''Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet'' is a 2012 book by

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...

, in discussion with Internet activists and cypherpunks

Jacob Appelbaum Jacob Appelbaum (born April 1, 1983) is an American independent journalist, computer security researcher, artist, Hacking (innovation), hacker and teacher. Appelbaum, who earned his PhD from the Eindhoven University of Technology, first became not ...

, Andy Müller-Maguhn and Jérémie Zimmermann. Its primary topic is society's relationship with

information security Information security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data ...

. In the book, the authors warn that the Internet has become a tool of the

police state A police state describes a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exec ...

, and that the world is inadvertently heading toward a form of

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public s ...

. They promote the use of

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

to protect against state surveillance. In the introduction, Assange says that the book is "not a

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

.. uta warning". He told ''Guardian'' journalist Decca Aitkenhead: Assange later wrote in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'': "Strong cryptography is a vital tool in fighting state oppression." saying that was the message of his book, ''Cypherpunks''. ''Cypherpunks'' is published by

OR Books OR Books is a New York City-based independent publishing house founded by John Oakes and Colin Robinson in 2009. The company sells digital and Print on demand, print-on-demand books directly to the customer and focuses on creative promotion throug ...

. It is primarily a transcript of '' World Tomorrow'' episode eight, a two-part interview"''Cypherpunks'', Part 2"
Russia Today. Julian Assange's ''The World Tomorrow''. Episode 8. between Assange,

, Andy Müller-Maguhn, and Jérémie Zimmermann. In the foreword, Assange said, "the Internet, our greatest tool for emancipation, has been transformed into the most dangerous facilitator of totalitarianism we have ever seen".

References

External links

* {{Julian Assange 2012 non-fiction books Works by Julian Assange OR Books books Computer security books Cryptography Internet privacy Works about privacy Cypherpunks

See also

References

External links