Underground
by Suelette Dreyfus · first published 1997
63% recommend38% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A detailed account of 1990s hacker culture, covering phreaking and BBS scenes, with a focus on the Australian scene. It is widely regarded as the best book about hackers and offers a worthwhile overview of the subject.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2013–2025Homeland
Cory Doctorow
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 136 recommend · 13 mention6 recommend · 136 recommend
2009–2026The Masters of Deception
Michele Slatalla
Recommended by 12 · mentioned by 1612 recommend · 16 mention12 recommend · 1612 recommend
2007–2026The Cuckoo’s Egg
Clifford Stoll
Recommended by 205 · mentioned by 275205 recommend · 275 mention205 recommend · 275205 recommend
2008–2026Little Brother
Cory Doctorow
Recommended by 60 · mentioned by 12960 recommend · 129 mention60 recommend · 12960 recommend
2007–2026Hackers
Steven Levy
Recommended by 130 · mentioned by 188130 recommend · 188 mention130 recommend · 188130 recommend
2007–2026Masters of Doom
David Kushner
Recommended by 253 · mentioned by 365253 recommend · 365 mention253 recommend · 365253 recommend
"Underground" by Susan Dreyfus It is about the phreaking/BBS era, specifically the Australian scene. The deadtree version is impossible to find, but the author has released it as an ebook. Download here: http://www.underground-book.net/download.php3
on “Ask HN: Favorite true story tech book?” ↗If you liked this, you should check out Underground by Suelette Dreyfus. It's by far the best book about hackers ever written. Edit: Oops, already mentioned in this thread http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=621273
on “Ask HN: Favorite true story tech book?” ↗This? http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=5A8FE70517FD734D720... Title: Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness, and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier Author(s): Suelette Dreyfuss Publisher: Mandarin Australia Year: 1997 ISBN: 9781863305952, 1863305955 >> This book provides a…
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗Suggest Underground, by Suelette Dreyfus and Julian Assange, at http://rootsecure.net/content/downloads/pdf/underground_book...
on “John Carmack's adolescent years (2003)” ↗Underground by By Suelette Dreyfus http://www.encyclopaedia.com/pdfs/9/518.pdf
on “Ask HN: What are your recommended reads that are available for free?” ↗the film is based on the book, "Underground", Suelette Dreyfus, ISBN 1863305955, Random House, 1997. Free electronic copy at ~ http://www.underground-book.net/ or and 'out of print' copy at Amazon ~ http://www.amazon.com/Underground-Hacking-Obsession-Electron...
on “Underground brings drama to Julian Assange’s teenage hacker days” ↗Honest answer AFAIK: I met Julian back in 1997 in Australia at the security conference that launched his and Suelette Dreyfus' book about the history of the Melbourne hacker scene, Underground. I met him again at HAR2009 in the Netherlands. He was very interested in the fact that I had been living in China for nearly 10 years and confided that he was really surprised after Wikileaks launched…
on “Wikileaks releases CIA's Marble: Malware obfuscation tools” ↗I'm not sure which specific Kevin Mitnick book you're actually referring to or looking for but the book "Underground" is actually by Suelette Dreyfus and is about the nascent hacker/cracker subculture of the late '80s and early '90s. It was researched by/with Julian Assange (not written by him as another commenter has…
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗Strange thing but this is one of the things that got me really interested in computer science. It was very clever. Not sure, but it might have been covered in the book Underground, by Suylette Dreyfus. Perhaps I’m thinking of another book tho I found this part of the article hilarious: The Internet was partitioned for several days, as regional networks disconnected from the NSFNet…
on “The Morris Worm was released 35 years ago today” ↗