Rating: 
Summary: Interesting stories, disjointed presentation
Review: I hate to do this because perhaps I was just really tired when I read it, but this book seemed to kind of aimlessly wander through its subplots and then somehow come together at the end for an unsatisfying ending. Sort of like any of Hollywood's "1-joke premise" comedies. The reason I did not give this book a low rating was that the information contained within was very interesting, and the different perspectives held by the different hacker groups described did point out diverging aspects and ideologies of the hacker craft. Also, for the "script kiddies" out there now for whom hacking tools are readily available, this book reminds us of where the hacker culture came from, and how hard it was to be a pioneer in this area when the computer revolution began to take hold.Overall, an interesting read, particularly the espionage segments (I won't go into depth, I wouldn't want to give away anything).
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth it.
Review: I have read this book, and many others on the subject of Computer crimes. I can honestly say that this book is not worth your money. Markoff does a decent job describing the internet worm incident, but the other 2 parts of the book are boring, misleading, and not very good. I would recommend "The Fugitive Game" if you are intrested in Kevin Mitnick, which is often the reson this book is picked up in the first place.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Entertaining, But Only Half The Story
Review: I read this book last summer and enjoyed it immensely. It's very well-written. However, having just finished Jonathan Littman's "The Fugitive Game" I have to recommend reading both books to get the full story. Markoff's conflicts-of-interest and questionable journalistic practices aren't apparent from reading just "Cyberpunk." What appears to be a non-fiction account is, in reality, more complicated than that.... You really owe it to yourself to read both sides of the story. So read this book and enjoy it for what it is -- and then read Littman for another perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining, But Only Half The Story
Review: I read this book last summer and enjoyed it immensely. It's very well-written. However, having just finished Jonathan Littman's "The Fugitive Game" I have to recommend reading both books to get the full story. Markoff's conflicts-of-interest and questionable journalistic practices aren't apparent from reading just "Cyberpunk." What appears to be a non-fiction account is, in reality, more complicated than that.... You really owe it to yourself to read both sides of the story. So read this book and enjoy it for what it is -- and then read Littman for another perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Skip this one
Review: If your looking for evil hackers mis-leading information and untrue stories. Then by all means read this book. But if your looking for a better account of Kevin Mitnick the most botched story in this book try The Fugitive Game by Littman it's much more acurate.
Rating:
Summary: Cyberpunk
Review: In this exciting and informational book, Katie Hafner and her co-author John Markoff do an excellent job of telling the twisted tales of computers' darkest hours and brightest minds. Cyberpunk covers in full detail, an accurate account of three individuals who have forever changed computers and how they are used. The most interesting story that is told in this book is the one of Kevin Mitnick, a self-proclaimed computer addict. Cyberpunk describes Kevin, and how he could manipulate both people and machines to make them give him information he really shouldn't have had. It tells in-depth accounts of how this chubby, persistent hacker did it, why he did it, and when he did it. Personally as a technologically informed person, I found this book very interesting and fun to read. It seemed as though this would be a hacker's history book. Sadly this book did not make it onto and selected reading lists, but this happened with justification. This book is not for everyone, it is hard to understand the technical terms, and someone that is ill informed would be lost in a second. To me this book was a great read, and it was hard to put down. I definately recommend reading it if you are slightly knowledgeable about computers. Overall Katie Hafner and John Markoffs Cyberpunk is a wonderfully written book, and worth every penny.
Rating: 
Summary: Cyberpunk or Cyberpuke?
Review: Not the best book in the world, but still worth reading. Cyberpunk is a compilation of stories about hackers such as Kevin Mitnick, Susan Thunder and the famed Chaos Computer Slub. This book gives a synopsis of the crimes committed by the aforementioned hackers and crackers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent series of stories
Review: One of the first stories of net legendry I have ever read, and this is by far my favorite. Katie Hafner and John Markoff touch base with a number of different issues in dealing with "hacking". Everything from the infamous Kevin Mitnick, to Pengo, and the "Chaos Computer Club" in Germany who tried to sell trade secrets to the KGB. From the computer geek/hacker next door to tales of international espionage, this book has it all!
Rating:
Summary: Addictive and eye-opening
Review: The stories opened a new world that has been seldom touched. People do not know what it is like being on the "other side". This book gives prime examples as well as accurate information about events and lifestyles with hackers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent history lesson...
Review: The tales in this book are old ones now. Mitnick's escapades continued on to more infamous heights than this book, as the new epilogue explains. Having grown up working with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) computers, the descriptions of Mitnick's hacking on PDP-11 and VAX systems was like a dark-side of my high school days. Having worked at Radio Shack just after graduating college, I knew a lot of "phreakers" who worshipped the people mentioned in the book. I teach classes for computer professionals in UNIX. One of the courses is a 2-day class in unix security, and the "Morris worm" is one of the case studies we discuss. We don't go into too much detail in the class on the subject, and I usually recommend this book for those who want to go further. The other reason I recommend this book to students in my class is the story (in Kevin's section) of Susan Thunder. The concept of "social engineering" is one that transcends computer model, operating system version, etc. Many computer types just don't understand it, in the same way they don't understand office politics. If you fall into this category, or if you have an interest in the social side of hacking/cracking/phreaking, Hafner and Markoff do an excellent job of presenting these concepts.
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