Discussion Questions
As you can see, the readings here are fairly light.
- Why might the public be thinking about computer security when Lambeth (aka
"The Cracker") released this book? (Hint -- you've watched it). What message
does the book send to its readers?
- Do you believe Lambeth's description of "The Inner Circle" itself? What
are the ethics and motivations of its members. What strategy does he use to
make the reader trust him while still frightening them?
- How is the figure of the Hacker presented in these readings. Does it match
with any older mythical archetype?
- Are there any similarities between these hackers (in the new sense) and
the MIT hackers (in the old sense)?
- The Mitnick case, talked about in the other two readings, is relatively
recent and remains the single most discussed hacked incident on the Internet.
What similarities do you see between this and the earlier sources?
exciting?
- How does Markoff make the story exciting? How dangerous was Mitnick
really, and how come he made the front page of the NY Times?
Resources
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There are other readings on Mitnick that I removed from required reading.
The most important is this
longer article in Esquire. It gives background on Mitnick's life, and
talks some more about Shinomura, but is most notable for its shameless
borrowing of clichés from many different areas of fiction, including frequent
references to the Dark Side and the perplexing figure of a "Hooker turner
Hacker" who appears (though the author does not mention this) somewhat
demented. |
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Mitnick is now presenting a
radio show in Los Angeles. That is weird. However, he remains an Internet
celebrity and hackers continue to defend him. Here is "the
official Kevin Mitnick Site." For the other side, visit the
Takedown website. They made a bad move
out of it, but never released it in the US. |
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Howard Rheingold appears to be the guy who really wrote the Lambeth book.
We'll be seeing more of him later, but
here is his homepage. |
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For present-day Hacker news see 2600, a
long running journal and now web site. |
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