Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet |  | Author: Joseph Menn
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $16.64
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Rating:  15 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 1586487485
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.168
EAN: 9781586487485
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Product Description
In this disquieting cyber thriller, Joseph Menn takes readers into the murky hacker underground, traveling the globe from San Francisco to Costa Rica and London to Russia. His guides are California surfer and computer whiz Barrett Lyon and a fearless British high-tech agent. Through these heroes, Menn shows the evolution of cyber-crime from small-time thieving to sophisticated, organized gangs, who began by attacking corporate websites but increasingly steal financial data from consumers and defense secrets from governments. Using unprecedented access to Mob businesses and Russian officials, the book reveals how top criminals earned protection from the Russian government. Fatal System Error penetrates both the Russian cyber-mob and La Cosa Nostra as the two fight over the Internet’s massive spoils. The cloak-and-dagger adventure shows why cyber-crime is much worse than you thought—and why the Internet might not survive.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
 Be Afraid February 19, 2010
Richard Stiennon (Birmingham, Michigan)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
Joseph Menn has cracked open the inside workings of cyber crime bosses with his book Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet . I packed the book with me this past week as I retired to a rustic cabin in Northern Michigan. Menn's book made for enthralling reading by light of a butane camp lantern. In addition to telling the story of Barrett Lyon, entrepreneur and cyber crime fighter who founded Prolexic, BitGravity and 3Crowd, Menn follows through to recount the dark world of Russian crime figures as explored by Andy Crocker, on assignment from the UK National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU). Andy finally convicts three DDoS extortionists in Russian who are serving sentences of eight years hard labor.
I met Barrett in 2004 when he was still immersed in getting Prolexic off the ground. I was at Gartner and looking for something new to get involved in. Barrett's network defenses against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks was the most exciting thing I had encountered. Barrett thought I was joking when I asked him if I could send him my resume. I was completely serious until I met his business partner Mickey Flynn in a hotel bar in Chicago. Mickey ran BetCRIS, one of the key sports book making and online gaming organizations in Costa Rica. For once in my career my spidey sense served me well. Mickey seemed like a great guy but it was the first time I had ever met anyone accompanied by two big body guards wearing sports coats and obviously packing. As Barrett's adventure unfolded I saw bits and pieces of it but I had no idea just how deeply entrenched Barrett had become in the workings of an international crime ring, one that had its own problems with cyber criminals in Russia. Thanks to Joseph Menn I now know the story.
At his wedding in San Francisco Barrett seemed as light hearted and happy as any groom should. It is hard to believe upon reading Menn's account that the night before Barrett had excused himself from the rehearsal dinner to secretly pass off a key fob with a digital audio recorder that he had used to capture a day's worth of conversation with one of the Prolexic partners to an FBI agent waiting around the corner in a dark sedan.
To research his book Menn traveled to Russia with Barrett and the other hero of his book, Andy Crocker. The picture he paints of a corrupt justice and law enforcement system in Russia is chilling. Andy spent three years in Russia tracking down the ring of extortionists that Barrett had uncovered. Andy and Barrett did not even speak directly to each other until the night after Andy obtained convictions against three of the bad guys.
Not since Cliff Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage has there been a book that delves as deeply into the workings of criminal hackers. This book will be widely read by law enforcement, policy makers, and IT security professionals. Like Stoll's book I predict it will inspire a generation of technologists to join the battle against cyber criminals.
More People Need To Know Stories Like These February 5, 2010
Thomas J. Quinlan (McLean, VA USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
When Mikko Hyponnen (of F-Secure fame) posted about this book on Twitter, I immediately pre-ordered the book. I got it two days later. (I was only one-day advanced on the pre-order, it seems.) I wasn't quite sure what to expect exactly, only I knew it had to do with cyber-security, so I was intrigued.
What I got was a fascinating book with two main stories told from the perspectives of the good guys. The first was a story of how a young dyslexic man struggled against the odds to become one of the best people around at defeating Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDOS) attacks. His story, which spans at least two continents and his unwitting participation with some of the internet's shadier characters, is a fascinating one. That story comprises part one of the book, and ties into part two quite neatly. Part two is the story of a British detective and his exploits in foreign countries (particularly Russia) in his efforts to find and eventually catch several of the same cyber-criminals from part one. While it has the tempo of a fictional "cyber-thriller", this book is non-fiction and is based on the very thorough work of Joseph Menn, a reporter for the Financial Times (previously of the LA Times). The overall theme is that of the war that is taking place using the world's computers and networks as a battleground. Despite the chronicled successes outlined in these two stories, it's a war that's very quickly being lost.
I've been working in the cyber-security industry for a while now, so I'm not entirely unfamiliar with some of the more sinister aspects of what happens on the internet. However, I think for the "layman" or someone who doesn't work with technology and/or cyber-security, this book will be a really good look into a world that you don't ordinarily see, replete with real heroes, real villains, and real consequences to real people. Most people will understand some of the consequences from the flood of spam that they're used to getting; for the unlucky few, identity theft will bring the stories even closer to home. Even if you're fortunate enough to have never experienced any of those consequences yourself, you may have recently heard of the attacks on Google and several other companies. The war taking place in cyberspace is all too real, and while I would hope that most people never have to be involved, the opposite is likely the case. It is escalating, and there need to be more stories like the ones in this book if we ever hope to win.
Excellent; Easy Read, Informative February 7, 2010
C. Miller (Entertainment Capital)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
From a non-geek, I heard Menn's interview on NPR, got the book at the library the next day. It was on limited lend because of high demand. I thought it might be full of technical jargon but was surprised how interesting and compelling it was.
To those cheapskates who complain about price, get a life. And a library card.
As Real As It Gets March 3, 2010
A. Benjamin (San Francisco, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet
For most people the Internet is just email and search. We're happy to watch videos or buy the occasional book from Amazon or buy some electronics from Best Buy. Unknown to many of us, the Internet is now the fabric of our lives. The Internet is now the backbone of banking, commerce and trade. Our electricity would not run without Internet connectivity.
Herein lies the danger of the Internet of tomorrow. Behind author Joe Menn's real narrative are the things that will scare even the casual email user. There are governments and cybergangs who through the deft magic of the right code and keystrokes can cripple the US or even the world economy.
This is what's riveting about the book: Behind the protagonists... Barrett, the Russians, the Mafia and all, lies the true danger of an Internet that is so fragile. Yet we continue to pile more and more applications and businesses on top of it.
The stories are fascinating... detective work, intrigue and all but the real story is that we're all in book.
The book is a must read as it is the real thing.
Don't penalize the author March 1, 2010
Patrick M. Blackburn (El Dorado Hills, CA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Again, I'm giving five stars to offset the idiots who give it one star because of how Amazon has decided to price it. People make buying decisions based on reviews, and authors work too hard to have their work compromised by idiots who complain about the price. The author doesn't set the price. In fact, (s)he is only making a buck or two on the Kindle edition. And your one star reviews are taking money out of their pocket. If the book sucks, give it one star. But if you don't like the price, complain directly to Amazon.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
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