Books like Battlefield Cyber: 100 fan favorites

By Michael McLaughlin, William J. Holstein,

Here are 100 books that Battlefield Cyber fans have personally recommended if you like Battlefield Cyber. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back

Michael Wolk

From my list on feed your internet paranoia.

Why am I passionate about this?

Researching DevilsGame, about an Internet meltdown caused by an unknown evil, I exposed myself to some harrowing truths. I learned how astonishingly frail our internet ecosystem is and how imperiled it is by bad actors who have burrowed deeply and often invisibly into its infrastructure. So, beyond writing a fictional thriller, I was moved to ring a warning bell! And I hope by formatting DevilsGame as “hyperlinked fiction,” mixing real news sites with fictional sites created for the novel, readers will experience the story in a way that parallels and parodies the way we experience real, live crises these days: navigating from fact to fiction, often without observing the boundaries.

Michael's book list on feed your internet paranoia

Michael Wolk Why did Michael love this book?

The most philosophical of my recommendations, I found this book wonderfully heartening because it places the responsibility for understanding and responding to the negative impacts of our internet-driven era firmly in our own hands.

Ward made me realize that I am (along with the multitudes!) a victim of “the Loop, “ which is when our unconscious tendencies feed into the business and cultural forces working hard and happily “to convince us we’re making independent choices when we’re doing the opposite.”

I was grateful for Ward's suggestions for becoming self-aware and freeing ourselves—and our futures—from the “shrinking choices” imposed by the Loop.

By Jacob Ward,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Loop as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"The best book I have ever read about AI." -Roger McNamee, New York Times bestselling author of Zucked
Artificial intelligence is going to change the world as we know it. But the real danger isn't some robot that's going to enslave us: It's our own brain. Our brains are constantly making decisions using shortcuts, biases, and hidden processes-and we're using those same techniques to create technology that makes choices for us. In The Loop, award-winning science journalist Jacob Ward reveals how we are poised to build all of our worst instincts into our AIs, creating a narrow loop where each…


Book cover of Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers

Michael Wolk

From my list on feed your internet paranoia.

Why am I passionate about this?

Researching DevilsGame, about an Internet meltdown caused by an unknown evil, I exposed myself to some harrowing truths. I learned how astonishingly frail our internet ecosystem is and how imperiled it is by bad actors who have burrowed deeply and often invisibly into its infrastructure. So, beyond writing a fictional thriller, I was moved to ring a warning bell! And I hope by formatting DevilsGame as “hyperlinked fiction,” mixing real news sites with fictional sites created for the novel, readers will experience the story in a way that parallels and parodies the way we experience real, live crises these days: navigating from fact to fiction, often without observing the boundaries.

Michael's book list on feed your internet paranoia

Michael Wolk Why did Michael love this book?

I found myself catching my breath as I read this riveting nonfiction tale chronicling "perhaps the first true, wide-scale cyberwar in history,” launched by the hacker group now known as Sandworm.

I was thrilled to be swept along on the high-stakes hunt for an “invisible force….striking out from an unknown origin to sabotage, on a massive scale, the technologies that underpin civilization,” and I was gratified by the meticulous tracing, tracking, and revelation of the Russian villains of Sandworm.

By Andy Greenberg,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Sandworm as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"With the nuance of a reporter and the pace of a thriller writer, Andy Greenberg gives us a glimpse of the cyberwars of the future while at the same time placing his story in the long arc of Russian and Ukrainian history." —Anne Applebaum, bestselling author of Twilight of Democracy

The true story of the most devastating act of cyberwarfare in history and the desperate hunt to identify and track the elite Russian agents behind it: "[A] chilling account of a Kremlin-led cyberattack, a new front in global conflict" (Financial Times).

In 2014, the world witnessed the start of a…


Book cover of Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World

Michael Wolk

From my list on feed your internet paranoia.

Why am I passionate about this?

Researching DevilsGame, about an Internet meltdown caused by an unknown evil, I exposed myself to some harrowing truths. I learned how astonishingly frail our internet ecosystem is and how imperiled it is by bad actors who have burrowed deeply and often invisibly into its infrastructure. So, beyond writing a fictional thriller, I was moved to ring a warning bell! And I hope by formatting DevilsGame as “hyperlinked fiction,” mixing real news sites with fictional sites created for the novel, readers will experience the story in a way that parallels and parodies the way we experience real, live crises these days: navigating from fact to fiction, often without observing the boundaries.

Michael's book list on feed your internet paranoia

Michael Wolk Why did Michael love this book?

I found the gist of this powerful book to best summed up by former National Cybersecurity Center director Rod Beckstrom's maxim: (1) anything connected to the Internet can be hacked; (2) everything is being connected to the Internet; (3) as a result, everything is becoming vulnerable.

I was shocked by the harrowing detail with which the author demonstrates our vulnerabilities: Our medical and financial information is potentially held hostage by our internet connectivity, as evidenced by innumerable ransomware attacks worldwide, and the internet dependence of our utilities, our factories, our ports, and our military imperils our physical existence. 

I also took away powerful insights offered by Schneider, who blames "surveillance capitalism" for an internet that has gotten out of control and provides practical pathways for re-establishing our control.

By Bruce Schneier,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Click Here to Kill Everybody as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

We have created the ultimate hive-mind robot: an Internet of interconnected devices that senses, thinks and acts. Bruce Schneier calls it the "World-Sized Web". It includes everything from driverless cars to smart thermostats, from billboards that respond to specific people to drones equipped with their own behavioural algorithms. While the World-Sized Web carries enormous potential, Schneier argues that we are unprepared for the vulnerabilities it brings. Cutting-edge digital attackers can now crash your car, pacemaker and home security system and everyone else's.

Click Here to Kill Everybody explores the risks and security implications of the World-Sized Web and lays out…


Book cover of Meganets

Michael Wolk

From my list on feed your internet paranoia.

Why am I passionate about this?

Researching DevilsGame, about an Internet meltdown caused by an unknown evil, I exposed myself to some harrowing truths. I learned how astonishingly frail our internet ecosystem is and how imperiled it is by bad actors who have burrowed deeply and often invisibly into its infrastructure. So, beyond writing a fictional thriller, I was moved to ring a warning bell! And I hope by formatting DevilsGame as “hyperlinked fiction,” mixing real news sites with fictional sites created for the novel, readers will experience the story in a way that parallels and parodies the way we experience real, live crises these days: navigating from fact to fiction, often without observing the boundaries.

Michael's book list on feed your internet paranoia

Michael Wolk Why did Michael love this book?

I was impressed by the way author Auerbach distills what has changed in our relationship with the internet over the past 20 years: there has been a gradual but momentous shift from “search” on the web” to “recommendations” offered by the web. Initially, we searched for what we were interested in–but now, networks tell us what we are interested in!

Auerbach defines the meganet as that “new creature…born [to] manage the data boom and absorb, filter, and recommend it,” and I was sobered by his graphic warning of the dangers that emerge from “off-loading our decision-making” to the internet.

By David B. Auerbach,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Meganets as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How the autonomous digital forces jolting our lives - as uncontrollable as the weather and plate tectonics - are transforming life, society, culture, and politics.

David Auerbach's exploration of the phenomenon he has identified as the meganet begins with a simple, startling revelation: There is no hand on the tiller of some of the largest global digital forces that influence our daily lives: from corporate sites such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, YouTube, Instagram, and Reddit to the burgeoning metaverse encompassing cryptocurrencies and online gaming to government systems such as China's Social Credit System and India's Aadhaar.

As we increasingly integrate…


Book cover of Lights Out: A Cyberattack: A Nation Unprepared: Surviving the Aftermath

Christopher J. Lynch Author Of Dark State

From my list on electrical grid vulnerabilities and our survival.

Why am I passionate about this?

I worked as an industrial electrician for over two decades. At one point during a meeting to discuss an upcoming project, a question was posed about the delivery time of a specific piece of equipment. When the answer was given that it would be about a year away, it got me thinking: what if a specialized piece of equipment—critical to the grid and with an equally long lead time—was destroyed, how would the grid survive? More importantly; how would we survive? That single statement was the spark that ignited the fire in me to learn all about the grid, and to write Dark State.   

Christopher's book list on electrical grid vulnerabilities and our survival

Christopher J. Lynch Why did Christopher love this book?

Lights Out is another great non-fiction book about electrical grid vulnerabilities. Koppel also spotlights High Power Transformers as the Achilles Heel of our electrical system 

But Koppel also does a deep dive on the survivability—or rather lack thereof, of our society if the grid were to be taken down. He even broke down various social classes of people: rural versus urban, and talked about how each group would survive based upon their skillsets and resources available to them. FYI: Ranchers fare best

He even discussed the amazing organization the Mormon Church has put together with regards to the preparedness of each of their members, as well as how they would leverage their collective strengths together as a group.

By Ted Koppel,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Lights Out as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Ted Koppel reveals that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid is not only possible but likely, that it would be devastating, and that the United States is shockingly unprepared.

“Fascinating, frightening, and beyond timely.”—Anderson Cooper

Imagine a blackout lasting not days, but weeks or months. Tens of millions of people over several states are affected. For those without access to a generator, there is no running water, no sewage, no refrigeration or light. Food and medical supplies are dwindling. Devices we rely on have gone dark. Banks no longer function, looting is widespread, and…


Book cover of Spymaster's Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression

Jim Popkin Author Of Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy--And the Sister She Betrayed

From my list on nonfiction spy books to read in one day.

Why am I passionate about this?

I covered the FBI and CIA for years, first as a print reporter in Washington and then as the head of the NBC News investigative unit. So I have covered my fair share of spy scandals, and with my colleague Pete Williams helped NBC break the story of Robert Hanssen’s arrest. I was immediately drawn to the Ana Montes Cuba spy story when it broke and then learned that Montes had bought her condo from my close friend and college roommate, John. That meant I had spent hours inside Ana’s DC apartment, and that odd connection rooted me in her story in a deeper way.  

Jim's book list on nonfiction spy books to read in one day

Jim Popkin Why did Jim love this book?

Jack Devine is the former acting director of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, and ran covert ops that drove the Russians out of Afghanistan. In this book, he shows how the Russians have undermined our democracy for decades and how they’ve now weaponized cyberspace, too. It’s an alarming wake-up call from a true American spymaster. 

I have gotten to know Jack over the years, and have gotten a first-hand glimpse at how clever he must have been running secret operations in some of the world’s scariest neighborhoods. Not a guy to ever underestimate; his books are as fascinating as Jack himself.

By Jack Devine,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Spymaster's Prism as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Spymaster's Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression legendary former spymaster Jack Devine aims to ignite public discourse on our country's intelligence and counterintelligence posture against Russia, among other adversaries. Spymasters are not spies - their mission is to run and handle spies and spy networks. They exist in virtually all sophisticated intelligence services around the world, including the more high-profile services like the CIA, SVR, SIS, MSS, VAJA and Mossad. Without exception, these spymasters are highly trained and broadly experienced top-level government officials who are at the heart of the intelligence business. They make the life and death decisions.…


Book cover of The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age

Sean McFate Author Of The New Rules of War: How America Can Win--Against Russia, China, and Other Threats

From my list on mercenaries from a former military contractor.

Why am I passionate about this?

Dr. Sean McFate is an expert on international relations and a former military contractor. He is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington DC think tank, and a professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Syracuse University's Maxwell School, and the National Defense University. He began his career as a paratrooper and officer in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division. 

Sean's book list on mercenaries from a former military contractor

Sean McFate Why did Sean love this book?

There are cyber mercenaries too. Called “hackback” companies, they are illegal, offshore hackers who hack the hackers. While they cannot retrieve hacked material, they can cause a world of hurt for anyone who tries to hack you, and that’s why they matter: deterrence. CEOs and others around the world sometimes turn to hackback firms to make them hard targets. Also, countries like the United Arab Emirates hire former NSA hackers. New York Times reporter details some of this industry in his book about cyberwar. Like many in cyberspace, his claims are often sensationalized, but his reportage cannot be beat.

By David E. Sanger,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Perfect Weapon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From Russia's tampering with the US election to the WannaCry hack that temporarily crippled the NHS, cyber has become the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists.

Cheap to acquire, easily deniable, and used for a variety of malicious purposes - from crippling infrastructure to sowing discord and doubt - cyberweapons are re-writing the rules of warfare. In less than a decade, they have displaced terrorism and nuclear missiles as the biggest immediate threat to international security and to democracy.

Here, New York Times correspondent David E. Sanger takes us from the White House Situation Room to the dens…


Book cover of Cyber Attacks: Protecting National Infrastructure

Jennifer L. Bayuk Author Of Enterprise Security for the Executive: Setting the Tone from the Top

From my list on cybersecurity for every type of reader.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a cybersecurity risk management thought leader and subject matter expert with hands-on experience in managing and measuring large-scale cybersecurity programs, system security architecture, cybersecurity tools and techniques, cybersecurity forensics, audit of information systems and networks, and technology control processes. I have spent my career educating others in cybersecurity, mostly because it has always been necessary to educate staff; and colleagues soon recognized that I was easily able to handle the transition from staff training to external classroom environments. But my main motivation for external cybersecurity education is to get feedback from the cybersecurity professional community on my approaches to today’s cybersecurity issues.

Jennifer's book list on cybersecurity for every type of reader

Jennifer L. Bayuk Why did Jennifer love this book?

Amoroso’s experience started with academic research at Bell Labs and Stevens Institute of Technology but moved quickly to practically fill voids at AT&T and NSA. His book reduces technical concepts in cybersecurity to basic principles and explains generically how they are effectively implemented. For the true techy who wants to fully understand all the formal logic behind the theories in Cyber Attacks, reach back to Ed Amoroso’s Fundamentals of Computer Security Technology (1994). 

By Edward Amoroso,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cyber Attacks as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Cyber Attacks takes the national debate on protecting critical infrastructure in an entirely new and fruitful direction. It initiates an intelligent national (and international) dialogue amongst the general technical community around proper methods for reducing national risk. This includes controversial themes such as the deliberate use of deception to trap intruders. It also serves as an attractive framework for a new national strategy for cyber security, something that several Presidential administrations have failed in attempting to create. In addition, nations other than the US might choose to adopt the framework as well.

This book covers cyber security policy development for…


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

Steve Vigdor Author Of Signatures of the Artist: The Vital Imperfections That Make Our Universe Habitable

From my list on science that should inform public policy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been passionate about science as a way of learning how nature works and approaching truth since I was a pre-teen. After five decades of basic research, teaching, and management in physics, I can distinguish good science from pseudoscience even beyond my own areas of expertise. I am greatly disturbed by attempts to undermine science in public policy-making when its findings conflict with ideology, religious beliefs, or business bottom lines. My passion project, via my blog debunkingdenial.com, is to explain to teachers and the public the underlying science and the flaws in science denial across a wide range of topics at the interface with public policy. 

Steve's book list on science that should inform public policy

Steve Vigdor Why did Steve love this book?

I love this book because Perlroth chronicles the proliferation of cyberweapons, which began in the hands of mischievous young hackers exploiting vulnerabilities in widely used software. Once some of those hackers joined the NSA, their tools were developed into sophisticated weapons to undercut technological developments in enemy states like Iran.

Once NSA’s hacks leaked to the wider world, they spawned an arms race and fueled rampant criminal ransomware attacks on vulnerable institutions. Informed by Perlroth’s book, I see a future in which dwindling human fertility and the ballooning costs of advanced weaponry will enhance the military role of cyber-attacks, leading to Mutually Assured Cyber Destruction, in which many countries have cyberweapons deeply embedded in the critical infrastructure of their adversaries, just waiting to activate them.

By Nicole Perlroth,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award * Bronze Medal, Arthur Ross Book Award (Council on Foreign Relations)

"Written in the hot, propulsive prose of a spy thriller" (The New York Times), the untold story of the cyberweapons market-the most secretive, government-backed market on earth-and a terrifying first look at a new kind of global warfare.

Zero-day: a software bug that allows a hacker to break into your devices and move around undetected. One of the most coveted tools in a spy's arsenal, a zero-day has the power…


Book cover of The Eye of Minds

Randy C. Dockens Author Of Myeem

From my list on science fiction stories of amazing worlds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by science fiction and by Biblical Scripture. That may seem dichotomous to some, but not to me. I have a passion for science and for Scripture because both bring understanding about our world from the microcosm to the macrocosm. My writings are a mixture of science and mystery with a science fiction feel and a Christian perspective. I like stories that show how truth arises even from the dark, confusing, and ambiguity of life to help one discover something about God they may not have considered before, and at the same time enjoy a fun, fast-paced, and exciting journey as they read.

Randy's book list on science fiction stories of amazing worlds

Randy C. Dockens Why did Randy love this book?

While not science fiction in the classical sense, it is a story of a different kind of world where virtual reality and reality blur. The main character almost lives in a virtual reality gaming program, but when he is to do something in the real world, he finds he can’t really tell the two apart and that leads to grave consequences.

By James Dashner,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Eye of Minds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

From James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, comes an edge-of-your seat adventure. The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine, a series set in a world of hyper advanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams ...and your worst nightmares. To catch a hacker, you need a hacker. For Michael and the other gamers, the VirtNet can make your wildest fantasies become real. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Who wants to play by the rules anyway? But some rules were made for a…


Book cover of The Loop: How Technology is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back
Book cover of Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers
Book cover of Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World

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