Politics & Government
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A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend them Back
It's not just computers―hacking is everywhere.
Legendary cybersecurity expert and New York Times best-selling author Bruce Schneier reveals how using a hacker's mindset can change how you think about your life and the world.
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 hacking mindset 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.
Legendary cybersecurity expert and New York Times best-selling author Bruce Schneier reveals how using a hacker's mindset can change how you think about your life and the world.
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 hacking mindset 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.
Editorial Reviews
"That Schneier has pushed himself beyond his own comfort zone, confronting hacking as something bigger and more multifaceted than simply sand in the machinery of digital systems is what makes A Hacker's Mind unique and valuable. If his message is received, our social systems will soon begin to evolve to interact with hacking with greater agility, nuance, and even―in some instances―appreciation."
― Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, Science
"A Hacker's Mind…sheds vital light on the beginnings of our journey into an increasingly complex world."
― Becky Hogge, Financial Times
"Hairsplitting, workarounds, weaselly little shortcuts: these are all hacks... Reading A Hacker's Mind, I began to envision modernity as a rat's nest of interconnected Rube Goldberg machines held together with Scotch tape and faith: a maze of leaks and patches just begging to be hacked. Only the rich and powerful, Schneier believes, have the resources to exploit these vulnerabilities, and they're seldom penalized; instead, their hacks are normalized and celebrated."
― Dan Piepenbring, New York Times Book Review
"Schneier provides an easily digestible, mind-opening treatise on how hacking exacerbates inequality."
― Frank Bajak, AP
"For long-time readers of Schneier, the subject matter will be familiar, but this iteration of Schneier's core security literacy curriculum has an important new gloss: power."
― Cory Doctorow, Pluralist
"Schneier's fascinating work illustrates how susceptible many systems are to being hacked and how lives can be altered by these subversions. Schneier's deep dive into this cross-section of technology and humanity makes for investigative gold."
― Philip Zozzaro, Booklist
"Elegantly probing the mechanics of exploitation, Schneier makes a persuasive case that 'we need society's rules and laws to be as patchable as your computer.' With lessons that extend far beyond the tech world, this has much to offer."
― Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An eye-opening, maddening book ...
― Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, Science
"A Hacker's Mind…sheds vital light on the beginnings of our journey into an increasingly complex world."
― Becky Hogge, Financial Times
"Hairsplitting, workarounds, weaselly little shortcuts: these are all hacks... Reading A Hacker's Mind, I began to envision modernity as a rat's nest of interconnected Rube Goldberg machines held together with Scotch tape and faith: a maze of leaks and patches just begging to be hacked. Only the rich and powerful, Schneier believes, have the resources to exploit these vulnerabilities, and they're seldom penalized; instead, their hacks are normalized and celebrated."
― Dan Piepenbring, New York Times Book Review
"Schneier provides an easily digestible, mind-opening treatise on how hacking exacerbates inequality."
― Frank Bajak, AP
"For long-time readers of Schneier, the subject matter will be familiar, but this iteration of Schneier's core security literacy curriculum has an important new gloss: power."
― Cory Doctorow, Pluralist
"Schneier's fascinating work illustrates how susceptible many systems are to being hacked and how lives can be altered by these subversions. Schneier's deep dive into this cross-section of technology and humanity makes for investigative gold."
― Philip Zozzaro, Booklist
"Elegantly probing the mechanics of exploitation, Schneier makes a persuasive case that 'we need society's rules and laws to be as patchable as your computer.' With lessons that extend far beyond the tech world, this has much to offer."
― Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An eye-opening, maddening book ...
Readers Top Reviews
Keith AllingtonLeeMa
This book is about hacking in the broadest sense. Sure there is the expected technical side but what really stands out is the types of hacks/actions we don't tend to think of as hacking. Worth a read whether you think of yourself as a techie or not.
reviewer
This book consists of a large number of extremely short 1-5 page chapters diving into different aspects of hacking beyond the technological definition. It would be great for people seeking to write policy recommendations with regards to society. This content focuses around examining hacking from multiple different perspectives found in society. Assuming you are looking to broaden your mind on aspects of threat modeling from examples found outside of the computer realm its a fantastic read. This is not like past cryptographic texts by Bruce instead opting to offer recommendations on how to contain and prevent abuses of power in realms beyond the keyboard.
Robert
In this book, Schneier provides an exceptionally creative look at an incredibly varied subset of human institutions, applying a hacking framework to identify systemic vulnerabilities that elites and the well-connected can use to undermine them for their own benefit. It's an intriguing approach, and one that's needed now more than ever to understand how we can preempt and close these hacks/loopholes. The chapters are short, which makes them easily digestible, but sometimes left me wanting more. Still, it was a really interesting, accessible, and sometimes even humorous read, and it's not hard to see why Schneier's books are so popular.
Tarah M. Wheeler
People who see the world orthogonally, like Bruce Schneier, are somewhat cursed. Schneier explains how, with that mindset, it’s difficult to *not* see insecurities, breaks in the system, opportunities for stressing any system using its own rules against it, and the gaps where there are assumptions instead of tested security measures. The analogies are clear and useful, the narrative is a quick read, and Schneier actually explains a method for learning how to think like a hacker. I’ll be recommending it to the people I know who want to understand how a particular mindset can both be a problem and a prerequisite for a well-paying job. Disclaimer: I read and gave comments on a prior version, but this is the beautiful finished product. Good work.
Roger1
When we hear of "hacking," we think of computers. This book makes clear that hacking is a much broader, and far more dangerous, exploitation than we might have imagined. Unfortunately, the people who would most benefit from understanding how they are being manipulated will never read this book. Schneier makes clear that societal hacking is largely controlled by the wealthy, which is why the assets of the ultrawealthy doubled during COVID while the rest of us struggled and then were attacked by inflation. What's truly frightening, however, is Schneier's description of artificial intelligence will rapidly escalate the hacking attacks on just about everything we value, including democracy, unless we take some drastic steps soon; steps that are well beyond the intellectual capability of any of our elected representatives.
