''Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet'' is a 2012 book by

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army i ...

, in discussion with

Internet activist Internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular info ...

s and

cypherpunk A cypherpunk is any individual advocating widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies as a route to social and political change. Originally communicating through the Cypherpunks electronic mailing list, informal gr ...

Jacob Appelbaum Jacob Appelbaum (born 1 April 1983) is an American independent journalist, computer security researcher, artist, and hacker. He studied at the Eindhoven University of Technology and was a core member of the Tor project, a free software network ...

Andy Müller-Maguhn Andy Müller-Maguhn (born 3 October 1971) is a member of the German hacker association Chaos Computer Club (CCC). Having been a member since 1986, he was appointed as a spokesman for the club in 1990, and later served on its board until 2012. He ...

and Jérémie Zimmermann. Its primary topic is society's relationship with

information security Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthori ...

. In the book, the authors warn that the Internet has become a tool of the

police state A police state describes a state where its government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the ...

, and that the world is inadvertently heading toward a form of

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

. They promote the use of

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adve ...

to protect against state surveillance. In the introduction, Assange says that the book is "not a

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

.. uta warning". He told ''Guardian'' journalist

Decca Aitkenhead Jessica "Decca" Aitkenhead (born 1971) is an English journalist, writer and broadcaster. Early life and education Aitkenhead's family lived in Wiltshire when she was born; she has three older brothers. Her father was a teacher in Bristol bef ...

: Assange later wrote in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'': "Strong cryptography is a vital tool in fighting state oppression." saying that was the message of his book, ''Cypherpunks''. ''Cypherpunks'' is published by

OR Books OR Books is a New York City-based independent publishing house founded by John Oakes and Colin Robinson in 2009. The company sells digital and print-on-demand books directly to the customer and focuses on creative promotion through traditional med ...

. Its content derives from discussions in June 2012 with Appelbaum, Müller-Maguhn and Zimmermann on Assange's TV show '' World Tomorrow''."''Cypherpunks'', Part 2"
Russia Today. Julian Assange's ''The World Tomorrow''. Episode 8.

Topics by chapter

* Increased communication versus increased surveillance * The militarization of cyberspace * Fighting total surveillance with the laws of man * Private sector spying * Fighting total surveillance with the laws of physics * The Internet and politics * The Internet and economics * Censorship * Privacy for the weak, transparency for the powerful * Rats in the opera house

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/cypherpunks 2012 non-fiction books Julian Assange OR Books books Computer security books Cryptography Internet privacy Works about privacy Cypherpunks

Topics by chapter

See also

References

External links