NUWERE, Ejovi 1981(?)-

PERSONAL: Born c. 1981.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, HarperCollins, 10 East 53rd St., 7th Fl., New York, NY 10022. E-mail—web@ejovi.net.

CAREER: Computer security consultant, kickboxing competitor. Nuwere Corporation, New York, NY, owner.

AWARDS, HONORS: National San Shou kickboxing championship.

WRITINGS:

(With David Chanoff) Hacker Cracker: A Journey from the Mean Streets of Brooklyn to the Frontiers of Cyberspace, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Ejovi Nuwere's Hacker Cracker: A Journey from the Mean Streets of Brooklyn to the Frontiers of Cyberspace is the memoir of a young man from a poor community who turned his skill with computers into a profitable career, and of the mistakes he made along the way. Booklist's Gavin Quinn called it "an impressive autobiography from a young man who fought the odds and succeeded." Michelle Delio wrote for Wired online that it is "worth a read, not because it describes a particularly unique life, but because of its intimate look into the life of a technically inclined kid growing up in less than ideal circumstances."

Nuwere was born into a poor Nigerian immigrant family. At age twelve he attempted suicide, and at thirteen, he lost his drug-addicted mother to AIDS. Nuwere was raised by a loving grandmother and other relatives and friends. His uncle, who was attending college, owned a personal computer and encouraged Nuwere to learn the technology, as did a school administrator. Nuwere's outside environment was not as loving. He had seen death on the streets and had been a gang member himself. Because of an interest in acting, Nuwere applied to and was accepted into New York City's High School of Performing Arts.

Largely self-taught, Nuwere soon surpassed his teachers with his knowledge of computer systems and software, and he was banned from the computer lab at school. He made phone calls with stolen 800 numbers and hacked into the systems of large companies. His most serious exploit in this regard is documented in the book, but the name of the system is blacked out. Nuwere used several handles, changing identity as he cruised the Net, frequenting chat rooms and looking for cracks in the walls. Delio pointed out that in being black, Nuwere doesn't fit the profile of the mainly white hackers of the American computer underground and remarked that "most hackers insist racism doesn't exist among them—skills define who you are and how people treat you. But Nuwere said prejudice exists even in the virtual world."

Although he never served jail time, Nuwere's hacking got him in trouble on a number of occasions during the early years, before he realized that he could use his talent to make a legitimate living. He became a security consultant at the age of seventeen, using his own experiences to detect hacking activities and defend networks. Nuwere is also a kickboxing champion who trains both in Osaka, Japan and in New York City.

A Kirkus Reviews contributor called Hacker Cracker "noteworthy as an account of a techie's sentimental education—and a testimonial to the power of positive, if sometimes illegal, thinking." Tracy Grant commented of the book in Black Issues Book Review that "every teen and every parent should read it, in all the Bedford-Stuyvesants around the country."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Nuwere, Ejovi, and David Chanoff, Hacker Cracker: A Journey from the Mean Streets of Brooklyn to the Frontiers of Cyberspace, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2002.

PERIODICALS

Black Issues Book Review, November-December, 2002, Tracy Grant, review of Hacker Cracker: A Journey from the Mean Streets of Brooklyn to the Frontiers of Cyberspace, p. 48.

Booklist, October 1, 2002, Gavin Quinn, review of Hacker Cracker, p. 277.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2002, review of Hacker Cracker, p. 1203.

Library Journal, October 1, 2002, Hilary Burton, review of Hacker Cracker, p. 120.

Publishers Weekly, September 2, 2002, review of Hacker Cracker, p. 66.

ONLINE

Boston Globe Online,http://www.boston.com/ (November 10, 2002), Amanda Heller, review of Hacker Cracker.

Hacker Cracker Home Page,http://www.hackercracker.net/ (February 25, 2003).

Wired,http://www.wired.com/ (December 7, 2002), Michelle Delio, review of Hacker Cracker.*