Book Review: "Masters of Deception"

"Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace" by Michelle Slatalla, Joshua Quittner, is an awesome piece of hacker history. The book itself is fairly old in computing terms (1992), yet tells the story of "The Great Hacker War", which as the book illuminates, was no more than a handful of kids trolling each other across the various networks at the time. This book is a classic in the sense that it's a crucial part of hacker history and is still as entertaining today as when it was written. The book is also pretty odd in that you can buy used hardcover copies (225 pages) of it on Amazon for $0.01, only paying for shipping to get a nice physical copy. However, I listened to the book on audible (7.15 hrs, at 1.25X speed), narrated by Colby Elliott and while he made the book really interesting, the recording has a whistle-lisp throughout, which made it a little tough to listen to. Overall, I give the book 7/10 stars because I found the story enthralling, important for both the setting and the players, however I didn't find it as technically focused as books like Ghost In The Wires or Exploding The Phone. I'de recommend this book to anyone into computer history, hacking history, or even hacker culture, as it's a quintessential story regarding some of the earliest hacker BBSs and the handles that lurked them. The story details the entire drama of "The Great Hacker War" including the late night phone calls, raids, and trials.

It's the epic, underground story about how hackers splintered from one illegal hacking group, Legion of Doom (LoD), and formed the notorious outlaw hacking group MOD (Masters of Deception). The book outlines their exploits in depth, talking about the tools they built for trolling, the database of dox they kept, and their extensive access to private networks. The book is meticulous in it's painting of the characters, (especially Acid Phreak, Phiber Optik, and Corrupt) their quarrels with the other hacking groups and members, the key character's individual changes, and their ultimate demise in the US court. It talks of the FBI and Secret Service investigations against the gang, as well as other phone company, hacking groups, and private IR firm investigations against the group. The book goes into extensive detail on the hacks each of the characters were conducting, laying out the evidence that backs up their claims, and the stuff ultimately put many of them behind bars. Specifically the book talks at length how the FBI used the hacker's own text files against them, using 'The History of MOD' (books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), to build the case against the gang. But the book also focuses on the treacherous interpersonal relationships at play, were friends would betray one another and multiple lines were drawn in metaphorical sand of cyberspace, over the ethics and decisions these hackers had to make. The story is especially insightful in that realm, of shedding light on the interpersonal interactions of darkweb and cyberspace patrons. Again, great book, and highly recommended to those into hacker history!