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Alien Hacker Mit
Breaking And Entering Book Alien
Elizabeth Tessman

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Unabridged Audiobook

Written By: Jeremy N. Smith

Narrated By: Jonathan Todd Ross

Duration: 12 hours 4 minutes

Summary:

This taut, true thriller takes a deep dive into a dark world that touches us all, as seen through the brilliant, breakneck career of an extraordinary hacker - a woman known only as Alien. When she arrived at MIT in the 1990s, Alien wanted to study aerospace engineering, but she was soon drawn to the school's venerable tradition of high-risk physical trespassing: the original 'hacking.' Within a year, one of her hallmates was dead, two others were on trial, and two had been institutionalized. And Alien's adventures were only just beginning. After a stint at the storied, secretive Los Alamos National Laboratory, Alien was recruited by a top cybersecurity firm where she deployed her large cache of virtual weapons-and the trespassing and social engineering talents she first developed while 'hacking' at MIT. The company tested its clients' security by every means possible-not just coding, but donning disguises and sneaking past guards and secretaries into the C-suite. (She once got into the vault of a major bank by posing as its auditor.) Alien now runs her own boutique hacking outfit that caters to some of the world's biggest and most vulnerable institutions-banks, retailers, government agencies. Her work combines devilish charm, old-school deception, and next generation spycraft. In Breaking and Entering, cybersecurity finally gets the rich, character-driven, pacey treatment it deserves.

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Preview — Breaking and Entering by Jeremy N. Smith

This taut, true thriller dives into a dark world that touches us all, as seen through the brilliant, breakneck career of an extraordinary hacker—a woman known only as Alien.
When she arrived at MIT in the 1990s, Alien was quickly drawn to the school’s tradition of high‑risk physical trespassing: the original “hacking.” Within a year, one of her hallmates was dead and two ot..more

Published January 1st 2019 by Houghton Mifflin

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Stuffy Noseif you haven't started it yet, i would say it depends on how technical you are, i think. there's an unfortunate narrative that comes up a few times,…moreif you haven't started it yet, i would say it depends on how technical you are, i think. there's an unfortunate narrative that comes up a few times, but anyone with basic infosec and *nix knowledge will see through the BS and realize it was a basic skills issue. anyways, i don't want to give away too much, but if you'd like to hear more on my opinion, feel free to message me. also disclaimer, i still have about 80 pages left so my opinion could change.(less)

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Rating details

Sep 18, 2018Danielle Tremblay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: en-ai-un, informatique, activisme, espionnage, netgalley, hacking

In the 'Age of Big Data' when everybody and their brother (Big Brother?) track our every move, it's easy to become obsessed with data security: personal, industrial and Governmental. And are the Anonymous and other secret groups of hackers what really threaten most our data? And in this era of counterterrorism, should we let our government expand the surveillance powers of intelligence agencies over individuals and groups?
This book tells simultaneously two stories: the hacktivism of the last 20..more

Nov 28, 2018Mrs. Europaea rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Substance was lacking.
It read very much like fiction which was unpleasant. Nothing felt cohesive or authentic. I don't deny that this can be true, even as absurd as some of it seems, but Smith's writing left much to be desired.

Feb 14, 2019Raj Agrawal rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Glancing looks at cyber-hacker life. Mostly smut. No recommendation.

Feb 06, 2019John Fredrickson rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is a good story, and is easily and quickly read. The presumably true story is of a female MIT student who participates in the hacker culture of MIT, then over considerable time develops into a business woman whose specialty is hacking as a white hat for hire.
The first half of the book is the most interesting, as it brings the reader into a very curious college culture of drugs and rule-breaking. The middle of the book explores the development of the white hat culture, which is also pretty..more

Mar 05, 2019Stefan rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Nothing in the book is outside the realm of the possible if you’ve worked in physical, network, or app penetration testing. Likewise, nothing is really that extraordinary either. I really struggled writing this review; if this was billed as a novel with great resourcing, it would have been a solid 3.5/4. But as it stands, being billed as reallife exploits, with way too much detail to be simply memory and weird details stuck in, it just felt like someone’s fanfic of a pentester’s life.

Nov 18, 2018Scribe Publications added it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, history, popular-science, science, biography, new-releases, technology, true-stories

A novelistic tech tale that puts readers on the front lines of cybersecurity. For all whose lives and connections depend on the internet — nearly everyone — this biography of the ‘Alien’ provides a fast-paced cautionary tale. Jeremy Smith has enough experience as a computer programmer to understand the technicalities of this world, but his storytelling makes it intelligible to general readers; indeed, the narrative is more character-driven than technology-driven .. Smith goes into great detail..more

Apr 25, 2019Jim Crocker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This story of modern-day hacking and cyber security begins with the life of a young student from MIT called 'ALIEN' and follows her development into a preeminent 'penetration tester.' Essentially, a company hires her to 'test' all of their security systems -- both cyber and walk-in / walk-out. ALIEN is like a ghost walking through walls. It's an amazing story.
Now it turns out that both author Jeremy N. Smith and ALIEN live right where I do in Missoula, Montana. It's a relatively small city that'..more

Jan 19, 2019Brian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Breaking and Entering tells the story of a hacker known by her call sign from MIT Alien. This book follows Alien as she finds her place amongst MIT and the hacking community there (note at the time she was at MIT hacking was not limited to a computer) and eventually after several tragedies befall her hacking friends finds her place in IT and at Los Alamos. Through a series of events she finds herself working in a hacking field which includes both computer hacking and physical penetration. Her sp..more

Mar 02, 2019Gary rated it did not like it · review of another edition

If you are already working in the security field, you will probably not enjoy this book. I could not even get through the first chapter. I really wanted this to be a good book and with a single sentence I could tell this wasn’t going to be for me.
I think this book would be more enjoyable for someone in their teens who is interested in learning about working in computer security.

Feb 01, 2019Chris rated it liked it · review of another edition

Hard to really distinguish if this is actually nonfiction. It read like fiction but is so lacking in substance and follow through that I found my way more than 75% of the way through, wondering where this story was going? I often thought “am I just reading through someone’s perfectly normal career progression through a fringe career?” Lots of people find something they are interested in while attending college and stumble their way through life trying to make that interest a fruitful career. The..more

Mar 17, 2019Dindy rated it did not like it · review of another edition

My hundred-page rule is that life is too short to waste time reading books that I don't enjoy. Sadly, Breaking and Entering did not pass my rule. In fact, I had pretty much figured out by Page 75 that I wasn't going to finish the book, but I thought I needed to give the book the chance. Believe me, those last 25 pages were the longest pages of my life.
I thought the book would be about Alien, the hacker's work in cybersecurity. I understand author Jeremy Smith wanted to show us everything leading..more

Apr 16, 2019Cynthia Rennolds rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Interesting and enlightening book
“Elizabeth Tessman’s” story of her years at MIT and the next 20 years as a White Hat computer hacker are fascinating and compelling. Her exploits are interesting and give insight into the hacker mentality. This book also reveals the lack of security we each face in our own lives. Whether you are technical or not this is an interesting book and worth reading.

Feb 06, 2019Chris rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Fascinating window into the MIT culture and the path through the jungle of the cyber security world at the highest levels, extra challenging for a woman. The race has no finish line, and there is no complete safety for any of us! Amazing to read about what secrets can be hacked (all of them) and the extent to which social engineering works on even the most careful and suspicious of us. Enjoyed this, but the fear is valid!!

Jun 18, 2019Allison rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Just couldn't get over the novelistic writing style and the focus on Alien's boyfriends and clothing choices over her actual hacking work. Too much detail had to have been invented, and it was often painfully obvious that this was written by a dude. 2.5/5

Feb 28, 2019Stuffy Nose rated it did not like it · review of another edition

It just wasn't a very good book to me. I felt like parts of the story were missing, some antics felt overly-exaggerated. I also felt the final 50'ish pages were rushed to completion.
----
Alien couldn't understand why she wasn't getting field work, yet she didn't know about the 'ping' command. I was already just okay with the book until i got to that part of the story. The book was very difficult for me to finish from that point on.

Jan 27, 2019Darrell Paul rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Poorly sourced. This guy wants to be Tracy Kidder so badly, but he forgot Kidder's strength: spending time and getting immersed in a person and subject long enough to speak truthfully and with authority.
Just read 'Soul of A New Machine' instead.

Jan 30, 2019Kimberly Simon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 1-000-books-to-read-before-you-die, personal-stories, non-fiction

The book is told in a narrative second person perspective. The timeline is college through the main character, Alien (Elizabeth) thirties. It is a path of her discovering her skills and how to use them which isn't as simple as train and square and fit through square hole. what she is skilled at turns out to be one of socieities greatest threats - cybertechnology and hacking. It begins with Elizabeth receiving entry into MIT.
MIT a place for thinking by doing. I loved how the story showed the free..more

Mar 05, 2019Kellie rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I had been excited to start this book, as it features a female protagonist hacker. Although I purchased this book under the misunderstanding that it was a fictitious thriller, it is more biographical in nature, cataloging vignettes of Alien's life events. I was open to the biographical style, but personally felt like the book was poorly written on numerous levels.
As a female reader, I often found myself rolling my eyes at the author's attempt at relaying Alien's female perspective, which was a..more

Jan 31, 2019K De rated it really liked it · review of another edition

'Breaking and Entering' by Jeremy Smith is a strong companion book to 'Ghosts in the Wires' about the digital realm of white hats and black hats. The first part of the book is about the culture of 'hacking' at MIT and how it is part of the intellectual ferment of students there. (The great film about 'hacking' is 'Real Genius' about the student culture of Pacific Tech nee CalTech.) The rest of the book is about cyber sleuthing by 'Alien' who graduates from MIT and is intimately involved in becom..more

Mar 07, 2019Mom rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Confession - I picked up this book because I have known the author since he was in middle school with my son. I seldom read non-fiction books and when I do purchase them, more likely than not, do not finish them. But I couldn’t put this one down. It reads like a great scientific thriller. Alien, a highly motivated young woman finds her life career when she joins a hacker group as a freshman at Harvard. These “hackers” break into buildings instead of computers but that is only the beginning. Smit..more

Apr 25, 2019Adam James rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Apr 21, 2019Greg Stoll rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was..fine. The book spends a long time on Alien's time at MIT, which was sorta interesting but not very compelling. Then it writes about her first few jobs before she became a security consultant/pentester. The last section was the most interesting, and there were little bits of interestingness throughout the rest, but I can't really recommend it. It's a cross between a biography and 'here's what security consultants do' (although it does reference the movie Sneakers; points for that!), an..more

Mar 25, 2019Dan Ward rated it liked it · review of another edition

As an IT Security Professional this was a fascinating look into the hacking culture but by the end of the book I wasn't sure how much was true. Through some quick searches I was able to figure out the Alien might be a real alias but the actual name of the main subject is not Elizabeth Tessman, she doesn't live in Denver and the actual consulting company doesn't appear to be based in Denver as the book suggests.
The narrative is very interesting and worth reading if you are interested in IT Secur..more

May 04, 2019L. III rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow i loved this book. It probably appeals to the engineer in me. I always had a thought i might go to MIT since my Grandpa was in the Civil Engineering program there in 1913-14. It makes me wonder if he was a hacker and if there were hackers in the early 1900s? I just saw a story in the paper where the MIT hackers turned the Big Dome into Capt America's shield! Then to dive even deeper into the world of computer hackers and understand their thoughts. I have always been amazed that my bank accou..more

Jun 13, 2019Becky rated it liked it · review of another edition

Not as interesting as I’d hoped it would be. I didn’t feel any connection to Alien herself, perhaps because we’re completely different, but a good story teller could make it happen, I think. I did the audiobook, and I think the reader added to the distance I felt from the story. Sometimes there was too much focus on the technical and sometimes too much on the personal. Eventually she ends up with one particular man, but I couldn’t remember who he was in all the myriad of people that were mention..more

Mar 21, 2019Hải rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I had my first computer when at the age of 12. At first, all I did was playing games. Then I discovered programming and was in love with it since. And of course, I dreamed of being a hacker. Because it would be really cool, wouldn't it?
I ended up, well, not being a hacker, although I am still working on the computer every day.
Back to this book, it sparked joy. It reminded me how much I loved to read about the hacker world. Although I'd read quite a lot (hell, I even knew 'some' guys there too),..more

Aug 23, 2018Erica rated it liked it · review of another edition

I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, the characters are well-developed and some of the scenes felt very real like this book could be turned book to movie. That being said, I am still not sure if this is an actual true story and these things really happened or not. I tried a Google search and couldn't verify anything so that was confusing but if it isn't a true story then the plot is kind of lacking. I kept wondering, what's the end game here? And true or not, this book was pret..more

Oct 27, 2018Marika rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A true non-fiction that reads like fiction. The story of a young who entered MIT in the 1990s and was intrigued Alien by the school’s tradition of high-risk physical trespassing: the original “hacking.” Lots of adventure, legal and illegal which is to be expected with college kids. It's when someone dies that reality sets in. *Alien* learned a lot about hacking and security systems at MIT and spent time assessing their security. She did it all, coding, disguising herself to sneak past guards..j..more

Jan 10, 2019Claire rated it liked it · review of another edition

Alien Hacker Mit

This is one of those books that are unlike any else and that's what makes it an interesting read. I can't talk about the accuracy of the facts (except for a few of them), but the challenges and discrimination touched upon are very much real and very much true. There's no actual plot, so I'd rec this to readers who are interested in CS and enjoy non-fiction that reads like fiction.
*Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Edelweiss for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest rev..more

Apr 01, 2019Sean Murray rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Half the book is spent detailing this person's boring life at MIT and the other half about how they weren't respected at the job they worked at even though she was supposedly really good at it. In the end she got fired and went on to start her own company wherein she would wildly undercharge for the value of her work. Then the book ends. I kept waiting for the big conflict in the book and final ending but neither ever came.
I don't know what the point of this book is other than I guess to put in..more

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Elizabeth Tessman

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Jeremy N. Smith has written for the New York Times, the Atlantic, and Discover, among other outlets, and he and his work have been featured by CNN, NPR News, The Today Show, and Wired. A graduate of Harvard College and the University of Montana, he is the author of Breaking and Entering, Epic Measures, and Growing a Garden City. He lives in Montana.