Hacker Chronicles 1/HACKER1.ISO/cud3/cud332e.txt

Text File | 1992-10-10 | 15KB | 251 lines

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Date: Tue, 2 Sep 91 13:31:51 CDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: File 5--Review of _CYBERPUNK_

                       (Reviewed by Jim Thomas)

I'm always suspicious of books highly praised by competent reviewers
and _Cyberpunk_ (CP) was no exception.  Layfolk and professionals
alike have found it provocative and accurate, and the closest I've seen
to criticism is Walter Mosely's review in the NYT Book Review (Aug 11,
p. 15).  He calls it "overlong, a bit melodramatic and repetitive,"
and adds "If you do't know much about the power of computers, what you
learn here may frighten you." Mosely's cavil is far overshadowed by
his praise. Discussions with others who had read the volume range from
favorable to hysterically enthusiastic. Even though I find John Markoff
to be a consistently competent and incisive journalist, I refused to
believe that any book can be *that* good. I was wrong. _Cyberpunk_
*is* that good.  The stories are uneven, some potentially helpful
detail is omitted, and the book is outrageously mistitled. Yet, it
remains a captivating volume that, once begun, cannot be put down.

Hafner and Markoff are story tellers, but their stories are not simply
about hackers or the computer underground.  The tales of each
character are used as a prism through which to view human fraility,
excess, and amoralism.  Unlike some prosecutorial accounts that have been
egocentric and judgmental, Hafner and Markoff let their data do the
talking, and we no longer see "good guys" and "bad guys," but just an
array of different personalities caught up in their own agendas for
their own interests.

Most readers find the title objectionable, and I am tentatively
inclined to agree.  My dissatisfaction with "_Cyberpunk_" (as a title)
is mainly that cyberculture simply isn't what the book is about.  In
the BBS culture, cyberpunk reflects a particular style of activity and
communication, and the trilogy doesn't mirror the culture of such BBSs
as Demon Roach Underground, Cyberpunk 'zine, the heavy-metal
influenced youth boards, or the yippie-like anarchists' disregard of
social convention.  To do that, a strong contextualizing chapter would
have helped, coupled with conceptual links illustrating how each of
the subjects served as an exemplar for one thread in the cyberpunk
mosaic. To consider Hafner and Markoff's' subjects as "cyberpunkers"
expands the meaning of the term such that any member of the computer
underground could be included within the ambit of techno-outlaw. My
concern isn't, as it is for some, that the title distorts the meaning
of the term cyberpunk, an issue over which it is difficult to generate
much emotion. By contrast, the definition of "hacker" is important
because of its use by law enforcement to stigmatize and weave
guild-laden associative rhetorical threads from a rather strained
syllogism: "Hackers are evil; you are a hacker; ergo..." This was the
line used in some of the search affidavits and indictments, and the
terms "cyberpunk" and "hacker" were used interchangeably by some
prosecutors.  As a consequence, the stakes over precise definitions of
the term "hacker" are much higher than for "cyberpunk."

_Cyberpunk_ isn't even about "hackers and outlaws." This objection
isn't a quibble about the meaning of words, but about matching a title
to its contents, and the tendency of marketeers to sacrifice "art" to
enterprise.  The fact that the characters are hackers is incidental to
the primary subject and sub-themes, which include (in my reading) the
antinomy between new forms of social meanings (eg, definitions of
crime, ethics), new ways to express one's individuality (computer
intrusion), and the ways that "newness" transforms basic existential
dilemmas into (in this case) self-destructive behaviors.

The narratives are about real people, and Hafner and Markoff convey
all characters as complex, a refreshing change from the cartoon
characters portrayed by law enforcement and most media.  The unifying
thread binding the characters is an amoral fascination for computer
technology and the ways in which the intrusion caused by this
fascination disrupt not only computer systems but the lives of those
involved.

The first story of the trilogy, "Kevin: The Dark-Side Hacker,"
describes the exploits *as well as the lives* of Kevin Mitnick and his
associates. Mitnick gained national notoriety through his ability to
break into almost any system by combining technological prowess with
social engineering (or "conning"), and for his equal inability to
restrain himself from hacking, which led one California judge to
revoke his bail because the "pathology" made Mitnick a major "social
menace."

The "dark-side" subtitle may cause some to wince in recognition that
it seems to sensationalize the deeds of Mitnick & Co. But as the
narrative evolves, an alternative reading would interpret "dark-side"
as refering instead to the psyches, not the behavior, of the drama's
front-stage characters. Roscoe, a talented but errant phreak, is
depicted as a self-centered and manipulative twit lusted after by
Susan Thunder, an equally manipulative lanky and unstable run-away who
moved through a succession of jobs ranging from prostitution to
computer security with equal facility.  Lenny DiCicco, a compulsive
button pusher and gadget meddler, seemed to lack a strong persona or
will of his own and was vulnerable to Mitnick's manipulation. He
ultimately freed himself by betraying Mitnick to the FBI. Finally,
Mitnick himself appears center-stage as a talented cracker and phreak
whose obsession with telephone and computer technology provided the
existence of this fat, troubled youth with some meaning.

If one reads _Cyberpunk_ only for the hacking exploits, the pathos of
these characters will be lost. In most ways that count, they share a
fatal flaw: None is able to control their passions or to redirect them
toward less intrusive actions.  Kevin, Lenny, and Susan constantly
display mutual vindictiveness, jealousy, suspicion, insecurity,
betrayal, and an amazing inability to step back from situations that
bring each to the brink of existential disaster.  These people are
neither evil nor dangerous.  They are pathetic social nuisances unable
to utilize their own talents or move beyond the cycle of errant
behavior that characterizes rebels without a cause. The dark side of
their behavior lies not in the consequences of their "crimes," but in
their failure to act in their own or society's interests.

_Cyberpunk's_ remaining two narratives are competent, informative, and
detailed, but they lack the rich texture of the first.  The second
tale relates the escapades of Pengo, Peter Carl, Markus Hess, Hagbard,
and others, whose most notorious exploit was selling relatively
worthless information and software to the Russians (although the real
names of Hagbard and Pengo are given in the book, they are generally
referred to by their handles).  The characters range from reasonably
normal students leading somewhat normal lives to the totally
whacked-out Hagbard, who believed he was fighting an international
conspiracy.  The group is loosely-knit, with dramatically different
individual motivations, skills, ideologies, and intents.  The group
named its self-appointed  mission "Project Equalizer" because it was
believed that a balance of political power--and thus world
peace--could be obtained by technological parity between the
super-powers.  However, despite the name, none of the members appeared
to have any coherent political sophistication or interests, and one
can readily believe that it was the "thrill of game" that provided the
primary motivation.  Peter Carl kept the bulk of the modest sum
provided by the Russians, sharing relatively little with his friends.
Although Carl is depicted as the most mercenary of the lot, and both
he and Hagbard needed funds to support their drug habit, the others
seemed unaffected by the lure of money.

These are not "evil hackers," and unlike the Mitnick saga, these
people, with the exception of Hagbard, are neither pathetic nor
particularly unusual. Their passions are controlled if misdirected,
and most seem to lead reasonably normal lives.  Their flaw is not
felonious predations, but gross lack of perspective and judgement.
They were engaged in behaviors they did not fully understand and of
which they were unable to see the consequences.

The final tale describes the unleashing of the Internet worm by Robert
Morris. The most matter-of-fact journalistic account of the trilogy,
Hafner and Markoff depict a bright college student whose primary crime
was grossly screwing up an intrusive software program.  Son of
brilliant computer scientist Bob Morris, the junior Morris learned
computers and programming as a child and was fascinated by computer
bugs that allowed system entry.  The Internet worm was the result of
an attempt to see how many computers he could reach with a software
program, and was intended to be a harmless network security probe. Due
to a minor programming error with major consequences, the worm, once
inside another computer, wildly replicated itself, slowing down and
filling up systems, and ultimately causing many to crash, some to be
brought back up only to crash again.

The worm itself did not destroy programs or data, but did disrupt
system use. Morris intended no harm, but the havoc his program created
grabbed media attention and raised the visibility of hackers. The
Morris incident flamed the calls for setting punitive examples to
these social menaces. Hafner and Markoff cite one national computer
expert who went so far as to incharitably call for an industry-wide
boycott of any computer company that would hire Morris.  But, Morris
is not depicted as a nasty, dangerous character in need of punishment.
On the contrary: He comes across as a frightened young man who
realizes too late the consequences of his act and is terribly
concerned about it.

Of the primary characters in _Cyberpunk_, only Mitnick served prison
time (one year in a federal prison and mandatory psychiatric
counselling). DiCicco pled guilty to one felony count and received a
sentence of 5 years probation, 750 hours of community service, and a
$12,000 restitution order to Digital.  All charges were dropped
against Pengo, and his attorney negotiated with DEC to avoid a civil
suit.  Hagbard apparently committed suicide by self-immolation in a
German forest.  Peter Carl received two years and a 3,000 mark fine,
Hess was was sentenced to 20 months with a 10,000 mark fine, but the
prison sentences were changed to probation.  For the worm, Morris
received three years probation, a $10,000 fine, and 400 hours of
community service.

Perhaps, on reconsidering, _Cyberpunk_ is aptly named after all.  John
Brunner's 1975 _Shockwave Rider_, generally considered the original
model for the genre, depicted a world in which technological
information was used to control the masses, and Nickie Haflinger, the
protagonist/anti-hero, was both outlaw and savior. He used his talents
cynically and manipulatively until dramatic events added wisdom and
maturity to his world vision.  The cyberpunk characters possess
knowledge, but not wisdom.  Little distinguishes Pengo, Mitnick or
Susan Thunder from Case, William Gibson's cybernaut in _Neuromancer_.
They all share social marginality and the amoral cynicism often found
among bright, alienated youth short on political consciousness and
vision, but long on passion for techno-thrills.  Like the world Bruce
Stirling portrays in _Islands in the Net_, contemporary society is
increasingly dominated by those with the ability to control knowledge,
global boundaries are dissolving, and computer technology is a form of
oppression.

However, in the cyberpunk genre, the protagonists attain salvation by
turning techno-power against itself through illegal incursions into
its realm. They challenge the authority of those who control, unleash
the potentially emancipating power of chaos, and ultimately save the
world for a presumably brighter tomorrow. In their own way, each of
Hafner's and Markoff's characters has done the same.  Their actions,
for better or ill, have raised the question of the relationship of
information control to social welfare, revealed the gap between law
and a changing society, and, along with numerous others who live on
the limits of the cybercrest, through their actions have brought to
center stage the problems that computer technology poses for
individual rights of speech, privacy, and property.

In Eco's _The Name of the Rose_, Brother William stumbles into a
monastery mystery during an era when entrenched conventional ideas are
challenged by a renaissance in knowledge.  Confronted with the the
danger of being labelled a heretic, he painstakingly assembles,
through interviews and documents, images of a diverse community from
which he can ultimately make sense of the strange events surrounding
him. Hafner and Markoff do the same:  Their matter-of-fact,
non-judgmental portrayal may seem heretical to some law-and-order
advocates, but they neither laud nor condemn, but display each
character in a naturalistic mirror in which we vicariously re-live the
events. We see Mitnick's transgressions, Lenny's betrayal, and Morris's
terror just as we experience the pettiness of FBI agent Joe O'Brien's
mean-spirited insensitivity toward two witnesses and prosecutor Mark
Rasch's continued mispronunciation of Morris's name as Robert "Tap-in"
(instead of "Tappan") Morris.

The image of hackers permeating _Cyberpunk_ is not one of dangerous
predators who should be locked up.  They are confused, not-yet-mature,
and insensitive to the issues in which they were involved. There
actions were wrong and the consequences unacceptable. But after
reading Hafner and Markoff, one doubts the value of punishment and
wonders if, perhaps, part of the problem might not lie not so much in
individual transgressors, but rather with a social system that has
sacrificed casuistry on the alter of technology and materialism.

_Cyberpunk_ brought to mind the words of the cynical preacher in
Steinbeck's _Grapes of Wrath_:

      "There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There' just stuff
      people do. It's all part of the nice, but that's as far as any
      man got a right to say."

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End of Computer Underground Digest #3.32
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