Hackers Crime and the Digital Sublime

Freedom fighers or anarchists? In "Hackers," Paul A. Taylor looks at these characters and the perennial battle between computer hackers and the security industry. He talks to computer scientists, security experts, and the hackers themselves about the practicalities, objectives, and the wider implications of what they do. In astonishingly frank interviews, Taylor provides a revealing and richly sourced account of the debates that surround this controversial practice. He reveals that extreme conciliation and antagonism from the computer industry toward hackers creates potentially dangerous outcomes and argues that a new middle way must be found if we are to make the most of society's high-tech meddlers.

The practice of computer hacking is increasingly being viewed as a major security dilemma in Western societies, by governments and security experts alike.Using a wealth of material taken from interviews with a wide range of interested parties such as computer scientists, security experts and hackers themselves, Paul Taylor provides a uniquely revealing and richly sourced account of the debates that surround this controversial practice. By doing so, he reveals the dangers inherent in the extremes of conciliation and antagonism with which society reacts to hacking and argues that a new middle way must be found if we are to make the most of society's high-tech meddlers.

Introduction; Chapter 1 Them and us; Chapter 2 Hacking culture; Chapter 3 The motivations of hackers; Chapter 4 State of the industry; Chapter 5 Them and us; Chapter 6 The professionalisation process; Chapter 7 The construction of computer ethics; Chapter 8 Conclusion;

Paul Taylor is lecturer in sociology at the University of Salford