Product Description

Since 1984, the quarterly magazine 2600 has provided fascinating articles for readers who are curious about technology. Find the best of the magazine’s writing in Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey, a collection of the strongest, most interesting, and often most controversial articles covering 24 years of changes in technology, all from a hacker’s perspective. Included are stories about the creation of the infamous tone dialer “red box” that allowed hackers to make free phone calls from payphones, the founding of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the insecurity of modern locks.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28909 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 888 pages

Review
" … The Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey is an important, amazing book that tells the story of these kids and adults as they explore a new frontier."
—John Baichtal (Wired Blog, August, 2008)

"...a testament to a culture which thrived before computers and the internet mattered to most of the world." (New statesman, September, 2008)

Review
“…a testament to a culture which thrived before computers and the internet mattered to most of the world.”  New Statesman Thursday 4 September 2008

From the Back Cover
24 years of enduring exploits, creative controversy, and hackers who made history

It′s colorful, controversial, cutting–edge — and you can′t wait to read the next issue. Since its birth in 1984, 2600: The Hacker Quarterly has published the discoveries and adventures of hackers worldwide. Now you can enjoy the best of them all in this entertaining, provocative collection. From the first curious and intrepid souls who discovered they could outwit Ma Bell to those who′ve hacked the Department of Defense and ParadisePoker.com, they′re all here, telling their stories in their own words.

Trailblazing tales from 2600

• Hacking an election

• An American Express phone story

• The world vs. Kevin Mitnick

• How to track any UK GSM mobile phone

• Pirate radio primer

• Simplex locks — so simple to break

• A hacker in Iraq

• The saga of Bernie S

• All the details about DeCSS

• Hacking Google Adwords

Customer Reviews

Absolutely superb piece of hacker history
2600 magazine is always an entertaining and informative read, and this long awaited compendium of articles is equally good. If you're familiar with 2600 then you probably own a copy already.

Inside this book you'll find first hand reports from those involved in many of the events that have been poorly reported and distorted by "experts" elsewhere (such as the Kevin Mitnick case, covered by books like Takedown and Cyberpunk). There's also a fascinating slice of computer history showing the evolution of the Internet from geek toy to mainstream business tool.

For the techies there are plenty of explanatory articles, including the best technical description of GSM I've seen anywhere. There are also plenty of laugh-out-loud hacker stories.

This is not a "how to break into xxx" book, it's a book about real hackers, and it is superb value for money. If you have the slightest interest in computer security you should own it.