In early 2000, the websites of CNN, Yahoo, E*Trade, Dell, Amazon, and eBay ground to a halt for several hours, causing panic everywhere from the White House to suburbia and around the world. After two months and hundreds of hours of wiretapping, the FBI and RCMP staged a late-night raid to apprehend the most wanted man in cyberspace—a 15-year-old kid, Mafiaboy. Eight years later, Mafiaboy, a.k.a.Michael Calce, has ignored requests from every major media outlet in North America and has not told a word of his story—until now. Using his experience as a cautionary tale, Calce and award-winning journalist Craig Silverman also take the reader through the history of hacking and how it has helped make the internet the new frontier for crime in the 21st century.

Michael Calce

Michael Calce was 15 years old when he made headlines around the world by launching online attacks that brought down the websites of Yahoo!, eBay, CNN and other Internet giants. After being apprehended in a late night raid by law enforcement, he eventually plead guilty to 56 charges and served eight months in a group home facility. In 2005, he began writing a computer security column for Le Journal de Montreal to help educate people about online threats and offer advice for staying secure online. The column was also published in English in the Toronto Sun, Ottawa Sun and on Canoe.ca, one of Canada’s most-trafficked websites. He has also worked for one of Canada’s largest retail computer companies. Michael is now focused on sharing his knowledge and expertise to help people and businesses protect themselves online.
He lives in Montreal.

Craig Silverman

Craig Silverman is an award-winning journalist and author. A columnist for Columbia Journalism Review and Hour, a Montreal weekly, his writing has also appeared in The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Globe And Mail, Montreal Gazette, Toronto Star, Report On Business magazine, and Editor & Publisher online, amoung other publications. Craig is the founder and editor of RegretTheError.com, a website that reports on media accuracy, errors and corrections. His book, Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech, won the Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Craig has also won gold and silver medals at the National Magazine Awards.
He lives in Montreal.