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  Arguing that cybercrime has grown in power and in danger, journalist White offers a well-written, expertly researched examination of the topic. Relying on published reports and in-depth interviews, the author looks at three different facets: cybercrime gangs, 'hacktivist' movements, and ways in which nation states use cybercrimes. White is at his best when describing this seemingly legally sanctioned hacking, such as in Russia and North Korea. In vivid detail, he explores the 2015 raid on Bangladesh’s Central Bank; the movement Anonymous, which has made attacks on governments; and ways in which data is hacked for profit . . . This is a fascinating, often gripping read, and a solid update to Brian Krebs’s Spam Nation . . . For true crime and technology enthusiasts in search of an overview of cybercrime.

  '

  Library Journal

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  Journalist White uses the stories of different hacks, dating from the 1980s to the 2016 election, to connect illicit activity on the earliest Internet forums to today's cyberattacks by hacktivists and state-sanctioned hacking teams. He humanizes this history by highlighting the people behind the tech: the Filipino student who unleashed the Love Bug, one of the first global cyberattacks to rely on psychological manipulation; the former cybercriminal who worked with the FBI to bring down Silk Road, a dark Web black market for illegal drugs (a scheme that involved him faking his own death); and the audio producer who lost thousands of dollars in a scam that exploited personal information stolen from telecommunications company TalkTalk.

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  Scientific American

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  Beginning with a tour of hacks from the 1980s through to the 2016 election (and a thrilling account of the 2015 Bangladesh Central Bank heist), this is a fascinating primer on the dangers of the cyber underworld, which includes hacktivist movements, cyber gangs, and nation-state attacks.

  '

  Globe and Mail, Toronto

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  Investigative journalist Geoff White provides comprehensive and accessible insight into a mostly hidden world, reminding us how computers significantly shape our everyday lives. What happens in the "darkness” of the digital world affects our financial systems, our communication, and our infrastructures. Each relies on computer networks to function . . . Crime Dot Com is an exciting and comprehensible presentation of computer networks and cybercrime. It is not only about technology, but above all about trust (and its misuse) in technology and in communication partners as a prerequisite for interpersonal communication and human-machine interaction.

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  Technology and Culture Journal

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  From pig poop to sunscreen to poker to hackers, the books we love dive deep to tell smart stories about how the world works.

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  WIRED magazine '26 of the Most Fascinating Books Read in 2020'

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  White does an excellent job of covering the hacking events, e.g., the Sony hack, the WannaCry virus, various distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks, the Edward Snowden leaks, and the Russian involvement in the United States 2016 election . . . Anyone who wants a casual read on how cybercrime affects our contemporary world should take the time to read this monograph . . . Recommended.

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  Choice

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  Brilliantly researched and written, Crime Dot Com is a vivid insight into the scale of the threat to us all from crime born of and facilitated by the digital age.

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  Jon Snow, Channel 4 News

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  Geoff White is one of the most authoritative reporters on cybercrime and Crime Dot Com is an informative, accessible and entertaining tour of the cyber underworld. If you want to understand everything from ransomware to nation state attacks on key infrastructure this is an excellent primer.

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  Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News

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  Geoff White offers up a comprehensive and intelligible account of the elusive world of hacking and cybercrime over the last two decades. He ranges from the lone hacktivist to state-sponsored surveillance, from the Love Bug to the Lazarus Group, from Snowden’s revelations to the Huawei controversy. His book is, thankfully, jargon-free, keeping a tight focus on the humans involved rather than the technology. It is lively, insightful and, often, alarming.

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  Ewen MacAskill, former Chief Political Correspondent for the Guardian

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  Geoff White writes with insight and flair about a subject that concerns everyone – or should do. Criminals, hooligans, hostile state actors and terrorists attack our computers and networks every minute of every day. Our money, security and freedom are at risk. Yet the public is still pitifully unaware of the threats we face – and what we need to do to protect ourselves at an individual, business and government level. Crime Dot Com joins the dots, painting a well-informed, easy-to-understand and up-to-date picture of the mounting dangers caused by our complacency, greed and ignorance.

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  Edward Lucas, author of Deception: Spies, Lies and How Russia Dupes the West

Author’s Note
Introduction

1 Meet the Hackers
2 Fall of the Berlin Firewall
3 Ocean’s 11 Dot Com
4 Digital Extortion
5 Your Data for Sale
6 Beyond the Dark Web
7 The Internet Hate Machine
8 Lights Out
9 Weaponizing Data
10 Hack the Vote

Epilogue
References
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Index

Geoff White is an investigative journalist who has covered technology for numerous outlets, including the BBC and Channel 4 News.