Cyber War: The Next Threat To National Security And What To Do About It (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This is one of those books you should read for its message, especially if you think that we're safe from cyber attack. Unfortunately the truth is far different, and it will likely stay that way indefinitely. Stated simply, if you're not afraid yet, you should be, and reading Richard Clarke's Cyber War should do just fine to repopulate your anxiety closet if it's been emptying out lately.Clarke is in a position to know what the real story is due to his recent government experience in the upper echelons of cyber defense. He presents his case for stronger defenses clearly, and without too much jargon. He also outlines not only current weaknesses of concern, but also the administrative and bureaucratic flaws that can lead as surely to vulnerabilities as technical gaps. A highlight for those interested in the nuts and bolts of cyber warfare are his readable details on how actual attacks (such as the US/Israeli - Stuxnet attack launched against Iran) were conducted, and how U.S. enemies could exploit similar weaknesses in our own defenses.Any book in an area as fast-moving as cyber security is itself vulnerable to becoming out of date quickly, but this one should hold up well for a number of years more, due to the fact that it focuses on fundamental weaknesses rather than the details of how individual exploits have been conducted. Considering Richard Clarke has held a variety of high-level government positions over the years including Counter-terrorism adviser to both Presidents Clinton and Bush and Cyber-security Czar to President Bush, he demonstrates a fairly strong grasp of the details of the technical security details of information technology in the book, Cyberwar. He reviews the cyberattacks on Estonia and Georgia as well as Stuxnet, vulnerabilities in the DNS system and the BGP protocol and does a good job of describing the guts of the Internet. This is not an overly technical book, but the range of his knowledge from strategic-level national and international cyber policy to low-level network and Internet operations is fairly impressive. Clarke reviews the debate and convoluted discussion about where in the United States the line of demarcation lies between the government's responsibility and authority to defend against cyber attacks and the responsibility of the private sector and individual citizens to protect themselves and be protected against an overarching, intrusive government. He covers a lot of the relevant buzzwords (e.g. What really is a hacker? What is meant by the term 'kinetic' with regards to warfare?) and discussed the various elements of the federal government that do and should have a role in actively defending the United States in cyberspace. I recommend a potential reader should look past his occasional snide political comment or unnecessary shot that he takes against individuals who he obviously doesn't like and consider picking up a copy of this book. It will give the reader a good baseline to get a grasp on the various aspects of modern cyberwarfare. Whether one is more technically-oriented such as a system/network administrator, programmer or penetration tester/ethical hacker who wants a good understanding of the bigger picture or one simply wants to get a grasp on the high-level issues, I recommend this book.
What do You think about Cyber War: The Next Threat To National Security And What To Do About It (2010)?
Sturdy, no FUD, written in layman's terms. Cyber War is bad, mmkay?
—Cupcake
Somewhat dull and dry, but an interesting look into future wars
—yolani
This book is sufficiently scaring the shit out of me.
—Thing_one
