Everything You Need to Know About the Dangers of Computer...

Features

• Library Binding: 64 pages
• Published by: Rosen Publishing Group
• Edition: Revised Edition August 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 082393764X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0823937646
• Book Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 0.4 inches
• Weighs: 11.7 ounces

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9-Knittel and Soto define the term "hacking" and detail the work of "good hackers" or "white hats," people they usually refer to as computer experts, and those who are "crackers" or "black hats," individuals who illegally break into other people's computers. The authors use real-life examples of hackers who have been caught and punished for breaking the law. They give examples of good hackers as well, such as Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, and Steve Jobs. The book offers a thorough history of hacking, beginning with "phreaking" over phone lines and the movie War Games. It looks at the social and economic repercussions of damaging high-level computers and addresses breaches in military security. The authors encourage readers to become good hackers. They give advice regarding how and where to learn more about computers and programming. Average-quality, black-and-white photographs appear throughout.
Yapha Nussbaum Mason, Brentwood Lower School, Los Angeles
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

From Booklist
The authors make the fundamental distinction between a hacker, a "person who uses his or her skills to find new and innovative solutions to computer problems," and a cracker, a "person who illegally breaks into people's computers." The book discusses both beneficial and malicious computer actions and encourages readers interested in computers to study computer programming and security through recommended books and Web sites. Discussions include the history of computer hacking, psychological profiles of crackers, legal issues, cases of people convicted of computer crimes, and ways to practice "safe hacking." Though the text makes interesting reading, the book has a lackluster format, with black-and-white and color photographs of indifferent quality. This competently written volume from the Everything You Need to Know About series may fill a gap in library collections. Carolyn Phelan --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Everything You Need to Know About the Dangers of Computer Hacking (Need to Know Library) (Library Binding) Most of those now negatively described as hackers are in their teens. Relatively unskilled in both the computer and personal areas, they use simplistic means to break into systems and are often caught. Frequently as a result of bragging about their exploits. In vying for attention, they fail to understand that the computer equivalent of joyriding is a very serious crime. No one knows how much the latest outbreak of a computer virus cost, but some estimates are in the hundred of millions of dollars. This book is written for teens and is designed to give them fair warning concerning the consequences to both themselves and society if they choose to follow the hacker path. The point is to get the reader to understand where the ethical and legal bounds of computer use are. In that sense, the point is good, but it is not effectively executed. Very little time is actually spent in the gray areas of computing. No one can dispute that disabling an air traffic control system is dangerous behavior. How about middle ground such as playing a joke on another by using their e-mail address without their knowledge? Such more likely situations are not adequately covered. The purpose of this book is an honorable and necessary one. However, it is written more for the pre-teen age and more ink should have been used setting down the limits of hacking. The user sophisticated enough to be able to hack would find the explanations in this book too simplistic to be of interest.