Bryan Clough (born 1932,
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...
, Lancashire
[Index of Births, Marriages and Deaths in England and Wales, 1837–1983]) is an English writer.
Clough has written several books and articles dealing with
phreakers,
hackers
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
and
computer virus writers;
credit card fraud; banking; and the activities of
MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, specifically the
Tyler Kent
Tyler Gatewood Kent (March 24, 1911 – November 20, 1988) was an American diplomat who stole thousands of secret documents while working as a cipher clerk at the US Embassy in London during World War II.
Early life and career
Kent was born in ...
–
Anna Wolkoff
Anna Nikolayevna Wolkova (1902 – 2 August 1973), sometimes known as Anna de Wolkoff, was a White Russian émigrée, and secretary of The Right Club, which was opposed to Britain's involvement in World War II.
Early life
She was the elde ...
Affair (2005).
Works
In 1990, Clough and Paul Mungo, a journalist, wrote ''Approaching Zero'' (1992) a book that covered the activities of
phreakers,
hackers
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
and
computer virus writers. It was later published in North America and translations appeared in French, Spanish,
Turkish and Japanese.
Three incidents of
credit card fraud described in the book resulted in much interest in the press. Further investigations resulted in articles on computer viruses, and investigations into 'phantom withdrawals' from
ATMs and credit card fraud.
These investigations culminated in the publication of ''Cheating at Cards'' (1994) which revealed 40 ways of fraudulently obtaining money from ATMs; and ''Beware of Your Bank'' (1995) in which he examined mistakes made by banks and explained how to detect errors, and how to obtain compensation.
Sparked by a close interest in
cryptology
Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...
, he then turned to the strange case of
Tyler Kent
Tyler Gatewood Kent (March 24, 1911 – November 20, 1988) was an American diplomat who stole thousands of secret documents while working as a cipher clerk at the US Embassy in London during World War II.
Early life and career
Kent was born in ...
, an American national employed as a code and
cipher clerk at the
American Embassy in London, at a time when Great Britain was at war with
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
America claimed to be strictly
neutral
Neutral or neutrality may refer to:
Mathematics and natural science Biology
* Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity
Chemistry and physics
* Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...
. In May 1940, Kent was arrested, tried ''
in camera
''In camera'' (; Latin: "in a chamber"). is a legal term that means ''in private''. The same meaning is sometimes expressed in the English equivalent: ''in chambers''. Generally, ''in-camera'' describes court cases, parts of it, or process wh ...
'' and sentenced to seven years'
penal servitude.
Clough's book ''State Secrets: The Kent–Wolkoff Affair'' (2005) took advantage of privileged access to Government files and also the release of others under the
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request:
* Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act
* ...
. Sixty-five years after the event, Clough finally revealed the 'real reason' for Kent's arrest and imprisonment – which was very different from the earlier versions in officially inspired publications. Clough appeared in the documentary ''Churchill and the Fascist Plot'' broadcast on Channel Four on 16 March 2013.
Personal life
Clough was educated at the
Hulme Grammar School
Oldham Hulme Grammar School, formerly Hulme Grammar School, is a private grammar school in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England.
History
Oldham Grammar School was founded in 1611 by several charitable individuals including Laurence Chadeton, b ...
,
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...
and served his
national service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
with the
10th Royal Hussars in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. He then worked in a variety of industries, mainly in engineering, before becoming chief executive for a major international company which allowed him to travel widely.
He set up his own computer supply and maintenance company in 1983 which he sold out in 1990 in order to concentrate on research and writing.
Clough married his wife in 1971
and they had two daughters.
He now lives in
Hove
Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...
, Sussex.
[Hove Electoral Roll]
Bibliography
* Clough, Bryan. Mungo, Paul. ''Approaching Zero: Data Crime & the Computer Underworld''
Faber & Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...
, London 1992.
* Clough, Bryan. Mungo, Paul. ''Approaching Zero: The Extraordinary World of Hackers, Phreakers, Virus Writers and Keyboard Criminals''
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
, New York 1992.
* Clough, Bryan. Mungo, Paul. ''Los Piratas del Chip: La Mafia Informatica al Desnudo'' Ediciones B, Barcelona 1992.
* Clough, Bryan. Mungo, Paul. ''Delinquance Assistée par Ordinateur: La Saga des “Hackers” Nouveaux Flibustiers “High Tech”!'' Dunod, Paris 1993.
* Clough, Bryan. Mungo, Paul. ''Approaching Zero'' Hayakawa Publishing, Tokyo 1994
* Clough, Bryan. Mungo, Paul. ''Sıfıra Doğru'' İletişim Yayınları, Istanbul 1994.
* Clough, Bryan. ''Cheating at Cards – Plastic Fraud: Sharp Practices and Naïve Systems'' Hideaway Publications, Hove 1994.
* Clough, Bryan. ''Beware of Your Bank'' Hideaway Publications, Hove 1995.
* Clough, Bryan. ''State Secrets: The Kent-Wolkoff Affair''. East Sussex: Hideaway Publications Ltd., 2005.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clough, Bryan
1932 births
Historians of the British Isles
British investigative journalists
Living people
People from Hove
People educated at Oldham Hulme Grammar School