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From the hidden cyber realm that permeates our day-to-day lives,
comes an Orwellian thriller about a band of mild mannered computer geeks who are
the lords of this unseen electronic empire. Take an ingenious and sometimes comical
journey into this invisible domain and glimpse at the many covert ways in which
it chronicles our every action and controls our everyday lives. Read a cautionary
tale of how the ordinary tools of modern life that we take for granted can be
quickly turned against us and the extent to which we are at their mercy and that of
their anonymous and enigmatic masters.
The story is set in Omaha at a mysterious computer security research center concealed in an old fortress-like converted warehouse where a young cable news network reporter and his computer geek girl friend have fled for help. While on assignment they managed to hack their way into the Midwest drug cartel's intricate computer systems and harvest a vast hoard of incriminating data. But when their cover is blown, they run for their lives to Omaha to hide out with friends who live in penthouse apartments high atop the strange, old building. But the fugitives' location is soon discovered and the cartel mounts frenetic and increasingly desperate and violent attempts at their lives. However, the close knit band of computer wizards quickly rallies to their defense and turns the drug lords' own technology into the agents of their owner's destruction. In the end, the drug lords never knew what hit them. The story, though fiction, is closer to truth than most of us would like to believe. It reveals a world that goes far beyond that which George Orwell only scarcely imagined. The book explores how our lives are interwoven with a growing fabric of information systems whose sway and power we only dimly perceive. From cell phones that can spy on us and track our every movement, to our email, credit and banking records, browsing histories, social networking, and vital services such as health care, the power grid, water, food, and transportation, our lives are dependent upon a web of technology about which we know very little. Read how this gifted band geeks are the masters of this digital world and can manipulate it at will to their advantage and the ruin of their enemies. But worry at what would happen if the wrong forces became the lords of this domain. About the author: The author is a professor of computer science at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. He holds a B.S. degree in chemistry and a Ph.D. in computer science and has had extensive experience in computer and information science. He is the author of several open-source software packages as well as numerous scientific articles and technical books on computing. Further details are available at: http://www.cs.uni.edu/~okane. | |||
