Years and years ago, someone gave me this book as a gift. [John Knittel], a co-author thought I might find it amusing. The book, titled The Dangers of Computer Hacking, is a grade school level breakdown of, well, computer hacking and the dangers thereof. At the time, I thought it was rather fun and amusing. Since then, it has sat on my shelf without much action.Last weekend, however, my 8 year old son was building perfectly spaced shapes for his slinky (new plastic slinkies suck) and found this book. I snatched it up and read through it real quick. The realization came to me that though this is somewhat tongue-in-cheek(check the topics on the back cover), this book is actually a fantastic reference for the un-initiated.
They manage to push out a rather well put history of hacking, while keeping it short and easily consumable. Keep in mind this book focuses on “computer hacking” so they touch on the influence hackers like [Steve Wozniak] had on the computer industry. What the difference between “hacking” and “cracking” are, and even jump into how to safely practice “hacking” in your own home. They don’t skimp on social engineering either, with stories about [Kevin Mitnick].
I would easily recommend this book to my parents or my children alike.
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