I recently read American Kingping by Nick Bilton and I thought it was really good. It’s about the founder of the Silk Road and how the FBI tracked him down.<p>Can you recommend any similiar novels?
This isn't quite in the category, but John Carreyrou's nonfiction book "Bad Blood", which covered the rise and fall of Theranos, satisfied me in a similar way. There's plenty of crime, although it's really about pretending to be high-tech rather than actually being high tech. For people in tech who love a good fraud story, I highly recommend it.
We Were Gods, by Alex Feinman. Among other things, it contains an amazing scene describing an attack on a race condition from inside a fantasy game's magic system.<p>Here's part of it:<p>Giggling a little from the alcohol, the four points began the slow juggling routine I'd sent them; just a simple ball passing, in rhythm. Pass, pass, pass. Throw and catch in the same instant; the balls went round and round until all four were landing in palms at the same time, four little smacks merging into one sound. Their avatars were better at this than they were. After a moment I threw another ball in, then another, until there were eight in the circle: four in the air, four in the hand. Faster and faster they went round, until there were little streaks of light behind them, until the streaks almost formed a complete, rippling circle.<p>Around us the world leaned in, currents of energy creating a field of magic potential. Rhythmic motion always attracted the attention of the underlying world routines as they struggled to incorporate it into the ebbs and flows of the wind and water; a vortex here, at one of the two hearts of the world, drew a lot of processing power. And each point of the cross was a magic-using engine; those strands of energy consumed a surprising amount of resources. But the real trick was the synchronization: slight imperfections in the coding routines for distribution and rationing of magical energy made them susceptible to a timing attack. It was a matter of chance, though; each time the circle tossed and caught, quanta of energy were requested at nearly-identical times. Sooner or later the system would try to service two at once and--ah.<p>One of the balls vanished momentarily, lost to accounting for a brief instant before the system found it again. It left a tiny kink in the circle of light as it passed: an opening, into the collection routines. This was what my watch-spell was waiting for: a chance to insert my own instructions into the information transmission stream: instructions that said 'open', 'open'.<p><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/396337" rel="nofollow">https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/396337</a>
In a hard SF rather than contemporary context, <i>A Deepness in the Sky</i>, by Vernor Vinge, is an absolute delight (and a Hugo winner for best novel). Vinge was a mathematics and computer science professor, and very much knows what he's talking about.<p>Part of the fun is that, on a 5000 year old spaceship set arbitrarily far in our future, long past the end of Moore's Law, all the systems are still running Unix. And one of the jobs on board is "Programmer-Archeologist", digging through generations of code to try to find useful bits from the past. But story-wise, there's some outstanding hacking ideas going.
Two books come to mind (while excluding the obvious absolute classics like Neuromancer (William Gibson) and Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson):<p>"Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson. It goes from WW2 to modern time.<p>"Cyberpunk" by Katie Hafner - Read it aeons ago so working from long term memory. 3 real world stories of famous hackers and their "crimes" (Kevin Mitnick, Pengo, Robert Morris).
Countdown to Zero Day by Kim Zetter.<p>It talks about the Stuxnet and the story behind it, and I got the chance to learn some fairly interesting stuff in the meantime (like the complexity of building a nuclear bomb).<p>I found it much more useful than the American Kingpin, which just <i>mentions</i> that Tor and Bitcoin offer anonymity online, but doesn't get anywhere even close to explaining either of the technologies that are crucial for the storyline.<p>We Are Anonymous by Parmy Olson also made me feel kind of the same, but the writing wasn't quite as engaging as the Countdown to Zero Day was.
“git commit murder” is a story in the style of a detective novel set at a BSD convention. Not sure if it counts as “cybercrime” because it’s about a murder but of course the motive and circumstances only make sense in terms of the internal politics of a fictional BSD distribution. It’s also a really authentic description of what it’s like to be at a technical conference as a newcomer where you don’t know anyone.
"Stealing the network" series by Ryan Russel is awesome.<p><pre><code> - Stealing the Network: How to Own the Box
- Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continent
- Stealing the Network: How to Own an Identity
- Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow</code></pre>
<i>Reamde</i>, by Neal Stephenson.<p>Yeah, the big daddy of cyberpunk ("Snowcrash") also wrote a contemporary technothriller set in organized cybercrime organizations.
The Defcon book list ("peek behind the curtain" and "underground culture") is a good starting place, <a href="https://www.defcon.org/html/links/book-list.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.defcon.org/html/links/book-list.html</a>
Lock In by John Scalzi.<p><a href="https://www.tor.com/2014/05/21/lock-in-john-scalzi-excerpt-chapter-1/" rel="nofollow">https://www.tor.com/2014/05/21/lock-in-john-scalzi-excerpt-c...</a><p>Wil Wheaton's narration is great too. I listened to the audiobook and think about it a lot.<p>It's a techno whodunit — hacking and cracking neural dust/lace, remotely renting and operating physical bodies and committing crimes while “occupying” them, and bio/techno ethics all play a role.<p>In Scalzi's future, locked-in patients receive so much government funding to improve their lives that they gain more abilities and advantages than those who aren't “locked in”, which makes for an interesting inversion.
Bruce Sterling's <i>The Hacker Crackdown</i> (nonfiction, now freeware). Lots of important early hacker history and run-ins with the authorities, plus the origin story of the EFF.
Similar title, different book:<p>Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground
by Kevin Poulsen ISBN-978-0307588692<p>The story of how credit card hacker Max Butler was caught by the FBI.
"The Right to Read" by Richard Stallman[1] is certainly not a novel, but it is a short bit of fiction about cybercrime (or rather, what would happen if certain day-to-day developer activities were made criminal) and is certainly worth the <20 minutes that it takes to read.<p>I seem to recall that it received a bit of hysterical "oh that could never happen" reaction when it was released but I can't seem to find a source for that recollection. It may have mostly been a reaction that was generated by the somewhat emotive backlash that tends to appear whenever Stallman makes a statement about "freedom" though, and the story certainly is allegorical, so anyone who disagreed with him may have posted about it online and skewed the discussion in that direction. I can't recall much about the specific reaction at the time (it was more than 10 years ago now) though so much of the above is really just poorly-informed speculation on my part.<p>It is, unfortunately, disappointingly prescient and it's something that I think everyone working in the tech industry should read, regardless of whether they think they agree with RMS's views on software freedom and intellectual property.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.en.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.en.html</a><p>Edit: I just re-read it and my initial estimate of "<20 minutes" was way off. I had forgotten just how short the story actually was, so perhaps my recollection about the reaction to the allegory isn't entirely accurate either. Nonetheless, I'm leaving this comment here as witness to the fallibility of my memory.
"Hard-boiled Wonderland and end of the world" by Murakami. Not exactly a cybercrime novel. But I find the novel to be resonant with SF/cyberpunk subculture and an engrossing read too.
Mark Russinovich's Jeff Aiken Trilogy. If you're looking for a quality bestseller similar to Dan Brown books.<p>Zero day, Trojan Horse and Rogue Code are all excellent novels. Some common themes include computer virus epidemics, cyber armies, cyber warfare, dangers of an overnetworked but undersecured society
Takedown by Tsutomo Shimomura<p>That's the story of how Kevin Mitnick got caught. Very controversial so I can't say it's good. I still enjoyed it back then.<p>Note that the question is about novels, and I think it is how you should read the book. I seriously doubt its credibility when it comes to facts.
On the topic of Non-fiction cybercrime books, one that provides very good insight imho on the history of spam albeit a little hard to follow is "Spam Nation", by Brian Krebs
Not a book, but Person of Interest is a <i>very good</i> serial about cyber stuff & IA. Plus, more of the thing the team do is cyber-crime or gray-hacking.
Citing Wikipedia: "Blackout: Tomorrow Will Be Too Late" is a disaster thriller book by the Austrian author Marc Elsberg, described by Penguin Books as "a 21st-century high-concept disaster thriller".<p>The novel is about a European power outage due to a cyberattack. For realism the book is written on the basis of interviews with intelligence and computer security officials.
Recently I enjoyed <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Strength-Numbers-Cryptocurrency-Bill-Laboon/dp/1981526730/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Strength-Numbers-Cryptocurrency-Bill-...</a><p>Basically a novel about a couple of college students who find some lost bitcoin in the near future, and the drama that ensues.<p>I thought the book was super interesting.
Computer Crimes and Capers<p>Edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg & Charles G. Waugh<p>Publication date 1983<p>Table of Contents:<p><pre><code> Introduction -- crime up to date Isaac Asimov
DARL I LUV U Joe Gores
An end of spinach Stan Dryer
Computers don't argue Gordon R. Dickson
Goldbrick Edward Wellen
Computer cops Edward D. Hoch
Sam Hall Poul Anderson
Spanner in the works J.T. McIntosh
While-you-wait Edward Wellen
Getting across Robert Silverberg
All the troubles of the world Isaac Asimov
</code></pre>
Borrow for 14 days on Archive.org:<p><a href="https://archive.org/details/computercrimesca00asim" rel="nofollow">https://archive.org/details/computercrimesca00asim</a>
"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] - which mostly consisted of smart teenage kids who were just obsessed with computers and telephone networks. It's unquestionably one of my favourite books.<p>[0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hacker_War" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hacker_War</a><p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Doom_(hacking)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Doom_(hacking)</a><p>[2] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Deception" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Deception</a>
You said "novels", so I'm assuming you're looking for fiction. If that's the case I enjoyed Jon Evans' "Swarm": <a href="http://m.feedbooks.com/userbook/24466/swarm" rel="nofollow">http://m.feedbooks.com/userbook/24466/swarm</a>
OP asked about <i>novels</i>. Here are a few excellent novels in this genre which I highly recommend:<p><i>Soda Pop Solider</i> by Nick Cole<p><i>Ctrl-Alt-Revolt</i> by Nick Cole<p><i>Glasshouse</i> by Charles Stross<p>Second the Vernor Vinge recommendations, and the Neal Stephenson and William Gibson Sprawl Trilogy recommendations.<p>Gibson's <i>The Peripheral</i>, as well as <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, <i>Zero History</i>, and <i>Spook Country</i> all apply, as well. Same for his <i>Idoru</i>, <i>Virtual Light</i>, and <i>All Tomorrow's Parties</i>.<p>Finally, Gibson and Sterling's <i>The Difference Engine</i> - the first and, so far, best steampunk novel - also qualifies, given the storyline.
I would recommend "Underground", a text-only e-book about (perhaps even by?) Kevin Mitnick, how the entire hacker scene got started, and through the cat-and-mouse game that led to Mitnick's eventual arrest.<p>Unfortunately, I cannot find a link to this work; although I did find uncountable similar books and movies on the topic.<p>Perhaps this will suffice as a teaser? "Catching Kevin" at Wired: <a href="https://www.wired.com/1996/02/catching/" rel="nofollow">https://www.wired.com/1996/02/catching/</a>
I want to add "The Watchmen" by Jonathan Littman. It's the story of Kevin Poulsen. It's very well written and I personally liked it better than all the Mitnick stories, but they are certainly comparable.
It's been a while since I've last read it, but I think about it with a bit of nostalgia, as there are all those phone phreaking and dumpster diving stories in it, when nobody cared about security.
Marcin Przybylek wrote a series of books called "Gamedec". The first book is a collection of short stories. Detective crime stories all involving games. Permadeth. Pvp. Hacks and cheats. Kidnappings. Augmentations. Etc. The second book is still much a detective story but it is now one longer book, not a collection of stories.<p>Afterwards gamedec series changes style and pace, still okay but no longer detective work.
Spam Nation by Brian Krebs is excellent. It delves deep into the email spam scene, and covers some big events and the people around it. He talks to users which buy stuff they are advertised in spam emails, and looks into the quality of the products advertised (are the viagra pills safe?).<p>The book is not very technical, and he never digs deeper into the details than what is necessary.
if you like books that combine fiction and technical detail, I can thoroughly recommend the "stealing the network" series. It has an intriguing overarching plot and the details are all accurate and technical-minded - the best comparison I can give is it's like "The Martian" but for cybersecurity.
Black Edge is on one the largest insider trading cases ever prosecuted. There was no real hacking or advanced cyber crime (maybe just some social engineering) but was an interesting case of how some bad hedge funds operate.<p>There are some great books on this thread! I've read a bunch of them and going to come back for more.
The Gibson Vaughn series by Matthew FitzSimmons. It isn't purely cybercrime but the protagonist is a hacker. As a cybersec pro who runs bug bounty programs and red teams, I felt all of the tech was on point without taking away from the stories.
Not a novel, but super interesting story about how the Feds caught Russian Mega-Carder Roman Seleznev: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Chp12sEnWk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Chp12sEnWk</a>
The Atavist's "Mastermind" series re: Paul Le Roux - <a href="https://magazine.atavist.com/the-mastermind" rel="nofollow">https://magazine.atavist.com/the-mastermind</a>
If cybercrime interests you, you might like the "Malicious Life" podcast: <a href="http://malicious.life/" rel="nofollow">http://malicious.life/</a><p>Not a novel though.
The blue nowhere is one that I hugely enjoyed.
Also Kevin Mitnick's "ghost in the wire". I read that one after kingpin and enjoyed it more, but it is in a similar trend :)
Future Crimes a non-fiction about cybercrime of past and future <a href="http://www.futurecrimesbook.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.futurecrimesbook.com</a>
not really a cybercrime novel, but really interesting for people in that business i'd say. Spy Catcher. That is written by someone in high position of MI:5 and their first 'science' officer. a lot of interesting information about spying which later really kickstarted cyber espionage / crime in a way...