Theresa Simek's Yearly Challenges 2020	5	57	Jan 01, 2020 10:29AM
What's the Name o...: Man uses MIRC to stock ddos attacks on websites, mainly poker sites	6	134	Jul 09, 2021 05:45AM
Ultimate Popsugar...: Post Your 2021 Reading List	765	5762	Dec 01, 2022 09:10AM