The true story of Max Butler, the master hacker who ran a billion dollar cyber crime network. The word spread through the hacking underground like some unstoppable new virus: an audacious crook had staged a hostile takeover of an online criminal network that siphoned billions of dollars from the US economy. The culprit was a brilliant programmer with a hippie ethic and a supervillain's double identity. Max 'Vision' Butler was a white-hat hacker and a celebrity throughout the programming world, even serving as a consultant to the FBI. But there was another side to Max. As the black-hat 'Iceman', he'd seen the fraudsters around him squabble, their ranks riddled with infiltrators, their methods inefficient, and in their dysfunction was the ultimate challenge: he would stage a coup and steal their ill-gotten gains from right under their noses. Through the story of Max Butler's remarkable rise, KINGPIN lays bare the workings of a silent crime wave affecting millions worldwide. It exposes vast online-fraud supermarkets stocked with credit card numbers, counterfeit cheques, hacked bank accounts and fake passports. Thanks to Kevin Poulsen's remarkable access to both cops and criminals, we step inside the quiet,desperate battle that law enforcement fights against these scammers. And learn that the boy next door may not be all he seems.

The skills and tools for collecting, verifying and correlating information from different types of systems is an essential skill when tracking down hackers. This book explores Open Source Intelligence Gathering (OSINT) inside out from multiple perspectives, including those of hackers and seasoned intelligence experts. OSINT refers to the techniques and tools required to harvest publicly available data concerning a person or an organization. With several years of experience of tracking hackers with OSINT, the author whips up a classical plot-line involving a hunt for a threat actor. While taking the audience through the thrilling investigative drama, the author immerses the audience with in-depth knowledge of state-of-the-art OSINT tools and techniques. Technical users will want a basic understanding of the Linux command line in order to follow the examples. But a person with no Linux or programming experience can still gain a lot from this book through the commentaries. This book’s unique digital investigation proposition is a combination of story-telling, tutorials, and case studies. The book explores digital investigation from multiple angles: Through the eyes of the author who has several years of experience in the subject. Through the mind of the hacker who collects massive amounts of data from multiple online sources to identify targets as well as ways to hit the targets. Through the eyes of industry leaders. This book is ideal for: Investigation professionals, forensic analysts, and CISO/CIO and other executives wanting to understand the mindset of a hacker and how seemingly harmless information can be used to target their organization. Security analysts, forensic investigators, and SOC teams looking for new approaches on digital investigations from the perspective of collecting and parsing publicly available information. CISOs and defense teams will find this book useful because it takes the perspective of infiltrating an organization from the mindset of a hacker. The commentary provided by outside experts will also provide them with ideas to further protect their organization’s data.

"This book addresses various aspects of hacking and technology-driven crime, including the ability to understand computer-based threats, identify and examine attack dynamics, and find solutions"--Provided by publisher.

As personal data continues to be shared and used in all aspects of society, the protection of this information has become paramount. While cybersecurity should protect individuals from cyber-threats, it also should be eliminating any and all vulnerabilities. The use of hacking to prevent cybercrime and contribute new countermeasures towards protecting computers, servers, networks, web applications, mobile devices, and stored data from black hat attackers who have malicious intent, as well as to stop against unauthorized access instead of using hacking in the traditional sense to launch attacks on these devices, can contribute emerging and advanced solutions against cybercrime. Ethical Hacking Techniques and Countermeasures for Cybercrime Prevention is a comprehensive text that discusses and defines ethical hacking, including the skills and concept of ethical hacking, and studies the countermeasures to prevent and stop cybercrimes, cyberterrorism, cybertheft, identity theft, and computer-related crimes. It broadens the understanding of cybersecurity by providing the necessary tools and skills to combat cybercrime. Some specific topics include top cyber investigation trends, data security of consumer devices, phases of hacking attacks, and stenography for secure image transmission. This book is relevant for ethical hackers, cybersecurity analysts, computer forensic experts, government officials, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the latest techniques for preventing and combatting cybercrime.

Computers and the Internet play an increasingly pivotal role in daily life, making it vitally important to understand the dynamics of cybercrime and those victimized by it. The anthology Cybercrime and Criminological Theory: Fundamental Readings on Hacking, Piracy, Theft, and Harassment explores the predictors for participation in various forms of cybercrime and deviance, from common problems like media piracy, to more distinct offenses such as computer hacking. Most criminological theories were developed to account for street crimes, so it is unclear how these theories may apply to virtual offending. This text provides critical insight into the utility of multiple theories to account for cybercrimes. Cybercrime and Criminological Theory gives direct insight into the rates and prevalence of cybercrime offenses using data sets from populations across the United States. It gives readers a fundamental understanding of, and appreciation for various forms of cybercrime, and outlines prospective predictors of both offending and victimization. The selected readings identify research questions that must be addressed in order to improve the legal, technical, and policy responses to cybercrimes. Cybercrime and Criminological Theory begins with an introduction to cybercrime and virtual criminality. From there, the book offers five sections featuring seminal and cutting edge works on topics in: - Routine Activities Theory - Deterrence Theory - Social Learning and Self Control - General Strain Theory - Deviant Subcultures The book uses articles and cutting-edge research in the field to create a text that is relevant for students at all levels of study, as well as scholars in criminology, sociology, and information security. Undergraduate students will gain insight into the value of various theories to account for victimization and offending, and learn basic research methods applied by criminologists to assess crime and victimization. Graduate students benefit from the detail provided on research methods, measurement, and research questions that must be addressed to fully understand cybercrimes. Thomas J. Holt earned his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri, Saint Louis. He is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. His areas of research include computer hacking, malware, and the role played by technology and computer-mediated communications in facilitating crime and deviance. Dr. Holt is the co-author of Digital Crime and Digital Terror, and the co-editor of Corporate Hacking and Technology-Driven Crime. He is also the editor of the book Cybercrime: Causes, Correlates, and Context. His work has also been published in numerous academic journals, including Crime and Delinquency, Deviant Behavior, and the Journal of Criminal Justice. Dr. Holt received two grants from the U.S. National Institute of Justice to examine the market for malicious software, and the social dynamics of carders and on-line data thieves. Additionally, he is the project lead for the Spartan Devils Chapter of the Honeynet Project, and directs the MSU Open Source Research Laboratory, which explores cyber threats around the globe through on-line research.

Former hacker Kevin Poulsen has, over the past decade, built a reputation as one of the top investigative reporters on the cybercrime beat. In Kingpin, he pours his unmatched access and expertise into book form for the first time, delivering a gripping cat-and-mouse narrative—and an unprecedented view into the twenty-first century’s signature form of organized crime. The word spread through the hacking underground like some unstoppable new virus: Someone—some brilliant, audacious crook—had just staged a hostile takeover of an online criminal network that siphoned billions of dollars from the US economy. The FBI rushed to launch an ambitious undercover operation aimed at tracking down this new kingpin; other agencies around the world deployed dozens of moles and double agents. Together, the cybercops lured numerous unsuspecting hackers into their clutches. . . . Yet at every turn, their main quarry displayed an uncanny ability to sniff out their snitches and see through their plots. The culprit they sought was the most unlikely of criminals: a brilliant programmer with a hippie ethic and a supervillain’s double identity. As prominent “white-hat” hacker Max “Vision” Butler, he was a celebrity throughout the programming world, even serving as a consultant to the FBI. But as the black-hat “Iceman,” he found in the world of data theft an irresistible opportunity to test his outsized abilities. He infiltrated thousands of computers around the country, sucking down millions of credit card numbers at will. He effortlessly hacked his fellow hackers, stealing their ill-gotten gains from under their noses. Together with a smooth-talking con artist, he ran a massive real-world crime ring. And for years, he did it all with seeming impunity, even as countless rivals ran afoul of police. Yet as he watched the fraudsters around him squabble, their ranks riddled with infiltrators, their methods inefficient, he began to see in their dysfunction the ultimate challenge: He would stage his coup and fix what was broken, run things as they should be run—even if it meant painting a bull’s-eye on his forehead. Through the story of this criminal’s remarkable rise, and of law enforcement’s quest to track him down, Kingpin lays bare the workings of a silent crime wave still affecting millions of Americans. In these pages, we are ushered into vast online-fraud supermarkets stocked with credit card numbers, counterfeit checks, hacked bank accounts, dead drops, and fake passports. We learn the workings of the numerous hacks—browser exploits, phishing attacks, Trojan horses, and much more—these fraudsters use to ply their trade, and trace the complex routes by which they turn stolen data into millions of dollars. And thanks to Poulsen’s remarkable access to both cops and criminals, we step inside the quiet, desperate arms race that law enforcement continues to fight with these scammers today. Ultimately, Kingpin is a journey into an underworld of startling scope and power, one in which ordinary American teenagers work hand in hand with murderous Russian mobsters and where a simple Wi-Fi connection can unleash a torrent of gold worth millions.

Inside the life of a hacker and cybercrime culture. Public discourse, from pop culture to political rhetoric, portrays hackers as deceptive, digital villains. But what do we actually know about them? In Hacked, Kevin F. Steinmetz explores what it means to be a hacker and the nuances of hacker culture. Through extensive interviews with hackers, observations of hacker communities, and analyses of hacker cultural products, Steinmetz demystifies the figure of the hacker and situates the practice of hacking within the larger political and economic structures of capitalism, crime, and control.This captivating book challenges many of the common narratives of hackers, suggesting that not all forms of hacking are criminal and, contrary to popular opinion, the broader hacker community actually plays a vital role in our information economy. Hacked thus explores how governments, corporations, and other institutions attempt to manage hacker culture through the creation of ideologies and laws that protect powerful economic interests. Not content to simply critique the situation, Steinmetz ends his work by providing actionable policy recommendations that aim to redirect the focus from the individual to corporations, governments, and broader social issues. A compelling study, Hacked helps us understand not just the figure of the hacker, but also digital crime and social control in our high-tech society.