The Masters of Deception
by Michele Slatalla · first published 1996
75% recommend25% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Narrative account of the late-80s and early-90s hacker groups LOD and MOD and their conflict; readers enjoy its true-crime pacing and cyberpunk-era feel, and recommend it to fans of hacker history.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace by Michele Slatalla Story is circa 1990.
on “Ask HN: Favorite true story tech book?” ↗Books that have changed my life: Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace Illuminatus Trilogy Neuromancer
on “Ask HN: What was a book that changed your life?” ↗…finished a book on ID called "Masters of doom" by David Kushner which I rather enjoyed as well. I also love reading about crackers from the (mostly) 80's and I can recommend. Cuckoo Egg by Cliff Stoll Masters of deception We are anonymous - Inside the hacker world of lulzsec, anonymous and the global cyber insurgency by Parmy Olson I loved "Underground Hacking Madness and the obsession on the electronic frontier" once…
on “Ask HN: What are some Good Books you have read in past one year or so..” ↗…Here’s some more: • Turner, Fred (2006) From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism • Slatalla, Michelle & Quittner, Joshua (1995) Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace • Schlender, Brent & Tetzeli, Rick (2015) Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader • Isaacson, Walter (2011) Steve Jobs This…
on “Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?” ↗…That said, the methodology here is totally broken. I expected my worst comment to be related to one of the many gender debates on HN, but no. Apparently, it's this: ---------------------- You can try "Masters of Deception: The Gang that Ruled Cyberspace". It's a fictionalized retelling of the stories of the two prominent BBS hacker/phreaker groups during the 80s and early 90s. It's not really brain food or anything like…
on “Show HN: Hater News – Find trolls and anyone's hater level on Hacker News” ↗…Corey Doctorow); I too, like to break up my technical manuals, with good non-fiction, in no particular order these are some that are in my collection you may like: Fatal System Error Founders at Work Masters of Deception Cuckoo's egg (one of my favs) Art of Social Engineering The Watchmen Hackers: Heroes of the Computer revolution (new one put out by O'reiley) The Art of Intrusion (loved) The Art of deception (meh) As…
on “Ask HN: Reading Non-Fiction” ↗You can try "Masters of Deception: The Gang that Ruled Cyberspace". It's a fictionalized retelling of the stories of the two prominent BBS hacker/phreaker groups during the 80s and early 90s. It's not really brain food or anything like…
on “Little Brother” ↗…culture allows for several key persons to be involved in or have siginficant knowledge of many different activities. A must have to include in your library along with other staples such as Cuckoo's Egg, Masters of Deception, Fugitive Game, and Hacker Crackdown. However, like the other books noted, there are apt to be a few points that persons will take exception too with regard to accuracy.
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗"Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace" is a true crime story covering the late 80s/early 90s era of hacking in the US, and a conflict[0] between two prominent hacker groups of the time - LOD[1] and MOD[2] -…
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗Not really about the internet as such. But do checkout the book “Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace” IIRC it does a wonderful job of capturing the cyberpunk feel of growing up with it.
on “Ask HN: What was the Internet like before corporations got their hands on it?” ↗The Cuckoo's Egg was a fantastic read to me back in the mid-90s as my worldview was shaping up. (among other, like Soul of a New Machine, Hackers by Steven Levy, Masters of Deception, etc)
on “The KGB, the Computer and Me – The Cuckoo's Egg Story (1990) [video]” ↗I read his book in high school. Masters of Deception. I really liked it.
on “Q&A: Mark Abene, from 'Phiber Optik' to security guru” ↗Try reading Masters of Deception first, to get in the right mood.
on “Hackers (1995) Animated Experience” ↗This is really cool. Since reading about Masters of Deception, Legion of Doom And other legendary hacker groups with a thirst for VAXen in the late 80es, I have always wanted a VAX machine to hack on.
on “A Raspberry Pi VAX Cluster (2012)” ↗Is that the Legion of Doom from the book Masters of Deception?
on “BBS the Documentary (2013) [video]” ↗