// Prerequisites
What to read before Hacks, Leaks, and Revelations
If Hacks, Leaks, and Revelations feels too steep at beginner level, here is what to read first. Lighter books in the same topics that build the prerequisites this one assumes.
01 · 2017
The Art of Invisibility
Mitnick's accessible tour of personal privacy and anonymity, from passwords and Wi-Fi to layered operational tradecraft, told through anecdotes and step-by-step advice.
Beginner3/5Kevin Mitnick, Robert Vamosi02 · 2014
Anonymat sur Internet
A practical French guide to online anonymity and privacy — proxies, VPNs, Tor, secure messaging and mobile — by a Le Monde cybersecurity journalist (later one of the Pegasus reporters).
Beginner3/5Martin Untersinger03 · 2018
Open Source Intelligence Techniques and Tools
Hassan and Hijazi's pedagogical introduction to OSINT framed inside the broader intelligence cycle (collection → processing → analysis → dissemination) rather than around a specific toolchain.
Beginner3/5Nihad A. Hassan, Rami Hijazi04 · 2020
À la trace
An investigative map of modern surveillance — from data brokers and facial recognition to contact-tracing — charting how continuous digital tracking became normal, by a French tech journalist.
Beginner4/5Olivier Tesquet05 · 2017
La face cachée d'internet
A lively, expert tour of the Internet's hidden layers — hackers, the dark web, Tor, Anonymous, WikiLeaks, Bitcoin — that demystifies the jargon without dumbing it down.
Beginner4/5Rayna Stamboliyska06 · 2023
Pegasus
The inside story of the Forbidden Stories investigation into NSO Group's Pegasus spyware, told by the journalists who ran it. The best narrative account of what commercial zero-click surveillance actually does to its targets.
Beginner4/5Laurent Richard, Sandrine Rigaud07 · 2019
Permanent Record
Edward Snowden's first-person memoir: the technical work that led him into the NSA's mass-surveillance programs, his reasoning for disclosure, and the Hong Kong handoff to the journalists who broke the story.
Beginner4/5Edward Snowden08 · 2016
Surveillance://
A lucid, accessible case for digital privacy — how mass surveillance works, why it matters, and concrete ways to take back control — by the founder of Mozilla Europe.
Beginner4/5Tristan Nitot