DarkMarket

Cyberthieves, Cybercops and You

By: Misha Glenny

Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

"This extraordinarily powerful book demonstrates how utterly we lack the shared supranational tools needed to fight cybercrime. Essential reading." --Roberto Saviano, author of Gommorah

The benefits of living in a digital, globalized society are enormous; so too are the dangers. The world has become a law enforcer’s nightmare and every criminal’s dream. We bank online; shop online; date, learn, work and live online. But have the institutions that keep us safe on the streets learned to protect us in the burgeoning digital world? Have we become complacent about our personal security—sharing our thoughts, beliefs and the details of our daily lives with anyone who might care to relieve us of them?

In this fascinating and compelling book, Misha Glenny, author of the international best seller McMafia, explores the three fundamental threats facing us in the twenty-first century: cybercrime, cyberwarfare and cyberindustrial espionage. Governments and the private sector are losing billions of dollars each year fighting an ever-morphing, often invisible and often supersmart new breed of criminal: the hacker.

Glenny has traveled and trawled the world. By exploring the rise and fall of the criminal website DarkMarket he has uncovered the most vivid, alarming and illuminating stories. Whether JiLsi or Matrix, Iceman, Master Splynter or Lord Cyric; whether Detective Sergeant Chris Dawson in Scunthorpe, England, or Agent Keith Mularski in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Glenny has tracked down and interviewed all the players—the criminals, the geeks, the police, the security experts and the victims—and he places everyone and everything in a rich brew of politics, economics and history.

The result is simply unputdownable. DarkMarket is authoritative and completely engrossing. It’s a must-read for everyone who uses a computer: the essential crime book for our times.

©2011 Misha Glenny (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“America and its western allies are spending billions to perfect future cyber war capability, but Misha Glenny tells us that cyber crime is right here and has been for years—hiding in plain sight. Glenny's account of the international police hunt for a hacker known as Cha0, one of the most successful cyber criminals of our time, should be required reading for the world's cyber war generals.” (Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker)

“Glenny’s got an outstanding cast to work with: Before the story is over, Turkish military intelligence agents, the Tamil Tigers, members of the Saudi royal family, and the brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer all make appearances. Stieg Larsson and his tales of sleepy Scandinavian hackers start to look vapid in comparison…an eminently readable, witty narrative that sustains suspense until the very last pages.” (Wall Street Journal)

With industry insights very interesting

I work for a financial institution and I am intrigued by fraud so this book is right up my alley. It is possible that you might just enjoy the fast-moving story of bad guys across the globe who steal from us all. If you find it repugnant when bad guys get a lot of attention then skip this one.

Long, Dull & Out-of-Date

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Should have been clear it's a historical review. In the cyberworld, something that's five years old is ancient history. It had no current value. Also, it was read very slowly and the stories seemed disjointed. Struggled to finish the whole thing.

Has DarkMarket turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. I'll just read the reviews more carefully from now on.

What didn’t you like about Jonathan Cowley’s performance?

English pronunciations and Britishisms were annoying in such a long book. He read a bit too slowly too.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from DarkMarket?

Loosely, it was a history of the Dark Market. The title was misleading: it wasn't about "You" (that is, us, the readers) at all.

Any additional comments?

Waste of money/credits.