Subscribe RSSThe first half of the book tells the story of Barrett Lyon, who as founder of Prolexic Technologies seven years ago applied his skills to protecting customers, a number being in the online gambling industry, against denial-of-service (DDoS) attack from extortionists who were bringing down their sites and demanding tens of thousands of dollars to go away. Lyon's technical expertise pinpointed the young Russian cybercriminal Ivan Maksakov, helping a multi-national team of investigators bring Maksakov and others involved in the DDoS extortion racket to justice in a Russian court three years ago.
But Lyon, portrayed in the book as a twenty-something CTO surrounded by high-rolling sponsors from gambling firms in their offshore havens as the U.S. passes laws against online gambling, can't escape the feeling some of his customers are involved in criminal activities themselves.
And after distancing himself from Prolexic a few years ago, Lyon, at the request of the Florida division of the FBI, agreed to wear a hidden microphone. He used it to converse with Prolexic's then-CEO Darren Rennick, who, according to Menn's book was "installed by the gambling men," infuriating Lyon as he watched Rennick continue to sell his Digital Gaming Solutions casino-style software right in the Prolexic office.
