The cover sports a digitised image of a malcontent wearing a balaclava and a leather jacket, as though hackers, crackers and other malcontents sit behind their keyboards dressed as though they're going to brick-in the local McDonalds. Despite the lurid cover, though, this makes for an interesting read. Billed as 'Tales of Digital Crime from the Shadows of Cyberspace', Richard Power's book is a look at the many forms of cyber-crime, from virus writing to hacking to data theft to commercial spying.

The writing varies from breathless true-crime reports of real cases to technical explanations of the techniques used by the 'cyber-criminals' and those who oppose them. This makes for an uneasy mixture at times, it certainly avoids the pit-falls of dry technical writing (and to be honest this is certainly not a how-to book for would-be hackers), but the range of material covered means that some subjects are barely touched upon. It has to be said that some of the reports do make for fairly gripping reading, and are some of the most enjoyable parts of the book.

When it comes to hacktivism, and things like politically motivated denial of service attacks, the author betrays his lack of understanding of the motives of the groups and individuals involved. Partly this is, I suspect, because he's not that interested himself. He is firmly on the other side of the firewall and makes much of his association with the FBI and other authorities.

While the book can serve as a general introduction to the topic of cyber-crime, it does not really live up to its promise. There is not enough hard technical detail for the IT professional or would-be hacker, and nor is there adequate coverage of the social and political implications for those more interested in the socio-political implications of the subject.

Interesting but not essential.