From the first time I head about Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc), I was fascinated beyond my wildest dreams. Not only where they hackers, but they had ethics, a moral compass, and an overall coolness about them. However, I did not know where they came from, how the group worked not exactly what the purpose of their, at times, chaotic .txt files was. But even from the young age of 10 when I read their first .txt file I was hooked and I always wanted to learn more about this Hacktivist group.

A couple of years ago (late 2019) I stumbled upon the book Cult of the Dead Cow by Joseph Menn (fair warning Amazon Link /not affiliated/), in a brick and mortar book store in Aalborg, Denmark of all places and I got very sparkly eyes! I had wanted this book since I heard about the first time right after it was published back in June 2019. I could not believe I had it my hands! I bought it immediately as it was the only copy in the book store.

Here five years later almost I finally had the time and mental capacity to read it, and boy I was not disappointed.

The book is an honest treasure trow of information about the formation of the cDC from a humble Bulletin board in Texas, its turn to one of the most respected hacker groups in the world, and onwards to its legacy. Including the reasons for creating tools such as Back Orifice. Created with the intention of forcing big corporations to take security serious.

But Mr. Menn does not just focus on the positive it also includes the dark stuff like why Jake Laird excluded from the cult, and the impact of WikiLeaks and how the cDC saw WikiLeaks. LulzSec is also discussed and how elements inspired by the cDc may have gone their own ways away from values of the cDc.

The last member of the cDc covered in the book is Psychedelic Warlord a.k.a Beto O’Rourke. It describes how he used the style of thinking he learned from the early counter culture and cDc to campaign.

But even with all that the most important lessons from the book. Is the following

  • With a few dedicated people you can do a lot
  • Have principals and morals and stick to them

The Cult of the Dead Cow may have faded into a more obscure place but it and its members have left a lasting legacy on the world. Inspired many and let some of us towards better ideals. I am very thankful that I got to read this book.

Honestly my only regret about the book is that I did not buy it in hard cover!!!

./looopTools