This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race

About this book

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An intricately detailed deeply sourced and reported history of the origins and growth of the cyberweapons market . . . Hot propulsive . . . Sets out from the start to scare us out of our complacency New York Times A terrifying expos The Times Part John le Carr and more parts Michael Crichton . . . Spellbinding New Yorker Zero day: a software bug that allows a hacker to break in and scamper through the worlds computer networks invisibly until discovered. One of the most coveted tools in a spys arsenal a zero day has the power to tap into any iPhone dismantle safety controls at a chemical plant and shut down the power in an entire nation - just ask the Ukraine. Zero days are the blood diamonds of the security trade pursued by nation states defense contractors cybercriminals and security defenders alike. In this market governments arent regulators; they are clients - paying huge sums to hackers willing to turn over gaps in the Internet and stay silent about them. This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroths discovery unpacked. A intrepid journalist unravels an opaque code-driven market from the outside in - encountering spies hackers arms dealers mercenaries and a few unsung heroes along the way. As the stakes get higher and higher in the rush to push the worlds critical infrastructure online This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is the urgent and alarming discovery of one of the worlds most extreme threats.