As cyber-attacks dominate front-page news, as hackers join the list of global threats, and as top generals warn of a coming cyber war, few books are more timely and enlightening than Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War by Slate columnist and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Fred Kaplan.
Kaplan probes the inner corridors of the National Security Agency, the beyond-top-secret cyber units in the Pentagon, the “information warfare” squads of the military services, and the national security debates in the White House to tell this never-before-told story of the officers, policymakers, scientists, and spies who devised this new form of warfare and who have been planning—and, more often than people know, fighting—these wars for decades.
From the 1991 Gulf War to conflicts in Haiti, Serbia, Syria, the former Soviet republics, Iraq, and Iran, where cyber warfare played a significant role, Dark Territory chronicles, in fascinating detail, an unknown past that shines an unsettling light on our future.
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“Kaplan draws from conversations with prominent American government leaders, including former directors of the National Security Agency, to deliver a behind-the-scenes look at policy formulation over the last several decades…Anything we can do, he argues, adversaries could replicate or learn to do better. The book traces the United States’ advances in cybersecurity, and Kaplan concludes that though a fair amount of effort is put into developing cyberoffenses, less is focused on protecting the country from potential attacks.
— New York Times
“A book that grips, informs, and alarms, finely researched and lucidly related.”
— John le Carré, #1 New York Times bestselling author“This is a vitally important book.”
— Ted Koppel, New York Times bestsellilng author“Everyone has heard the term ‘cyber warfare.’ Very few people could explain exactly what it means and why it matters. Dark Territory solves that problem with an account that is both fascinating and authoritative.”
— Atlantic“A rich, behind-the-headlines history of our government’s efforts to make policy for the jaw-dropping vulnerabilities of our ever-increasing dependence on computers…reminiscent of Bob Woodward’s behind-the-scenes books.”
— Washington Independent Review of Books“An important, disturbing, and gripping history arguing convincingly that, as of 2015, no defense exists against a resourceful cyberattack.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Kaplan’s well-sourced history gives readers much to ponder.”
— Booklist“Narrator Malcolm Hillgartner has the kind of deep, ominous voice this audiobook demands…Hillgartner varies his voice enough to keep the book moving, delivering this exhaustive report as a spy novel whose plot is still developing. It’s a warning—and Hillgartner makes sure we get the message.”
— AudioFile“A fascinating account of the people and organizations leading the way towards a cyber-war future.”
— Dorothy E. Denning, author of Information Warfare and SecurityFred Kaplan is the national-security columnist for Slate and the author of six books, including the bestselling The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has also written many articles on politics and culture for the New York Times, Washington Post, New York magazine, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and other publications. He graduated from Oberlin College and has a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Malcolm Hillgartner is an accomplished actor, writer, and musician. Named an AudioFile Best Voice of 2013 and the recipient of several Earphones Awards, he has narrated over 250 audiobooks.