A surprising, page-turning account of how the wars of the future are already being fought today
The United States military currently views cyberspace as the "fifth domain" of warfare—alongside land, sea, air, and space—and the Department of Defense, National Security Agency, and CIA all field teams of hackers who can—and do—launch computer virus strikes against enemy targets. In fact, as @War shows, US hackers were crucial to our victory in Iraq.
Shane Harris delves into the front lines of America's new cyberwar. As recent revelations have shown, government agencies are joining with tech giants like Google and Facebook to collect vast amounts of information. The military has also formed a new alliance with tech and finance companies to patrol cyberspace, and Harris offers a deeper glimpse into this partnership than we have ever seen before. Finally, Harris explains what the new cybersecurity regime means for all of us who spend our daily lives bound to the Internet—and are vulnerable to its dangers.
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“Stephen R. Thorne’s strong voice guides listeners through the multifaceted challenges and opportunities that the Internet has created for the military. His clarity and projection help with the complicated passages as Harris dives into technical, legal, and political discussions. Harris touts the successes and importance of the military’s hacking capabilities while simultaneously expressing concern over proven and potential abuses. Thorne conveys Harris’s concerns without overdramatizing and helps listeners focus on salient details through emphasis. He also amends his voice just enough to indicate when he’s reading a quote.”
— AudioFile
“A great overview of our new cyberfronts. Unlike most books about cyberwar, this one is enjoyably readable. At times it feels like a modern spy novel, but it is a guide to tomorrow’s headlines.”
— Thomas E. Ricks, New York Times bestselling author“A remarkable achievement. Harris uses dogged shoe-leather reporting to take us deep inside the government’s surveillance and cyber operations to give an unsparing look at what the NSA and other agencies are really doing with all our data. In the age of abstract Snowden documents, @War actually introduces us to the people running America’s electronic spying machine and offers invaluable insights into how their ambition and turf battles impact our financial security, our privacy, and our freedom.”
— James Risen, New York Times bestselling author of State of War“Chilling…Extraordinary and urgent.”
— Washington Post“Unsettling . . . Deeply informative.
— Christian Science Monitor“With a cast of characters straight out of contemporary spy thrillers, @War untangles the many acronym-laden agencies and their ‘inscrutably’ named initiatives and presents a history of the American government’s fifth dimension of warfare (after land, sea, air, and space)…This very lively overview…[is] a convincing and unnerving story of the current state of cyber-defense and the likely threat of cyberwar.”
— Shelf Awareness“Readers will squirm as they learn how every communications enterprise cooperates with the national security establishment. Harris delivers a convincing account of the terrible cyberdisasters that loom and the intrusive nature of the fight to prevent them.”
— Publishers Weekly“A significant issue for the nation’s economy and security…The research resources consist of articles, books, and government publications, supplemented by many interviews with experts in this subject…Cybercrime and warfare is a hot topic for the general public as well as students and faculty, so this should be considered for all readers.”
— Library Journal“Account of how the US military joined forces with the National Security Agency to develop ‘cyber warfare’ capabilities, monitoring America’s enemies and its citizens alike…A well-researched overview.”
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Shane Harris is the author of The Watchers: The Rise of America’s Surveillance State, which won the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism and was named one of the best books of 2010 by the Economist. Harris won the 2010 Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense. He is currently senior writer at Foreign Policy magazine and an ASU fellow at the New America Foundation, where he researches the future of war. Previously, he was senior writer at the Washingtonian, and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Slate, Daily Beast, Washington Post, and numerous other publications. He has provided analysis and commentary for CNN, NPR, the BBC, and many other media organizations.
Stephen R. Thorne, winner of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards for narration, is a professional actor and member of the resident acting company at Providence’s esteemed Trinity Repertory Company, where he has played Hamlet, Henry V, and Tom Joad.