Black Code: Surveillance, Privacy, and the Dark Side of the Internet

One of the world's leading internet experts takes readers into the shadowy realm of cyberspace and cybersecurity, revealing how it has transformed our world and the new rules we will need to adopt in order to survive In 2009, a group of digital technology experts at the Citizen Lab uncovered an espionage network affecting more than 100 countries and targeting ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organizations, and media outlets. The investigation was but one example of a contest for the future of cyberspace that was becoming more intense with each passing year. Drawing on the first-hand experiences of the Citizen Lab, Ronald Deibert examines the multiplying forms of control hidden deep beneath the surface of the Net; the lucrative and ominous business of Big Data; and the powerful influence of the next billion Digital Natives, and in doing so poses urgent questions about privacy, democracy, and security. Compelling and timely, and including new commentary on the National Security Agency revelations, Black Code is a wakeup call to everyone who has come to take the Internet for granted.

About the Author :
RONALD J. DEIBERT is professor of Political Science and Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, an interdisciplinary research and development "hothouse" working at the intersection of the Internet, global security, and human rights. He is a co-founder and a principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative and the Information Warfare Monitor, which uncovered the GhostNet cyberespionage network of over 2,500 infected computers in 103 countries. Deibert's work has received frontpage coverage in the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, International Herald Tribune, and New York Times. He lives in Toronto with his family.

Review :
“Black Code is terrifying. It effortlessly chronicles threats ranging from individual privacy to national security . . . [highlighting] the shadowy, lucrative war online, behind closed doors and in the halls of power, which threatens to control, censor, and spy on us, or worse.”
—National Post

“Gripping and absolutely terrifying. . . . Black Code is a manifesto for the 21st-century form of network stewardship, a sense of shared responsibility toward our vital electronic water supply. It is a timely rallying cry, and sorely needed.”
—Cory Doctorow, Globe and Mail

“Ron Deibert is an excellent guide to the fascinating and disturbing world of cyber security.”
—Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard, and author of The Future of Power

"For more than a decade, Ron Deibert's Citizen Lab has been at the forefront of decoding actions both crude and subtle to disrupt Internet access and usage. A path from the Dalai Lama's hacked laptop to a worldwide espionage ring is but one tale of many of the Lab's singular exploits—now gathered here in this compelling volume that chronicles the ongoing wars amidst the Internet's rise."
—Jonathan Zittrain, Professor of Law and Professor of Computer Science, Harvard University, and author of The Future of the Internet—And How to Stop It

“At a time when autocrats, criminal gangs and others are trying to control and pervert the use of cyberspace, Ron Deibert’s Black Code rings like a fire-bell in the night, warning us that the price of a new global commons of shared knowledge and connectivity is vigilance in defense of free expression and the rule of law. Anyone who cares about the future of democracy needs to read this timely and most important book.”
—Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy

“Black Code stimulated my thinking about the potential for making the Internet a much safer place.”
—Vint Cerf, Internet Pioneer

"A remarkably timely book in light of the recent revelations about NSA surveillance."
—Adam Thierer, The Technology Liberation Front