Hacks, Leaks, and Revelations

INTRODUCTION

Unlike any other point in history, hackers, whistleblowers, and archivists now routinely make off with terabytes of data from governments, corporations, and extremist groups. These datasets often contain gold mines of revelations in the public interest, and in many cases are freely available for anyone to download. Yet these digital tomes can prove extremely difficult to analyze or interpret, and few people today have the skills to do so.

I wrote this book for journalists, researchers, hacktivists, and anyone else who wants to learn the technologies and coding skills required to investigate these troves of hacked or leaked data. I don’t assume any prior knowledge. Along with lessons on programming and technical tools, I’ve incorporated ...