IM So Hacked-Gautam Mayekar

Book: !M S0 H@CK3D

Author: Gautam Mayekar

Publisher: Jufic Books (Leadstart Corp)

How secure are you while you browse the internet? Isn’t it the latest fad to have a Internet-enabled TV or maybe go up a notch and have IoT enabled gadgets controlling your house? Makes you pretty safe seeing a CCTV camera?

What if one day you wake up and find out you are no longer in control of your own house, own computer or for that matter your mind?

Welcome to Avidit’s world, or should I say @v!, as he calls himself. A hacker who works for India’s numero uno antivirus company as a security researcher and at night, crawls the deep recesses of the darkweb into the hacking forums. A general recluse, he despises his routine office work and lacks purpose in his life. Everything changes when he receives a letter from a person calling himself M@dR1; a revolutionary who wants to change the world. To convince @v!, he uses his horrific past to motivate him into doing what he wants, which begins with a not so damaging task of shutting down the internet of the entire city. Just the beginning, the innocuous hack transforms into a complex web of interconnected events leading to a major cyber attack that rocks the foundation of the country’s technological unit with the help of @v!’s friends, $@m and K!LL3R.

!M S0 H@CK3D is a book that keeps you on your toes all the time. The plot of the book is tightly bound and keeps you engaged. With common yet not-so-common hacking terms like DDOS and XSS are used but explained in detail, thus help keep the reader understand the technical aspects and keep track with what is happening in the plot. Moving along the plot at a brisk pace, you are sure to make some assumptions that are confirmed in the penultimate chapter of the book. Relating with Avidit with his corporate life is easy for any person who is working in that setup. For a person who is into hacking or understands the concepts, this book is going to be a wonderful ride.

The book also has some wonderful song recommendations and my personal suggestion would be to plug in your earphones and listen to the songs as they come into the plot and them move ahead. This would enhance your reading experience multifold.

The characters of @v!, M@dR!, $@m and K!LL3R are wonderfully crafted with careful details and specific roles each of them plays in the plot development. The character arcs move without a hitch and close all loose ends at the end in an amazing manner.

The title of the book is just apt and will become crystal clear one you read the book.

The plot twist at the end is just mindblowing and will make you question the very concept of Hacking! Just for this, I am adding half-a-star to the rating.

A sure shot recommendation for your TBRs, I will give the book 4.5/5.