I will give sats to anyone who recommends a good documentary about computers/hacking/etc that I have never seen/heard of before.
A few examples (that I have already seen): The Internet's Own Boy Deep Web Zero Day
I thought to give some room for other people to chime in, but I can't help myself to also recommend Chasing Edward Snowden documentary. This is such an interesting topic...
This movie briefly covers NSA analyst-turned whistleblower Edward Snowden and his escape from American authorities to Hong Kong and later to Russia, after leaking classified information about global surveillance programs used by the American government to spy on people around the world and other nations activities. The movie also presents the journalists who had an exclusive access to Snowden and also the members of WikiLeaks, who helped him in moments of his escape.
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I really enjoyed Citizen 4 - looks like very similar in topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenfour
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Great one
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You have touched a soft spot of mine. I'm a sucker for this kind of docus... :-)
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Same. That's why I am offering sats to anyone who can find something that's new to me. It's working too! Got a few hours of doc watching ahead.
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I find that this is actually producing the intended results to be fascinating, and wrote a couple paragraphs on it in the Daily discussion thread.
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The KGB, the Computer and Me, the coolest story ever told about the topics you're looking for (computers, internet, hacking, espionage...)
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This looks good!
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It is good! :-D
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Thanks I will check it out. Never heard of it.
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Enjoy it! I sure do every time I watch it, and I have a few times already. :-)
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Computers and hacking is pretty broad. But I liked the following:
  • BBS: The Documentary (2005)
  • Ctrl+Alt+Compete (2011)
  • DEFCON: The Documentary (2013)
  • Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee (2016)
  • Revolution OS (2001)
  • The Bit Player (2018)
  • TPB AFK (2013)
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Never heard of Ctrl+Alt+Complete or The Bit Player. Bookmarked, thanks!
The rest I've seen. Good call on TPB AFK. Forgot about it, one of the best.
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Never heard of either of these. Bookmarked for later. Thanks!
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What a pity, these are classics.
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I will be watching them for certain. Thanks again for putting them on my radar.
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Did you see 'Citizenfour'? That one is amazing... It tells the story of the Snowden revelations in 2013. I would also recommend 'the Great Hack' and maybe the first episode of the webseries 'Hacking Google'.
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Yes on Citizenfour and The Great Hack. Both good. Citizenfour is one for the ages.
Hacking Google I'd never heard of until now... but it looks like it was produced by Google so I am not expecting much. Queued up the first episode though!
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Not nearly as exciting, intriguing, and interesting, and much better known (you might have heard of them), are The Code & Revolution OS!, documentary films released in 2001.
The Code is based on birth and journey of Linux & Revolution OS! is based on 20 years journey of Linux, GNU, Open Source world. They are interesting, since Linux is an important part of the history of hacking and the internet.
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I already know Revolution OS. Great doc.
The Code is new to me. Thank you!
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Sure, I hope you enjoy it!
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"The Internet's Own Boy" fills me with sadness but also hope every time I watch it
u.U
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Aaron Swartz. What a loss.
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Books:
What the Dormouse Said - an intimate account of the personalities and social forces that were running through the counter culture tech scene in the Bay area that produced ARPAnet and its successors.
Blocksize Wars - another account of the personalities, debates and egos that occured around the BCash/segwit time period . Written in a unique style; it doesn't read at all like an "airport business book". My favorite bitcoin book
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On the topic of books, The Cuckoo’s Egg, by Cliff Stoll, is a classic. Still a great story, probably best if your old enough to recall technology of that era.
I recently ran across this course (licensed CC) that works from the book to provide an infosec crash course: https://chrissanders.org/training/cuckoosegg/
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The Internet's Own Boy follows the story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz. From Swartz's help in the development of the basic internet protocol RSS to his co-founding of Reddit, his fingerprints are all over the internet. But it was Swartz's groundbreaking work in social justice and political organizing combined with his aggressive approach to information access that ensnared him in a two-year legal nightmare. It was a battle that ended with the taking of his own life at the age of 26. Aaron's story touched a nerve with people far beyond the online communities in which he was a celebrity.
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Excellent excellent documentary.
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Citizenfour We are Legion The Hacker Wars
Everything from defcon
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Zer0 Days is one of the best documentaries about hacking, focused on Stuxnet, a piece of self-replicating computer malware that the U.S. and Israel unleashed to destroy a key part of an Iranian nuclear facility, and which ultimately spread beyond its intended target.
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  • Mr. Robot is a good TV show
  • The Billion Dollar Code is excellent TV show
  • Trust No one
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Queue up The Billion Dollar Code, thank you!
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Hackers Are People Too, a very different take on hackers and hacking, which I also found interesting and cool to watch.
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Hackers Wanted explores the origins and nature of hackers and hacking by following the adventures of Adrian Lamo, and contrasting his story with that of controversial figures throughout history. The film is narrated by Kevin Spacey.
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If HSBC were a country, it would be the fifth world economic power. Founded during the golden age of the Opium trade to enable the British Empire to access the Chinese market, it has created a unique network to move dirty money around the world. From tax evasion to money laundering for the mafia and manipulation of currency, “this bank had done everything bad that a bank can possibly do.”
In 2012, HSBC nearly lost its license to operate in the US for laundering the money of the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels. Criminal charges were filed and HSBC’s executives hauled before a Senate committee. But George Osborne, UK’s then Chancellor of the Exchequer, wrote to his counterpart in America and to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve to plead for leniency. He claimed that if HSBC received a harsh punishment, it would have serious repercussions on the world’s financial and economic stability. The letter worked and HSBC was fined 2 billion euros. The equivalent of one month’s profits.
As the center of international finance moves to Asia, HSBC is in prime position. It is the most Chinese of Western banks and the most European of Chinese banks. Protected by London, blessed by Beijing, who would dare attack it?
This documentary was first released in 2017.
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In Episode 131 of Darknet Diaries, Andy Greenberg brings us a gut wrenching story of how criminal investigators used bitcoin tracing techniques to try to find out who was at the center of a child sexual abuse darkweb website. This story is part of Andy’s new book “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency”.
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21st Century Hackers takes you to the world of Modern Hackers and their Hacking techniques. Learn about "white hat" hackers, the U.S. Secret Service's cyber crime division working to protect (?) you from the risks associated with persistent connectivity.
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Hackers World: Anonymous investigation. Some attack governments, large corporations... and steal personal identities. Others use their skills for political activism. They are hackers. And in a rare sit down interview with a member of the infamous collective "Anonymous"
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TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard is about the founders of the Pirate Bay.
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The Secret History of Hacking shows how hacking came to be and the logic and what hacking really is. Hacking is not only negative actions but it is divided into 3 categories black hat- illegal (bad) grey hat- both legal and illegal helps the community but at times does things that are illegal and white hat- such as security firms or individuals hacking for the security of others (good).
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We Are Legion, The Story of the Hacktivists.
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If you are interested in deep state, watch this TV show: Rubicon (TV Series 2010)
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Great thread! I have seen a couple of these, but have a good list to work through now.
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