Fatal System Error
Book

Fatal System Error

The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet

Joseph Menn
Public Affairs, 2010

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

The Internet has become the ultimate mob hangout, a dangerous venue where U.S. Mafiosi, vicious Russian gang members and illegal hackers from many nations, especially from Eastern Europe, ply their dirty deeds. Cybersecurity reporter Joseph Menn examines cybercrime, exposing the bad guys while telling exciting stories about two intrepid investigators – Barrett Lyon, a U.S.-based “white hat” security hacker, and Andy Crocker, a British cybersecurity agent – who have successfully waged war against cybercriminals. Menn’s book is both fascinating and disturbing, with its discussion of “zombie armies” of computers, and its exotically named online desperadoes, like CumbaJohnny. getAbstract recommends this gripping saga to those who want to protect themselves from cybercrime. This outstanding book’s only deficiency is, ironically, its remarkable, overwhelming abundance of complex detail. If you think you need a cast list, tech manual and dictionary of arcane online terms, never mind; just hang on for a scary, revealing ride.

Summary

Barrett Lyon

The Internet provides a cornucopia of connections, communication, education and other remarkable benefits. Unfortunately, it provides even more opportunities for breaking the law – extortion, identity theft, child pornography distribution, commercial fraud, theft of financial data, gambling and more. Cybercriminals and hordes of hackers plague the Internet. How serious is online crime? In 2005, hackers illegally downloaded as many as 45 million credit and debit card numbers from TJX, the parent company of retailer T.J.Maxx. By 2009, approximately 30% of Americans had experienced identity theft. People and companies suffer estimated annual losses of $1 trillion at the hands of cybercrooks.

Computer genius Barrett Lyon has achieved remarkable success thwarting these criminals. He is a leading expert on shutting down “‘distributed’ denial-of-service” (DDoS) attacks. In these online assaults, cybercriminals use malicious software to invade and control thousands of individual Web-connected computers. The software autonomously converts these computers into “zombie networks” called “botnets” and directs them to flood targeted commercial Web sites with a tornado...

About the Author

Joseph Menn covers technology issues, including cybersecurity, for the Financial Times. He also wrote All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning’s Napster.

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