A hack is any way of subverting a system's rules in unpredictable ways. The tax code is not computational code, but a series of complex formulas. It has vulnerabilities called "loopholes." We call the exploits "tax avoidance strategies." There is an entire industry of "black hat hackers" seeking to find exploitable loopholes in the tax code. We call these people accountants and tax advisors. In the book "A Hacker’s Mind," Bruce Schneier takes hacking out of the world of computing and uses it to analyze the systems that underpin our society: from tax laws to financial markets and politics. He reveals a series of powerful players whose hacks bend economic, political, and legal systems to their advantage, at the expense of everyone else. Once you learn to spot the hacks, you'll start seeing them everywhere — and you'll never look at the world the same way again. Almost all systems have loopholes, and this is intentional. Because if you can leverage them, the rules no longer apply to you. Left unchecked, these hacks threaten to upend our financial markets, weaken democracy, and even influence how we think. And when artificial intelligence begins to think like a hacker — with inhuman speed and scale — the results could be catastrophic. However, for those who will don the "white hat," we can understand the hacking mindset and redesign our economic, political, and legal systems to withstand those who would exploit our society. And we can harness artificial intelligence to improve existing systems, predict and defend against hacks, and create a more equitable world.

Pages: 304, Publication Year: 0329, Dimensions: 16x16cm