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Draft:Fancy Bear Goes Phishing

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Fancy Bear Goes Phishing: The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks
AuthorScott J. Shapiro
LanguageEnglish
SubjectComputer hacking
GenreNon-fiction:
PublishedMay 23, 2023
PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux, Macmillan Publishers
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages432
ISBN9780374601171
WebsiteMacmillan

Fancy Bear Goes Phishing: The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks is a book on the history of cybersecurity and computer hacking by Scott J. Shapiro, a professor of philosophy and law at Yale Law School. The book was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on May 23, 2023.[1] The book was released to generally positive reviews.

Synopsis

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Fancy Bear Goes Phishing covers five computer hacks and their methods, as well as the political, legal and cultural impacts of the hacks.

Morris Worm

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Fancy Bear Goes Phishing opens by first examining the "Morris Worm", a computer virus named after its creator Robert Tappan Morris. The book examines how the virus spread using various technological methods, including exploits from a backdoor in the Unix sendmail program and a buffer overflow exploit in the finger network service. The virus would go on to cripple or crash multiple networks due to, in part, it's high re-infection rate of 1 in 7.[fn 1]

Fancy Bear Goes Phishing then explains how Morris—son of then chief scientist at the National Computer Security Center, a division of the National Security Agency—was the first person prosecuted and convicted under conviction in the US under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. During his trial, Morris accepted the facts presented by the prosecutors, but pleaded for leniency because he did not intend for the virus to be harmful. Morris was sentenced to three years' probation, 400 hours of community service, and a fine of US$10,050.

Dark Avenger

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Hacking of Paris Hilton's phone

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Hacking of DNC servers and the release of Hillary Clinton's emails

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"Botnet wars"

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Reception

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Fancy Bear Goes Phishing was released to generally positive reviews. John Naughton praised the book as am "impressive achievement" and applauded Shapiro's ability to tell a story about the current state of computing using the five large hacks to tell a narrative.[2] Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian also applauded Shapiro for his ability to use "vivid case studies to dramatise a technically complex subject".[3] Richard Lea of The Wall Street Journal.[4]

Awards

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Fancy Bear Goes Phishing was listed on Amazon.com "Best Books of the Year" list.[5]

Footnotes

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References

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  1. ^ Shapiro, Scott (2023). Fancy Bear Goes Phishing: The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks (First ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374601171.
  2. ^ Naughton, John (22 May 2023). "Fancy Bear Goes Phishing by Scott Shapiro review – a gripping study of five extraordinary hacks". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (June 2, 2023). "Fancy Bear Goes Phishing by Scott J Shapiro – hacking for beginners". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Lea, Richard (May 16, 2023). "'Fancy Bear Goes Phishing' Review: The Art of Hacking Humans". The Wall Street Journal.
  5. ^ "Fancy Bear Goes Phishing". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved April 17, 2024.