《黑客之道》完全从程序开发的角度讲述黑客技术，虽然篇幅不长，但内容丰富，涉及了缓冲区、堆、栈溢出、格式化字符串的编写等编程知识，网络嗅探、端口扫描、拒绝服务攻击等网络知识，以及信息论、密码破译、各种加密方法等密码学方面的知识。(Jon Erickson has a formal education in computer science and speaks frequently at computer security conferences around the world. He works as a cryptologist and security specialist in Northern California.)