Secrets of a Super Hacker

Provides step-by-step instructions for entering supposedly secure computer systems, along with a summary of the laws covering this generally illegal activity and an explanation of the role of hackers in maintaining computer security

Once more, Loompanics publishes something other houses wouldn't: a guide to violating computer security. Covering hacking scenarios ranging from the merely mischievous to the criminal, the super hacker known as the Knightmare gives step-by-step instructions in meaningful hacking from a personal computer. Fortunately, he also includes a section on state and federal computer laws, allowing potential hackers to be cognizant of the sanctions they risk with any particular project. Appendixes offer an array of technical explanations and tips for understanding database and system structures; tips cover password divination and searching strategies; and a glossary, besides explaining terms likely to be encountered in any particular documentation being hacked, enhances the hacker's ability to share experiences and tips. As science outstrips society's control of information, systems of secretkeeping proliferate maddeningly. Yet with this book, the keyboard jockey can enter all sorts of "secure" systems, databases, and records; and a hacker-security chapter explains both why hacking is a valuable and useful activity and--equally important because entering and altering systems without clearance is generally illegal--how to avoid getting caught. Mike Tribby