Underground (book)
Encyclopedia
Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier is a 1997
book by Suelette Dreyfus
, researched by Julian Assange
. It describes the exploits of a group of Australia
n, American
, and British
black hat
hackers
during the late 1980s and early 1990s, among them Assange himself.
The book also mentions other hackers who had contacts with the protagonists, among them Erik Bloodaxe
of the Legion of Doom
and Corrupt
of the Masters of Deception
.
The first chapter of Underground relates the diffusion and reactions of the computer security
community to the WANK worm
that attacked DEC
VMS
computers over the DECnet
in 1989 and was purportedly coded by a Melbourne
hacker.
The book has sold 10,000 copies as of 2010.
The author made the electronic edition
of the book freely available in 2001, when it was announced on Slashdot
, the server housing the book crashed due to the demand for the book. It reached 400,000 downloads within two years. The original download site www.underground-book.com was taken over in 2008 and now offers a link to Amazon where copies of the book may still be available. The site www.underground-book.net has the book freely available in electronic form.
The 2002 documentary In the Realm of the Hackers
, directed by Kevin Anderson and centered around Phoenix and Electron, was inspired by this book.
1997 in literature
The year 1997 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Clancy signs a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. , giving him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . A second agreement gives him another US$25 million for a...
book by Suelette Dreyfus
Suelette Dreyfus
Suelette Dreyfus is an Australian-American technology journalist and researcher, and author of the 1997 cult classic Underground: Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier...
, researched by Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
. It describes the exploits of a group of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
black hat
Black hat
A black hat is the villain or bad guy, especially in a western movie in which such a character would stereotypically wear a black hat in contrast to the hero's white hat, especially in black and white movies....
hackers
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
during the late 1980s and early 1990s, among them Assange himself.
- Craig Bowen (nicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
), administrator of two important Australian BBSBulletin board systemA Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
(Pacific Island and Zen) - Par, a.k.a. The Parmaster, an American hacker who avoided capture by the United States Secret ServiceUnited States Secret ServiceThe United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
from July 1989 to November 1991 - PhoenixNahshon Even-ChaimNahshon Even-Chaim , aka Phoenix, was the first major computer hacker to be convicted in Australia. He was one of the most highly-skilled members of a computer hacking group called The Realm, based in Melbourne, Australia, from the late 1980s until his arrest by the Australian Federal Police in...
, ElectronElectron (computer hacker)Electron was the computer handle of Richard Jones, a member of an underground hacker community called The Realm. Jones, born in June 1969, was one of three members of the group arrested in simultaneous raids by the Australian Federal Police in Melbourne, Australia, on 2 April 1990...
and Nom, who were convicted in the first major Australian trial for computer crimeComputer crimeComputer crime, or cybercrime, refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Netcrime refers to criminal exploitation of the Internet. Such crimes may threaten a nation’s security and financial health...
s - Pad and Gandalf, the British founders of the notorious 8lgm group
- the Australian Mendax (Julian AssangeJulian AssangeJulian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
) and Prime Suspect, who managed to penetrate the DDNDefense Data NetworkThe Defense Data Network was a computer networking effort of the United States Department of Defense from 1983 through 1995.-History:In 1975, the Defense Communication Agency took over operation of the ARPANET as it became an operational tool instead of a research project. In 1983, plans for a...
, NICDomain name registryA domain name registry is a database of all domain names registered in a top-level domain. A registry operator, also called a network information center , is the part of the Domain Name System of the Internet that keeps the database of domain names, and generates the zone files which convert...
and the Nortel internal network, and the phreakerPhreakingPhreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. As telephone networks have become computerized, phreaking has become closely...
Trax. Together, the three were known as the "International Subversives". - Anthrax, another Australian hacker and phreaker
The book also mentions other hackers who had contacts with the protagonists, among them Erik Bloodaxe
Erik Bloodaxe (hacker)
Chris Goggans, who used the name Erik Bloodaxe in honor of the Viking king Eric I of Norway, is a founding member of the Legion of Doom group, and a former editor of Phrack Magazine...
of the Legion of Doom
Legion of Doom (hacking)
The Legion of Doom was a hacker group active from the 1980s to the late 1990s and early 2000. Their name appears to be a reference to the antagonists of Challenge of the Superfriends...
and Corrupt
John Threat
John Lee, a.k.a. John Threat used the name “Corrupt” as a member of Masters of Deception , a New York based hacker group in the early 90’s....
of the Masters of Deception
Masters of Deception
Masters of Deception was a New York-based hacker group. MOD reportedly controlled all the major telephone RBOC's and X.25 networks as well as controlling large parts of the backbone of the rapidly emerging Internet....
.
The first chapter of Underground relates the diffusion and reactions of the computer security
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
community to the WANK worm
WANK (computer worm)
The WANK Worm was a computer worm that attacked DEC VMS computers in 1989 over the DECnet. It was written in DIGITAL Command Language.-Origin:...
that attacked DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
VMS
OpenVMS
OpenVMS , previously known as VAX-11/VMS, VAX/VMS or VMS, is a computer server operating system that runs on VAX, Alpha and Itanium-based families of computers. Contrary to what its name suggests, OpenVMS is not open source software; however, the source listings are available for purchase...
computers over the DECnet
DECnet
DECnet is a suite of network protocols created by Digital Equipment Corporation, originally released in 1975 in order to connect two PDP-11 minicomputers. It evolved into one of the first peer-to-peer network architectures, thus transforming DEC into a networking powerhouse in the 1980s...
in 1989 and was purportedly coded by a Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
hacker.
The book has sold 10,000 copies as of 2010.
The author made the electronic edition
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
of the book freely available in 2001, when it was announced on Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
, the server housing the book crashed due to the demand for the book. It reached 400,000 downloads within two years. The original download site www.underground-book.com was taken over in 2008 and now offers a link to Amazon where copies of the book may still be available. The site www.underground-book.net has the book freely available in electronic form.
The 2002 documentary In the Realm of the Hackers
In the Realm of the Hackers
In The Realm of the Hackers is a 2003 Australian documentary directed by Kevin Anderson about the prominent hacker community, centered in Melbourne, Australia in the late 80's to early 1990...
, directed by Kevin Anderson and centered around Phoenix and Electron, was inspired by this book.