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This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, And Hacktivists Aim To Free The World's Information (2012)

by Andy Greenberg(Favorite Author)

4.03 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0525953205 (ISBN13: 9780525953203)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Dutton Adult

review 1: this was a good account of the rise of the hacker movement that spawned WikiLeaks and Bradley/Chelsea Manning. Greenberg makes the case that Julian Assange is something of an ass. Well sourced, convincingly written. the best part of the book came in addressing the Obama administration's crackdown on whistleblowers. One whistleblower who was targeted by the DoJ offered the following explanation of why the Obama the President differed from Obama the candidate: "He had never had that kind of access to secrets before. IT was a lot of power. He was enamored with it. And it changed him."
review 2: Andy Greenberg is a world-class reporter and weaves a very engaging story that has deep implications for world society. The book tells the story of the cypher-punks who co... morede the encryption and anonymity software that enables internet and computer network users to operate without connection or access to their real life personas. Whether this involves illegal markets, pirating media, malicious hacking or idealistic leaking, Greenberg examines the reasoning behind the tools and the reasoning behind governments' attempt to limit the power of those tools. Interestingly, after this book was published, Edward Snowden went public with his information leak rather than leaking anonymously. My personal take is that anonymity software will become obsolete in the next century. China is already taking steps to link network users to their real life identities as seen in the recent Weibo crackdown. Information gathering technology is becoming cheaper, faster, and more effective. If a government instated internet licenses, like drivers licenses, and linked those licenses to biological markers--fingerprints, retina scan, or even DNA--then anonymity software becomes a moot point.Thus I think those who are concerned with government abuse of power should focus more on government transparency rather than shielding the individual's information from the government. The governments of the world will only increase in their ability to gather, store, and analyze information. At that point in the future, attempts at anonymity will be ineffective. less

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