I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book. Written by Parmy Olson, It provides you some insight into the world of 4Chan, Anonymous, LulzSec and the folks that find themselves immersed in the internet underground. Let me tell you, it’s a different world.
It starts out explaining the roots of 4Chan from 2Chan and gets into the plethora of irc chats that make up the main channel of communication throughout the underground community. It’s a place that most of us wouldn’t understand. But, as mentioned in the book, people adapt to the environment. It’s something you have to read to understand.
While some antics may seem immature, there are plenty of people that tend to overlook the stigma that may be placed on individuals in everyday life. Gender is one such topic. Nobody cares if you’re male, female, or something else. The lingo is interesting. Using the word ‘fag’ to describe different types of people was something that someone may find offensive, but others would overlook because it’s simply used as a word to describe someone and not necessarily to attack one’s sexual orientation. Again, some simply won’t understand.
The details of the story eventually revolve around the key players that went from Anonymous to the group known as LulzSec – Topiary, Sabu, and Kayla. This is the same group that attacked the Church of Scientology, Sony Pictures, XFactor (TV show), FBI and a few others. I found the moxy of these guys to blow me away. No question there was a conscious understanding that getting caught hacking websites and breaking into networks/email accounts would be a big deal. Many measures were taken to stay ‘anonymous’ online to prevent from being tracked down; yet, there was a certain drive to wreak havoc among different groups, companies, or individuals that would eventually lead to the capture of aforementioned players. Sometimes the attacks seemed to have what could be considered a ‘noble cause’ while others did not. The reputation that many members gained is intriguing. You read a whole book thinking Kayla, conveying an online persona of a young girl, ends up being a young man residing in London.
I do find it hard to understand how the author obtains all the details to write the book, where much of the communication, again, occurs online via irc channels. Regardless, it kept my attention and sucked me into a world that may not be for everyone. There’s counter culture – even within the hacker/IT security space, dialects, ‘mob rules’ mentality and a lot of different facets that were really interesting.