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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
Very easy to read. An illuminating look at the battlefield of the 21st century. More importantly how we are not prepared for it. What we thought was science fiction and stuff of far fetched fiction is now a very feasible reality.
This is a terrific and terrifying review of the modern state of warfare. Sanger does a great job at providing a non biased account of the existence and use of cyber weapons in the digital age.
This reads more like a series of news articles than a cohesive book. The stories are well-reported and interesting, but didn’t seem to come together into a big picture.
Good overview of how cyber weapons have been employed and have changed over the last ~15 years, and how the US is currently falling behind other nations that see the lower cost and deniability of cyber weapons as a useful arm of their military.
The book discusses some major milestones of nation state attacks over the last two decades, from the time the US opened Pandora’s Box by hacking and destroying Iran’s nuclear centrifuges to Russia’s role in recent election tampering. The author argues that since cyber attacks are essentially bloodless, it’s difficult for governments to galvanize public opinions about fighting back. Moreover, governmental secrecy around what cyber weapons capabilities the US might have means that there is no obvious deterrence by show of force.
Aging bureaucrats who try to understand cyber weapons in the same framework as a new Cold War nuclear arms race are missing the point— and other nations are quickly moving to increase their capabilities in a new world where cyberwarfare is an ongoing fact of life (and one that most people are utterly unaware of). The author closes by arguing that the US needs to completely restructure how it acknowledges and responds to nation state cyber threats, while private companies and individuals need to take basic protective steps to guard themselves and their online assets.
The book discusses some major milestones of nation state attacks over the last two decades, from the time the US opened Pandora’s Box by hacking and destroying Iran’s nuclear centrifuges to Russia’s role in recent election tampering. The author argues that since cyber attacks are essentially bloodless, it’s difficult for governments to galvanize public opinions about fighting back. Moreover, governmental secrecy around what cyber weapons capabilities the US might have means that there is no obvious deterrence by show of force.
Aging bureaucrats who try to understand cyber weapons in the same framework as a new Cold War nuclear arms race are missing the point— and other nations are quickly moving to increase their capabilities in a new world where cyberwarfare is an ongoing fact of life (and one that most people are utterly unaware of). The author closes by arguing that the US needs to completely restructure how it acknowledges and responds to nation state cyber threats, while private companies and individuals need to take basic protective steps to guard themselves and their online assets.
Read for work. I enjoyed the chapters about the Russian hackers, Facebook and using social media as a kind of weapon against democracy — I would have read a whole
book about that.
book about that.
Well... That was a scary ride. A bit repetitive here and there, but almost reads as a exhilirating technothriller thtaCla'cy could've written.
It's a solid summary of the past few years of escalation cyber attacks but not a lot of new information that wasn't available if you had the basic nytimes articles that talked about these attacks. It also doesn't talk much about what technical limitations or why secure systems is hard it just talks about that it is hard.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Writing style is pompous. He also spends 20% of book on irrelevant political digressions.
• r e v i e w •
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“As we put autonomous cars on the road, connect Alexas to our homes, put ill-protected Internet-connected videos cameras, and conduct our financial lives over our cell phones, our vulnerabilities expand exponentially.” - David E. Sanger
.
The Perfect Weapon is an absolutely terrifying piece of literature which delves deeply into the rise of cyber warfare and how it has altered the lines of geopolitics, world economy, and even the everyday lives of civilians. Sanger largely focusses on the “Seven Sisters” of cyber conflict: The United States, Russia, China, Britain, Iran, Israel, and North Korea - how cyber conflict has expanded since the revelation of the American/Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear program. He explores how great and small powers alike have moved into a new era of constant sabotage, misinformation, and fear, in which everyone is a target. The message is alarming. "Rarely in human history has a new weapon been adapted with such speed, customised to fit so many different tasks, and exploited by so many nations to reshape their influence on global affairs," Sanger writes. He goes on that cyber weapons have the capability to "fry power grids, stop trains, silence cell phones, and overwhelm the internet".
.
If these doomsday scenarios are the future, the future is now. It is well-known that the US and Israel planted a computer virus, known by the code name "Stuxnet", into Iran's nuclear facilities, causing centrifuges to spin out of control, and setting back its nuclear program for years. Russia resorted to cyber war in Ukraine, as part of its conventional invasion. And, of course, Russia used cyber weapons to influence the 2016 US Presidential elections, as well as the Brexit vote. And this is just the tip of the iceberg covered by David Sanger. North Korea’s attack on Sony Pictures just to prove its point, or her swindling of nearly a billion dollars from Bangladesh – it felt like I was reading more of a sci-fi thriller. The fact that privacy is a myth and no-one is exonerated from the clutches of cyber war is far more than chilling. Whilst the book mostly covers about the clashes between the US and other governments, the reality that the lives of civilians are at stake as collateral is shocking and scary. The technological advancement in cyber warfare has improved so much that missiles can be disabled even before they can be fired. The personal e-mails, chats and files exchanged which are supposedly “encrypted” and “secure” are not as secure as it is claimed.
.
We are aware of the kind of traditional warfare where countries go to war at the borders with their guns blazing. Civilians are seldom directly involved. Quite recently, when the Chinese soldiers intruded across Indian borders which later led to a bloodbath, we were quite comfortably watching the news of Amitabh Bachchan being tested positive for COVID19. This safe haven doesn’t exist in the realm of cyber warfare. It is the scenario where our most intimate secrets that are safely locked and hidden in our mobile phones, laptops or hard disks et al can be easily erased or worse – stolen. The power supply to our homes be cut or our bank accounts can be emptied. It would take months to just figure out who the perpetrator was and almost impossible to undo the damages. In this new and expanding form of warfare, the civilians are the inevitable collateral damage. The book was well paced and the language used was crisp reflecting that Sanger has worked for three decades at The New York Times. “In the 21st century we have seen a toward blurring the lines between the states of war and peace. Wars are no longer declared and, having begun, proceed according to an unfamiliar template”, says David E. Sanger.
.
Is this book relevant to all? After reading, I have covered the camera of my laptop with a tape, strengthened my passwords and thoroughly assessed the permissions granted to various apps in my phone. That’s what The Perfect Weapon made me: cynical, cautious and importantly, aware about the dark reality of the digital world. The book is easily one of most thrilling and terrifying non-fiction books I have ever come across.
.
Rating : 4.7 / 5
.
“As we put autonomous cars on the road, connect Alexas to our homes, put ill-protected Internet-connected videos cameras, and conduct our financial lives over our cell phones, our vulnerabilities expand exponentially.” - David E. Sanger
.
The Perfect Weapon is an absolutely terrifying piece of literature which delves deeply into the rise of cyber warfare and how it has altered the lines of geopolitics, world economy, and even the everyday lives of civilians. Sanger largely focusses on the “Seven Sisters” of cyber conflict: The United States, Russia, China, Britain, Iran, Israel, and North Korea - how cyber conflict has expanded since the revelation of the American/Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear program. He explores how great and small powers alike have moved into a new era of constant sabotage, misinformation, and fear, in which everyone is a target. The message is alarming. "Rarely in human history has a new weapon been adapted with such speed, customised to fit so many different tasks, and exploited by so many nations to reshape their influence on global affairs," Sanger writes. He goes on that cyber weapons have the capability to "fry power grids, stop trains, silence cell phones, and overwhelm the internet".
.
If these doomsday scenarios are the future, the future is now. It is well-known that the US and Israel planted a computer virus, known by the code name "Stuxnet", into Iran's nuclear facilities, causing centrifuges to spin out of control, and setting back its nuclear program for years. Russia resorted to cyber war in Ukraine, as part of its conventional invasion. And, of course, Russia used cyber weapons to influence the 2016 US Presidential elections, as well as the Brexit vote. And this is just the tip of the iceberg covered by David Sanger. North Korea’s attack on Sony Pictures just to prove its point, or her swindling of nearly a billion dollars from Bangladesh – it felt like I was reading more of a sci-fi thriller. The fact that privacy is a myth and no-one is exonerated from the clutches of cyber war is far more than chilling. Whilst the book mostly covers about the clashes between the US and other governments, the reality that the lives of civilians are at stake as collateral is shocking and scary. The technological advancement in cyber warfare has improved so much that missiles can be disabled even before they can be fired. The personal e-mails, chats and files exchanged which are supposedly “encrypted” and “secure” are not as secure as it is claimed.
.
We are aware of the kind of traditional warfare where countries go to war at the borders with their guns blazing. Civilians are seldom directly involved. Quite recently, when the Chinese soldiers intruded across Indian borders which later led to a bloodbath, we were quite comfortably watching the news of Amitabh Bachchan being tested positive for COVID19. This safe haven doesn’t exist in the realm of cyber warfare. It is the scenario where our most intimate secrets that are safely locked and hidden in our mobile phones, laptops or hard disks et al can be easily erased or worse – stolen. The power supply to our homes be cut or our bank accounts can be emptied. It would take months to just figure out who the perpetrator was and almost impossible to undo the damages. In this new and expanding form of warfare, the civilians are the inevitable collateral damage. The book was well paced and the language used was crisp reflecting that Sanger has worked for three decades at The New York Times. “In the 21st century we have seen a toward blurring the lines between the states of war and peace. Wars are no longer declared and, having begun, proceed according to an unfamiliar template”, says David E. Sanger.
.
Is this book relevant to all? After reading, I have covered the camera of my laptop with a tape, strengthened my passwords and thoroughly assessed the permissions granted to various apps in my phone. That’s what The Perfect Weapon made me: cynical, cautious and importantly, aware about the dark reality of the digital world. The book is easily one of most thrilling and terrifying non-fiction books I have ever come across.
.
Rating : 4.7 / 5