Why Hackers Win: Power and Disruption in the Network Society - Hardcover

Patrick Burkart is Professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University. Burkart is the author of Pirate Politics, Music and Cyberliberties, and, with Tom McCourt, Digital Music Wars.  

Tom McCourt is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. McCourt is the author of Conflicting Communications in America and, with Patrick Burkart, Digital Music Wars, as well as co-producer with Joan Grossman of the documentary film Drop City.

"Simply the best book on the complex relationship that binds hacking to cybersecurity. Drawing on extensive documentation, Burkart and McCourt brilliantly describe the economic, political, and legal issues shaping the digital world. A must-read for scholars, policy makers, and activists."––Vincent Mosco, author of The Smart City in a Digital World

"This book provides an original and thought-provoking account of cybersecurity, hacking, malware, and surveillance technologies and their corrosive impact on people’s trust in the internet and the information society. The authors make interesting and original theoretical observations about hacking as a routinized part of the communications environment."––Dwayne Winseck, Professor, Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communication 

"In light of recent large-scale data breaches, manipulation of opinions, cyber-crime and information warfare, Why Hackers Win couldn’t be more timely. Burkart and McCourt makes an original and convincing argument for why hacking should be seen as much more than a disruptive practice that throws gravel into the machinery of corporations and governments, arguing that hacking is foundational for digital capitalism as well as state governance. International in scope, rich with examples, and covering technical, economic, legal, and social dimensions of hacking, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the dynamics of the networked digital and datafied society." ––Göran Bolin, author of Value and the Media: Cultural Production and Consumption in Digital Markets