| Author: | Julian Assange |
| Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet | |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Pages: | 192 |
| Published: | 2012 (OR Books) |
| Media Type: | Print (paperback), digital |
| Isbn: | 978-1-939293-00-8 |
| Isbn Note: | (print) (digital) |
| Oclc: | 812780303 |
Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet is a 2012 book by Julian Assange, in discussion with Internet activists and cypherpunks Jacob Appelbaum, Andy Müller-Maguhn and Jérémie Zimmermann. Its primary topic is society's relationship with information security. In the book, the authors warn that the Internet has become a tool of the police state, and that the world is inadvertently heading toward a form of totalitarianism. They promote the use of cryptography to protect against state surveillance.
In the introduction, Assange says that the book is "not a manifesto [...] [but] a warning".[1] He told Guardian journalist Decca Aitkenhead:
Assange later wrote in The Guardian: "Strong cryptography is a vital tool in fighting state oppression." saying that was the message of his book, Cypherpunks.[2]
Cypherpunks is published by OR Books.[3] It is primarily a transcript of World Tomorrow episode eight, a two-part interview[4] [5] between Assange, Jacob Appelbaum, 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".[6]