The book begins in 1998 in St. Petersburg. Lex and Nick, two boys from a model orphanage who have sworn brotherhood, become seriously fascinated with computer science and programming. One day they hack the local network in a computer club owned by a retired FSB officer. The chain of events triggered by this prank will force the friends to roam across every corner of our country—and not only ours. Secret organizations, industrial espionage, fast money, cyberwars, successful online projects, contract killings, the will of the powerful—this and much more will eventually turn the former blood brothers into mortal enemies. And not the least role in this will be played by a mysterious girl with a keychain in the shape of a spider made of silvery metal… The book “Hackers. Basic” contains secret information about certain events that took place in the IT sphere (and beyond) from 1998 to 2006. Many names and titles have been changed for the safety of the Ethnogenesis project.