First published 2023
Cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier expands the concept of hacking beyond computers to examine how powerful actors manipulate the systems that govern society. He demonstrates that hacking represents any method of subverting rules in ways their creators never intended. Tax attorneys and accountants function as hackers who exploit loopholes in tax regulations. Financial markets, political structures, and legal frameworks all contain vulnerabilities that benefit those who know how to find them. Schneier reveals how these system exploits concentrate power among those who can game the rules while disadvantaging everyone else. He warns that artificial intelligence will soon hack systems at unprecedented speed and scale. The book teaches readers to recognize these exploits across different domains and explains how society can rebuild its institutions to resist manipulation. Schneier argues that understanding the hacker mindset allows us to create more equitable systems and use technology defensively rather than letting it amplify existing vulnerabilities.
Genres: computers, non-fiction, 21st-century, artificial-intelligence, hackers, cyberpunk
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: gritty
304 pages · Hardcover · W. W. Norton & Company