Jake Appelbaum’s PhD thesis contains several new revelations from the classified NSA documents provided to journalists by Edward Snowden. Nothing major, but a few more tidbits.
Kind of amazing that that all happened ten years ago. At this point, those documents are more historical than anything else.
And it’s unclear who has those archives anymore. According to Appelbaum, The Intercept destroyed their copy.
I recently published an essay about my experiences ten years ago.
This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak:
The list is maintained on this page.
My latest book continues to sell well. Its ranking hovers between 1,500 and 2,000 on Amazon. It’s been spied in airports.
Reviews are consistently good. I have been enjoying giving podcast interviews. It all feels pretty good right now.
You can order a signed book from me here.
For those of you in New York, I’m giving at book talk at the Ford Foundation on Thursday, April 6. Admission is free, but you have to register.
This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak:
The list is maintained on this page.
This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak:
The list is maintained on this page.
Tuesday was the official publication date of A Hacker’s Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society’s Rules, and How to Bend them Back. It broke into the 2000s on the Amazon best-seller list.
Reviews in the New York Times, Cory Doctorow’s blog, Science, and the Associated Press.
I wrote essays related to the book for CNN and John Scalzi’s blog.
Two podcast interviews: Keen On and Lawfare. And a written interview for the Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Lots more coming, I believe. Get your copy here.
And—last request—right now there’s one Amazon review, and it’s not a good one. If people here could leave reviews, I would appreciate it.
A Hacker’s Mind will be published on Tuesday.
I have done a written interview and a podcast interview about the book. It’s been chosen as a “February 2023 Must-Read Book” by the Next Big Idea Club. And an “Editor’s Pick”—whatever that means—on Amazon.
There have been three reviews so far. I am hoping for more. And maybe even a published excerpt or two.
Amazon and others will start shipping the book on Tuesday. If you ordered a signed copy from me, it is already in the mail.
If you can leave a review somewhere, I would appreciate it.
Publisher’s Weekly reviewed A Hacker’s Mind—and it’s a starred review!
“Hacking is something that the rich and powerful do, something that reinforces existing power structures,” contends security technologist Schneier (Click Here to Kill Everybody) in this excellent survey of exploitation. Taking a broad understanding of hacking as an “activity allowed by the system that subverts the… system,” Schneier draws on his background analyzing weaknesses in cybersecurity to examine how those with power take advantage of financial, legal, political, and cognitive systems. He decries how venture capitalists “hack” market dynamics by subverting the pressures of supply and demand, noting that venture capital has kept Uber afloat despite the company having not yet turned a profit. Legal loopholes constitute another form of hacking, Schneier suggests, discussing how the inability of tribal courts to try non-Native individuals means that many sexual assaults of Native American women go unprosecuted because they were committed by non-Native American men. Schneier outlines strategies used by corporations to capitalize on neural processes and “hack… our attention circuits,” pointing out how Facebook’s algorithms boost content that outrages users because doing so increases engagement. Elegantly probing the mechanics of exploitation, Schneier makes a persuasive case that “we need society’s rules and laws to be as patchable as your computer.” With lessons that extend far beyond the tech world, this has much to offer.
The book will be published on February 7. Here’s the book’s webpage. You can pre-order a signed copy from me here.
Booklist reviews A Hacker’s Mind:
Author and public-interest security technologist Schneier (Data and Goliath, 2015) defines a “hack” as an activity allowed by a system “that subverts the rules or norms of the system […] at the expense of someone else affected by the system.” In accessing the security of a particular system, technologists such as Schneier look at how it might fail. In order to counter a hack, it becomes necessary to think like a hacker. Schneier lays out the ramifications of a variety of hacks, contrasting the hacking of the tax code to benefit the wealthy with hacks in realms such as sports that can innovate and change a game for the better. The key to dealing with hacks is being proactive and providing adequate patches to fix any vulnerabilities. Schneier’s fascinating work illustrates how susceptible many systems are to being hacked and how lives can be altered by these subversions. Schneier’s deep dive into this cross-section of technology and humanity makes for investigative gold.
The book will be published on February 7. Here’s the book’s webpage. You can pre-order a signed copy from me here.