This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends

Reviews

Part John le Carré and more parts Michael Crichton ... spellbinding. An intricately detailed, deeply sourced and reported history. Vivid and provocative. Told in an enthrallingly cinematic style . . . a stark, necessary, thoroughly reported reminder that no matter how strong the safe is, there’ll always be someone who can come along and crack it. Possibly the most important book of the year . . . Perlroth’s precise, lucid, and compelling presentation of mind-blowing disclosures about the underground arms race a must-read exposé. An engaging and troubling account of ‘zero-day exploits’ . . . This secretive market is difficult to penetrate, but Ms. Perlroth has dug deeper than most and chronicles her efforts wittily. [Perlroth] has delivered a five-alarm page turner that weighs the possibility of cyber-cataclysm. A masterful inside look at a highly profitable industry that was supposed to make us safer, but has ended up bringing us to the brink of the next world war. Takes a complex subject that has been cloaked in techspeak and makes it dead real for the rest of us. 100% gripping. For anyone interested in cybersecurity, whether as student, policymaker, or citizen, it is well worth your read. A rollicking fun trip, front to back, and an urgent call for action before our wired world spins out of our control. A whirlwind global tour that introduces us to the crazy characters and bizarre stories behind the struggle to control the internet. It would be unbelievable if it wasn't all so very true. The definitive history of cyberwarfare. A must-read tale of cloak-and-dagger mercenary hackers, digital weapons of mass destruction and clandestine, ne'er-do-well government agencies. Perlroth's intrepid reporting shows why the consequences could be frightening. Will keep you up at night, both unable to stop reading, and terrified for what the future holds. Nicole Perlroth tells a highly technical, gripping story as if over a beer at your favorite local dive bar. A page-turner. [A] wonderfully readable new book. Underlying everything Perlroth writes is the question of ethics: What is the right thing to do? Too many of the people she describes never seemed to think about that; their goals were short-term or selfish or both. A rip-roaring story of hackers and bug-sellers and spies that also looks at the deeper questions. The murky world of zero-day sales has remained in the shadows for decades, with few in the trade willing to talk about this critical topic. Nicole Perlroth has done a great job tracing the origin stories, coaxing practitioners into telling their fascinating tales, and explaining why it all matters. From one of the literati, a compelling tale of the digerati: Nicole Perlroth puts arresting faces on the clandestine government-sponsored elites using 1s and 0s to protect us or menace us—and profit. Usually, books like this are praised by saying that they read like a screenplay or a novel. Nicole Perlroth’s is better: her sensitivity to both technical issues and human behavior give this book an authenticity that makes its message—that cybersecurity issues threaten our privacy, our economy, and maybe our lives—even scarier. You MUST read this book—every word. Exposes the motivations and misgivings of the people helping governments hack into our devices. After Perlroth's incisive investigation, there's no excuse for ignoring the costs of the cyber arms race. Indeed, we are already deeply vulnerable. A powerful case for strong cybersecurity policy that reduces vulnerabilities while respecting civil rights. Lays bare the stark realities of disinformation, hacking, and software vulnerability that are the Achilles’ Heel of modern democracy. I work in this field as a scientist and technologist, and this book scared the bejesus out of me. Read it. Expand reviews