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This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World's Information Hardcover – September 13, 2012

by Andy Greenberg (Author)

59 ratings

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The barbarians aren't at the gates. They're inside. This is the first full account of the cypherpunks who aim to free the world's information, from the Forbes reporter whose work has traced their history and future. What is the machine that kills secrets? WikiLeaks brought to light a new form of whistleblowing, using powerful cryptographic code to hide leakers’ identities while they spill the private data of government agencies and corporations. But that technology has been evolving for decades in the hands of hackers and radical activists, from the libertarian enclaves of Northern California to Berlin to the Balkans. And the secret-killing machine continues to evolve beyond WikiLeaks, as a movement of hacktivists aims to obliterate the world’s institutional secrecy. This is the story of the code and the charactersidealists, anarchists, extremistswho are transforming the next generation’s notion of what activism

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Greenberg masterfully portrays a new reality. Radical transparency for firms and governments is not just a decision but a technological fact of life.”
—Don Tapscott, bestselling author of The Naked Corporation and, most recently, Macrowikinomics

“A must-read for those seeking to understand the decades-long struggle between openness and secrecy, anonymity and attribution—and why that might be the most important struggle of the modern era. Meticulously researched, Greenberg provides first-hand accounts of the eccentric pioneers who are coding around censorship, repression, and even traditional law. He also captures the relentless distributed nature of the movement that’s powering it all.”
—Daniel Suarez, New York Times bestselling author of Daemon and Kill Decision

“Andy Greenberg shows us why cryptography has to be the marrow of the Internet. People who have no technical knowledge along with those who live and breathe bytes will gain a new vision of an invisible army of characters….This book will be one of the most important books of the decade.”
—Birgitta Jonsdottir, Member of the Icelandic Parliament and Chairperson of the International Modern Media Institution

“This is the story of a revolution in societal transparency. It’s an expose of the characters who have put secrets in peril. For those that seek transparency, it’s riveting tale. For those who must keep secrets, be warned: This book holds up a mirror to your worst fears.”
—Hugh Thompson, founder and CEO of People Security, Adjunct Professor, Computer Science, Columbia University

“Greenberg’s vivid storytelling makes the forces that culminated in Wikileaks — the people, the politics, and especially the technology — come alive.”
—Bruce Schneier, author of Liars and Outliers and Applied Cryptography

“Andy Greenberg tells a vivid story that weaves together compelling characters and powerful technology that could change politics more profoundly than any technology since the printing press. By the time I was finished, I was both inspired and terrified.”
—David Bacon, IBM, Watson Research Center

“Points to a future in which few corporate and government secrets are safe. This is the book you must read to understand the WikiLeaks phenomenon and the growing struggle over the most sensitive institutional secrets.”
— Stephen Solomon, Director of the Business and Economic Reporting Program, New York University Carter School of Journalism

"Computer hackers haven’t been made into heroes like this since Stieg Larsson created Lisbeth Salander—and luckily Greenberg shares a bit of Larsson’s flair for suspense, too." — SLATE

Greenberg delves eloquently into the magicians of the all-powerful technology that shatters the confidentiality of any and all state secrets while tapping into issues of personal privacy. — PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY

While lawmakers and law enforcers struggle with the philosophy and practicality of these issues, the people Greenberg profiles have made up their minds, and they are a few steps ahead. If you’re wondering who they are and why they feel so strongly, look no further than this book. — NEW SCIENTIST

“…fascinating and well-researched.” –WALL STREET JOURNAL

“Forbes magazine journalist Andy Greenberg takes readers on a terrific and revealing — if considerably unsettling — investigation into the shadowy war rooms behind our computer screens.” –CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

"A globe trotting exploration into the heart of the contentious world of brilliant, eccentric and erratic game changers who have taken the tools at hand and turned them into powerful weapons that can — and have in some cases — altered the course of history…Greenberg went looking for a story and nailed it." — PAPER MAGAZINE

"A series of moving and deeply complex portraits… In all, Greenberg has created a seriously riveting read." — CAPITAL NEW YORK

Gripping…For all the technical detail (which Greenberg excels at explaining), this book is still about human feats and failings, idealism, trust and betrayal. — IRISH TIMES

About the Author

ANDY GREENBERG is a staff writer for Forbes magazine, focusing on technology, information security and digital civil liberties. His Forbes story on WikiLeaks and the future of information leaks in late 2010 was the first magazine cover story to feature Julian Assange. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, filmmaker Malika Zouhali-Worrall.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0525953205
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dutton (September 13, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780525953203
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0525953203
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 9.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,244,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,430 in Computer Hacking
- #1,430 in Privacy & Online Safety
- #4,014 in Internet & Telecommunications

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Andy Greenberg

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Andy Greenberg is an award-winning senior writer for WIRED Magazine, covering security, privacy, information freedom, and hacker culture. His most recent book is Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency. His last book was Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers. The two books, as well as excerpts from them published in WIRED, have won awards including two Gerald Loeb Awards for International Reporting, a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Cornelius Ryan Citation for Excellence from the Overseas Press Club. His first book, This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Hacktivists and Cypherpunks Aim to Free the World’s Information, was named one of the top ten “greatest tech books of all time” by the Verge. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, filmmaker Malika Zouhali-Worrall.

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Customers find the book extremely informative and easy to read, with one mentioning it's worth listening to several times. The information quality receives positive feedback, with one customer noting it provides just enough technical background to be important.

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Information quality Readability

8 customers mention "Information quality"7 positive1 negative

Customers find the book extremely informative, with one customer noting it provides just enough technical background to be important.

"This is an amazing book that tells a story totally relevant and urgently necessary in order to understand the who-what-when-where-and-why things got..." Read more

"...the stories of others, gradually moving forward in time, was especially interesting...." Read more

"...In my opinion this book is informative, fun-to-read, and even somewhat important...." Read more

"This is a great essay on the history of many of the famous figures and movements involved in computer security today...." Read more

8 customers mention "Readability"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging, with one describing it as a gripping read and another noting it's worth listening to multiple times.

"This is an amazing book that tells a story totally relevant and urgently necessary in order to understand the who-what-when-where-and-why things got..." Read more

"A gripping read! Very well-told. And for the parts and personalities I am directly familiar with, accurate...." Read more

"...It moves along quickly, like a novel, and Greenberg discusses many of the basic technological capabilities that were invented directly or inspired..." Read more

"...It can be a bit dry at times, but it is worth listening to several times." Read more

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Suspense. History. Intrigue. Anger. Sadness. This book has it all!
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2014
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This is an amazing book that tells a story totally relevant and urgently necessary in order to understand the who-what-when-where-and-why things got to this point, here in 2014. What is even more interesting to me is that this book was published in 2012. I looked in the index the very first thing when I opened the book and there is not one reference to Edward Snowden! Everything we know about the NSA, hacking, leaking, spying and cyber warfare in the last two years isn't even included in the book because it hadn't happened yet! We are literally at the edge of it! The book has all the suspense of fiction, all the history of an encyclopedia and just enough technical background to be important without drowning in insider-jargon! A well put-together book that is a MUST READ for anyone interested in this subject. And the point of the book seems to be, whether you're interested or not, you're going to want to know this stuff!
PS Now that I've finished the book completely, I'm beginning to wonder "How much is true?" "Is it disinformation?" "What is the author's real intention?" "Can I trust it?" "Can I believe it?" "Is the book meant for me to ask myself all these questions?" So, in the end, I can say I liked it. I read it quickly, couldn't get through it fast enough. It was gripping, Compelling. Worth-while reading. But given the subject matter, I have to wonder about all the rest. And so will YOU!

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5 people found this helpful

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Timothy C May
Reads like a good novel
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2012
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A gripping read! Very well-told. And for the parts and personalities I am directly familiar with, accurate. (A few tiny errors, a few compressions of events, etc., but generally accurate.)

I had a copy on pre-order with Amazon, so it arrived on Sept. 13th. I took it to the County Fair with me and read big chunks of the book while sitting on a bench.

The style of telling parts of life stories (Ellsberg, Zimmerman, Assange, Manning, me, etc.) and then interleaving with the stories of others, gradually moving forward in time, was especially interesting. Almost like a novel, or a musical piece, with themes, counterpoint, fugue-like developments. It gave a panorama of the themes and (some of) the players from the 1960s to the present, with an underlying motif.

I haven't really gotten to the second half of the book, except by skipping around and peeking. It seems more disjointed. Perhaps because I wasn't active in those events, or perhaps because the outcome just hasn't been written yet. Or maybe it's those crazy kids! The level of back-stabbing in Cypherpunks was not a fraction of what seems to have happened in the Wikileaks denouement.

Well done! It reminds me of Tracy Kidder's "The Soul of a New Machine" in a lot of ways.

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22 people found this helpful

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Gordon E. Anderson
A great read that borders on important.
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2013
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OK, finished THIS MACHINE KILLS SECRETS by Andy Greenberg.

First of all, let me just say that this is an excellent read. It moves along quickly, like a novel, and Greenberg discusses many of the basic technological capabilities that were invented directly or inspired by the Cypherpunks. It also gives little character portraits developed mainly by direct interaction Greenberg had with some of the key players. Greenberg describes meetings with John Young, Tim May, Julian Assange and others. And those who subscribed to the Cypherpunks mailing list will recognize the characters he has captured in book form: John Young is a (necessarily) paranoid characters who truly believes in freeing information, particularly information owned by the public. Tim May is a cranky old crank who is nonetheless brilliant and has egged on or conceived of many of the key inventions spawned by Cypherpunk thinking. Julian Assange is the self-proclaimed Cypherpunk messiah who is nevertheless hell-bent on exposing some of the worst abuses of both Governments and large corporations. In my opinion, Greenberg captures some aspects of the people without ignoring their contributions.

Where the book falls short of it's very high potential is in the last couple of chapters. Basically, Greenberg ends up spending a lot of time of the gossipy side of how Wikileaks came apart. While some coverage of this part of recent history is probably merited (and showing how Assange may have partly contributed to Wikileaks' loss of clout), Greenberg should have continued the main anti-authoritarian themes developed in the early chapters and discussed (for instance) BITCOIN. Whether Bitcoin itself survives or not isn't relevant, but Bitcoin emodies many Cypherpunkly ideals, including anonymous cash and a decentralized coining mechanism. As such, it is the first of what will certainly be a series of digital forms of cash. Greenberg should have maintained his focus on the core themes of the Cypherpunks and strong crypto and then looked towards the future and (possibly) discussed which of the themes may continue to proliferate (eg, Collapse of governments due to anonymous crypto payments? Probably unlikely. Forcing nation-states to come to terms with far higher forms of transparency? Increasingly likely.)

In my opinion this book is informative, fun-to-read, and even somewhat important. If Greenberg fixes the descent into Gossip in a second edition, then this book could become of lasting relevance.

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10 people found this helpful

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Jami
Great Book, Great Journalism
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2012
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This book is an extremely well written piece of journalism on whistle-blowers and leaking. It explores the culture that promotes openness and leaks in the information age as well as the courageous individuals who take the risks and why. This book is truly a product of stellar journalism; Greenberg traveled personally to follow each lead and talk to each source, spending time getting to know the people to write this book. All this effort really shows and the result is a refreshing change from the dull report that is sometimes delivered by people who research everything online and never come to really know the culture, people, and movement.
Highly recommended to anyone interested in groups such as wikileaks and anonymous, whistle-blowers and leakers, or the struggle of people against governments and corporations.

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anonymousse
Incredible
Reviewed in France on February 7, 2013
Verified Purchase

This book will become important for kids of the 20's
Like Steven Levy's Hackers was for kids of the 80's
Extraordinary clever people doing extraordinary things of their life.

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Mr. Paul J. Bradshaw
Leaks are not just about the tools, but about people
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
There is more to leaking than Wikileaks, and a more interesting tale to be told than theirs. In This Machine Kills Secrets, Andy Greenberg looks at that story - and it's an important read for any journalist interested in working with sources in the 21st century.

The book combines a history of the leaks movement - from cryptography geeks and early document sites like Cryptome - to an overview of the proliferation of new, Wikileaks-inspired sites from Al Jazeera's leaks site to Unileaks - many of which lack basic security.

Along the way there are insights into every aspect of leaking: the technology, organisational and human factors, the politics and the culture. It's a timely book as the world embarks on a debate about privacy, security, and transparency sparked by Edward Snowden's own latest `megaleak'.

What Greenberg demonstrates throughout the book is that leaks are not just about the tools, but about people: and it is the personalities and settings which make this story both eminently readable and a great introduction to the tools being used by them, the dangers and the lessons learned.

Parts of the book should be recommended reading for journalists and journalism students. The story of cryptography pioneer David Chaum, for example, highlights the difference between encryption (masking the contents of a message) and anonymity (masking the identity of the participants).

Greenwald knows not to fetishize security technologies: sources frequently point out that no system is completely secure (the advice is that you should "still use [Tor] along with other, commercial proxy services to create extra layers of defence"), while humans will always be vulnerable to Rubber Hose Cryptanalysis (having a password beaten out of you), handing over contacts to reduce sentences, and social engineering.

Towards the end of the book Greenberg touches on a different type of leaks movement: smartphone apps like OpenWatch and Cop Recorder which allow users to invisibly record audio and video.

Videos have already led to one police officer being fined six thousand dollars. As the debate over surveillance continues, `sousveillance' - surveillance from below - could well be the next practice to face a clampdown from authorities. Meanwhile, I look forward to a second edition of This Machine Kills Secrets which tells the stories of Offshore Leaks, Edward Snowden, and the increasingly globalised nature of modern journalism.

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This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World's Information Hardcover – September 13, 2012

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5.0 out of 5 stars Suspense. History. Intrigue. Anger. Sadness. This book has it all!

5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a good novel

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read that borders on important.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, Great Journalism

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible

5.0 out of 5 stars Leaks are not just about the tools, but about people

Suspense. History. Intrigue. Anger. Sadness. This book has it all!

Reads like a good novel

A great read that borders on important.

Great Book, Great Journalism

Incredible

Leaks are not just about the tools, but about people