A Hackers Mind, Bruce Schneier
A Hackers Mind, Bruce Schneier
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A Hacker's Mind
How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend them Back

Author: Bruce Schneier

Narrator: Dan John Miller

Unabridged: 8 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 02/07/2023


Synopsis

It’s not just computers—hacking is everywhere.

A hack is any means of subverting a system’s rules in unintended ways. The tax code isn’t computer code, but a series of complex formulas. It has vulnerabilities; we call them “loopholes.” We call exploits “tax avoidance strategies.” And there is an entire industry of “black hat” hackers
intent on finding exploitable loopholes in the tax code. We call them accountants and tax attorneys.

In A Hacker’s Mind, Bruce Schneier takes hacking out of the world of computing and uses it to analyze the systems that underpin our society: from tax laws to financial markets to politics. He reveals an array of powerful actors whose hacks bend our economic, political, and legal
systems to their advantage, at the expense of everyone else.

Once you learn how to notice hacks, you’ll start seeing them everywhere—and you’ll never look at the world the same way again. Almost all systems have loopholes, and this is by design. Because if you can take advantage of them, the rules no longer apply to you.

Unchecked, these hacks threaten to upend our financial markets, weaken our democracy, and even affect the way we think. And when artificial intelligence starts thinking like a hacker—at inhuman speed and scale—the results could be catastrophic.

But for those who would don the “white hat,” we can understand the hackingmindset and rebuild our economic, political, and legal systems to counter those who would exploit our society. And we can harness artificial intelligence to improve existing systems, predict and defend
against hacks, and realize a more equitable world.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jake on December 29, 2022

When you think of a hacker, you might think of greasy scammers, or Russian agents. Or the heroes of thrillers like The Matrix. But it turns out hackers are all around us. A hack is any action that subverts the rules and intentions of a system while still working within the system. Or, as the author......more

Goodreads review by Melissa on February 06, 2023

This review is based on an advance reading copy. The overall idea behind this book to show the reader that everything is a system and that all systems can be hacked. Basically, this expands what most people think of as "hacks" from the hoodie wearing computer guru mashing keys and saying "I'm in" to......more

Goodreads review by Jari on February 19, 2023

Good book about hackers' mentality and hacking. Note, that hacking IT systems is just a small part of the book. The book discuss hacking financial systems, legal systems, political systems, etc. Possible consequences of artificial intelligence hacking the systems is also discussed. Technical experti......more

Goodreads review by Hannah on April 23, 2023

I think I may have loved this book partially because of my day job (cyber security). Even though the book itself is not so much about computer hacking as it is the hacker’s mindset and the social, technological, legal, and human constraints and environments that make people, systems, and laws hackab......more

Goodreads review by Quintessens on July 19, 2024

Don’t think that the title is accurate. More of an overview of all the outward forms of hacks. But not less interesting. The real ‘juice’ is at the end where one learns the ways in which our minds are hacked on a daily basis: the Minority Report has already become reality. If I’ve understood the mess......more