The Internet has led to revolutions across the world but a crackdown is now in full swing. As whole societies move online, mass surveillance programs are being deployed globally. Our civilization has reached a crossroads. In one direction lies a future promoting "privacy for the weak and transparency for the powerful"; in the other is an internet that transfers power over entire populations to an unaccountable complex of spy agencies and their trans-national corporate allies. Cypherpunks are activists who advocate the mass use of strong cryptography as a way protecting our basic freedoms against this onslaught. Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of an visionary behind Wikileaks, has been a leading voice in the cypherpunk movement since the 1990s. Now, in a timely and important new book, Assange brings together a group of rebel thinkers and activists from the front line of the battle for cyberspace to discuss whether the internet will emancipate or enslave all of us.--
Cypherpunk Ethics explores the moral worldview of the cypherpunks, a movement that advocates the use of strong digital cryptography—or crypto, for short—to defend individual privacy and promote institutional transparency in the digital age. Focusing on the writings of Timothy May and Julian Assange, two of the most prolific and influential cypherpunks, the book examines two competing paradigms of cypherpunk philosophy—crypto anarchy and crypto justice—and examines the implications of cypherpunk ethics for a range of contemporary moral issues, including surveillance, privacy, whistleblowing, cryptocurrencies, journalism, democracy, censorship, intellectual property, and power. Rooted in theory but with very real applications, this volume will appeal not only to students and scholars of digital media, communication, journalism, philosophy, political science, critical data studies, sociology, and the history of technology but also to technologists and activists around the world.
'There are few original ideas in politics. In the creation of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange was responsible for one.' This essay reveals the making of Julian Assange - both his ideas and his world-changing actions. Robert Manne explores Assange's unruly childhood and then his involvement with the revolutionary cypherpunk underground, all the way through to the creation of WikiLeaks. Pulling together the threads of his development, Manne shows how Assange became one of the most influential Australians of our time.
The fascinating untold story of digital cash and its creators—from experiments in the 1970s to the mania over Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies Bitcoin may appear to be a revolutionary form of digital cash without precedent or prehistory. In fact, it is only the best-known recent experiment in a long line of similar efforts going back to the 1970s. But the story behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and its blockchain technology has largely been untold—until now. In Digital Cash, Finn Brunton reveals how technological utopians and political radicals created experimental money to bring about their visions of the future: to protect privacy, bring down governments, prepare for apocalypse, or launch a civilization of innovation and abundance that would make its creators immortal. Filled with marvelous characters, stories, and ideas, Digital Cash is an engaging and accessible account of the strange origins and remarkable technologies behind today's cryptocurrency explosion.
If you've ever made a secure purchase with your credit card over the Internet, then you have seen cryptography, or "crypto", in action. From Stephen Levy—the author who made "hackers" a household word—comes this account of a revolution that is already affecting every citizen in the twenty-first century. Crypto tells the inside story of how a group of "crypto rebels"—nerds and visionaries turned freedom fighters—teamed up with corporate interests to beat Big Brother and ensure our privacy on the Internet. Levy's history of one of the most controversial and important topics of the digital age reads like the best futuristic fiction.
In June 2011, Julian Assange received an unusual visitor: the chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, arrived from America at Ellingham Hall, the country residence in Norfolk, England where Assange was living under house arrest. For several hours the besieged leader of the world's most famous insurgent publishing organization and the billionaire head of the world's largest information empire locked horns. The two men debated the political problems faced by society, and the technological solutions engendered by the global network--from the Arab Spring to Bitcoin. They outlined radically opposing perspectives: for Assange, the liberating power of the Internet is based on its freedom and statelessness.For Schmidt, emancipation is at one with US foreign policy objectives and is driven by connecting non-Western countries to American companies and markets. These differences embodied a tug-of-war over the Internet's future that has only gathered force subsequently. When Google Met WikiLeaks presents the story of Assange and Schmidt's encounter. Both fascinating and alarming, it contains an edited transcript of their conversation and extensive, new material, written by Assange specifically for this book, providing the best available summary of his vision for the future of the Internet.
Understand Cybersecurity fundamentals and protect your Blockchain systems for a scalable and secured automation KEY FEATURES Ê Understand the fundamentals of Cryptography and Cybersecurity and the fundamentals of Blockchain and their role in securing the various facets of automation. Also understand threats to Smart contracts and Blockchain systems. Understand areas where blockchain and cybersecurity superimpose to create amazing problems to solve. A dedicated part of the book on Standards and Frameworks allows you to be industry-ready in information security practices to be followed in an organization. Learn the very lucrative areas of Smart Contract Security, Auditing, and Testing in Blockchain. Finish to build a career in cybersecurity and blockchain by being Industry 4.0 ready. DESCRIPTIONÊ As this decade comes to a closure, we are looking at, what we like to call, an Industry 4.0. This era is expected to see radical changes in the way we work and live, due to huge leaps and advancements with technologies such as Blockchain and Quantum Computing. This calls for the new age workforce to be industry-ready, which essentially means an understanding of the core fields of Cybersecurity, Blockchain, and Quantum Computing is becoming imperative. This book starts with a primer on the ÒEssentials of CybersecurityÓ. This part allows the reader to get comfortable with the concepts of cybersecurity that are needed to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts to follow. The next part gives a similar primer on the ÒEssentials of BlockchainÓ. These two parts at the beginning of the book allow this book to be easily followed by beginners as well. The following parts delve into the concepts, where we see a ÒSuperimposition of Cybersecurity and BlockchainÓ, and the concepts and situations where we may see and understand amazing problems that systems in the current world face day in and day out. This book puts immense emphasis on helping the reader know about the Standards and Frameworks needed to be put in place to make an organization work seamlessly. Towards the end, a part dedicated to Smart Contract Security, Auditing, and Testing in Blockchain provides knowledge about what is one of the most lucrative career options and has vital importance in the field of Blockchain. Conclusively, the book tries well to make the reader ÒIndustry 4.0-readyÓ, helping them in traversing through the upcoming decade of significant career options. Ê WHAT WILL YOU LEARNÊ By the end of the book, you should be able to understand the gravity of the concepts involved in technologies like Blockchain and Cybersecurity, with an acute understanding of the areas, such as Quantum Computing, which affect the technologies. You will also know about the tools used in Smart Contract Auditing and Testing in Blockchain. You should be able to make a career in blockchain and associated technologies going forward. WHO THIS BOOK IS FORÊÊ This book is meant for everyone who wishes to build a career in blockchain and/or cybersecurity. The book doesnÕt assume prior knowledge on any of the topics; hence a beginner from any diverse field might definitely give these technologies a try by reading this book. The book is divided into parts that take the reader seamlessly from beginner concepts to advanced practices prevalent in the industry. No prior programming experience is assumed either. Familiarity with the basic web technologies would help, though it is not mandatory to follow this book. Table of Contents Preface Introduction Why Did We Write This Book? Part 1. Essentials of Cryptography Introduction Chapter 1: Cryptography Techniques Introduction Key Length Key Management Algorithmic Principles Usage Chapter 2: Cryptography Protocols Introduction Basic Components of Cryptographic Protocols Security Applications of Cryptographic Protocols Categories of Cryptographic Protocols Chapter 3: Algorithms and Modes Introduction Behind the Scene Mathematics Block Ciphers Stream Ciphers One-Way Hash Functions Public-Key Algorithms Symmetric Key Distribution using Symmetric Encryption Symmetric Key Distribution using Asymmetric Encryption Distribution of Public Keys X.509 Certificates Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI) Cryptographic Attacks Key-Exchange Algorithms Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) Digital Signatures With Encryption Data Encryption Standard (DES) Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) Message Digest Algorithms (MD5) Rivest, Shamir, Adleman (RSA) Zero-Knowledge Proofs Elliptical Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) Probabilistic Encryption Quantum Cryptography Part 2. Essentials of Blockchain Introduction What is Blockchain? The Need for Decentralization Demystifying Disintermediation Principles in Blockchain Architectures Chapter 4: Introduction: Distributed Consensus & Consensus Mechanisms Proof of Work (PoW) Proof of Stake (PoS) Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET) Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) and Variants Federated Byzantine Agreement Ripple Consensus Protocol Algorithm Stellar Consensus Protocol Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) Chapter 5: Types of Blockchain Public Blockchain Private Blockchain Federated or Permissioned Blockchain Chapter 6: Key Considerations for Blockchain Implementations Scalability Interoperability Sustainability Contracts Currency Application Chapter 7 : Strategic Roadmap for Digital Enterprise Adoption Convergence of Principles Legacy of Cypherpunks Digital Enterprise Use Cases Digital Transformation Perspective Decentralized Operating Models Prominent Trust Patterns Major Challenges and Constraints Chapter 8: Blockchain Ð The New Generation Tool for Cybersecurity Blockchain with Turin Complete State Machine Private and Consortium/Permissioned BlockchainsÊ Overview of Security Tools in Blockchain Vulnerabilities in Blockchain Security Challenges to the Growth of Blockchain Eco-system Part 3: The Superimposition of Blockchain and Cybersecurity Chapter 9: Cyberattack Prevention Strategies Evolution of Security Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Deception Technology Cyberthreat Intelligence (CTI) Deploying Blockchain-based DDoS Chapter 10: Blockchain-based Security Mechanisms Blockchain-based DNS Alternatives Public Key Cryptography PKI Components and Functions Decentralizing the PKI System Deploying Blockchain-based PKI Identity Mechanisms Multi-Factor Authentication with Blockchain Blockchain-based Interaction Model for Security Chapter 11: Threats for Blockchain systems Cyberthreats with Public and Permissioned Blockchains Major Potential Attacks on Blockchain Networks Chapter 12: Practical Implementations and Use Cases IBM ADEPT Platform Digital Identity as a Distributed Data Structure Cyber-liability Management: A Connected Car Use Case A Smart Home Security Implementation Use Case Chapter 13: Security in Popular Public Blockchain Networks Project in Discussion: Corda Point-to-Point TLS-encrypted Communications Security using Notary Trust Pluggable Consensus Mechanism Chapter 14: Cryptography as a Digital Labor for the Integration of Distributed Finance New Generation Payment Infrastructure Powering Secure Global Finance Libra JP Money Ripple Stellar Lumens Part 4: Standards and Frameworks Chapter 15: ISO 27001 ISO 27001 Introduction Scope Terms and Definitions Structure Information Security Policies Organization of Information Security Human Resource Security Asset Management Access Control Cryptography Physical and Environmental Security Operations Security Communications Security Supplier Relationships Information Security Incident Management Implementation of ISO 27001 in Organizations Chapter 16: NIST Introduction to NIST and HIPAA HIPAA Security Rule NIST and its role in Information Security A Framework for Managing Risk HIPAA Risk Assessment Requirements Part 5: Smart Contract Security, Auditing and Testing in Blockchain Chapter 17: Smart Contract Auditing Why is a Security Audit Necessary Types of Smart Contracts Smart Contract Vulnerabilities and Known Attacks Ownership Attack Re-entrancy Attack Underflow and Overflow Attacks Short Address Attack Storage Injection Vulnerability Risks in ICO Crowdfunding Smart Contracts An Ideal Audit Process Chapter 18: Testing in Blockchain Blockchain Attacks Network Attacks User Wallet Attacks Transaction Verification Mechanism Attacks Mining Pool Attacks Security Testing Phases in Blockchain Testing Framework Quality Issues in Blockchain Practices and Governing Mechanisms Popular Tools for Testing Part 6: Blockchain Power Automation for Industry 4.0 Chapter 19: Risks posed by the ÔSmartÕ Economy ParadigmsÊ Zigbee Chain Reaction Attack Controlling Drones through Blockchain for Security & Auditing Securing Robots through Blockchain Secured Access and Management of Automobiles using Blockchain ÊÊ ÊChapter 20: Summary & Conclusion: ÊA Safer and Secure World with Blockchain-based Solutions
This book describes the intellectual origins of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. It then looks at the legal issues pertaining to bitcoin, as well as potential innovative applications of bitcoin.
This collection of articles on cyberspace policy issues, has been collated from print and electronic sources, together with extracts from on-line discussions of these issues. The topics covered include privacy, property rights, hacking, encryption, censors
The crypto wars have raged for half a century. In the 1970s, digital privacy activists prophesied the emergence of an Orwellian State, made possible by computer-mediated mass surveillance. The antidote: digital encryption. The U.S. government warned encryption would not only prevent surveillance of law-abiding citizens, but of criminals, terrorists, and foreign spies, ushering in a rival dystopian future. Both parties fought to defend the citizenry from what they believed the most perilous threats. The government tried to control encryption to preserve its surveillance capabilities; privacy activists armed citizens with cryptographic tools and challenged encryption regulations in the courts. No clear victor has emerged from the crypto wars. Governments have failed to forge a framework to govern the, at times conflicting, civil liberties of privacy and security in the digital age—an age when such liberties have an outsized influence on the citizen–State power balance. Solving this problem is more urgent than ever. Digital privacy will be one of the most important factors in how we architect twenty-first century societies—its management is paramount to our stewardship of democracy for future generations. We must elevate the quality of debate on cryptography, on how we govern security and privacy in our technology-infused world. Failure to end the crypto wars will result in societies sleepwalking into a future where the citizen–State power balance is determined by a twentieth-century status quo unfit for this century, endangering both our privacy and security. This book provides a history of the crypto wars, with the hope its chronicling sets a foundation for peace.
