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

by Ronald J. Deibert (Author)

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.

Author Biography

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.