100 books like Fatal System Error

The first person to ever catch a hacker wasn’t an FBI or CIA agent. It was an astronomer, and his name was Clifford Stoll. This book is a biographical account of how he took on a German hacker who was selling secrets to the KGB in the 1980s. I love this book because it shows how anyone can play a role in cybersecurity.

As a kid, I watched the TV adaptation of the book for PBS’s NOVA program and went into cybersecurity in large part because of Stoll. Because cybersecurity wasn’t a profession at the time, Stoll created his own innovative techniques, like building the first computer honeypot to help catch the hacker in action. When his book was made into a PBS documentary, as a thank you for putting up with him and all the crazy things he had to do to track the hacker, he had all of… show more.

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.

The book portrays a scenario in which nation-state adversaries launch a sophisticated cyberattack against the United States. Though it is science fiction, the political scenario it depicts is a realistic description of how today’s nation-states consider technology options when they are engaged in traditional war. For people interested in cybersecurity and attracted to that genre, it will be an eye-opening experience because the basic scenarios it describes are very easy to project into the near future. It is also a tale of adventure.

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). 

Ever wondered what Russian hackers have been up to over the last few years? I found this a really sobering read, but at the same time, I loved hearing the stories of the people who work so hard to keep us safe.

Hackers are usually pretty big nerds, so it’s not really surprising that the title of this book comes from how cybercriminals embedded references to Frank Herbert’s book Dune into the code they used to carry out cyberattacks against Ukraine and other countries.

Stepping away from the topic of immersive technology, The Ransomware Hunting Team instead looks at the realities of cybercrime in the US, and why especially our government infrastructure has such a hard time fighting it effectively. 

Like all the other books on my list, it’s an examination of what happens when the rubber meets the road with a new technology, and how we humans often just aren’t very good at adapting to change.  

Part of the key problem is that hackers – including the white hat hackers that you want on your side to bring down the bad guys – tend not to be social animals, and our official organizations are far happier hiring a smiling guy in a suit than a scowling nerd who would rather work from his dark bedroom at home.  (Apologies for the stereotypes, but – this really is a problem!) 

This book is an absorbing… show more.

A famous hacker’s real-life story, told from his own perspective, Ghost in the Wires explains how criminal hackers think and act and the diverse techniques they use, no keyboard necessary—all, in this case, with little motive beyond a compulsion to explore and exploit. The hacking community has no bigger characters than Kevin Mitnick and no better first-person accounts of the art of “social engineering,” or human hacking—manipulating people (including, in Mitnick’s case, the FBI and other would-be pursuers) to your own advantage.

SafeCyberHome focuses on understanding how corporations and governments collect and use our personal data. The book also gives strategies for opting out of this data collection whenever possible. And, where it is not possible to opt-out, the book gives clear explanations on why we should be as restrictive with our personal data as possible. Vancannon uses an example similar to one from my own book: if someone is really determined to get your data, they will. But if they’re just looking for an easy target, and you’re not one, they’ll move on. Same reason you lock your front door – a determined master thief can defeat even the best lock, if they really want to – but do you want to make your house the easiest target on the block?

Ah, Dan Brown. Love him or hate him, he’s a paragon of the modern thriller. Let’s go way back to 1998. It was pre-DaVinci Code, and he released his first novel, Digital Fortress. For the time period, it was a unique idea. A woman cryptologist at the NSA gets embroiled in a high-stakes murder mystery and the only way through is to solve the code. There are a lot of issues with this book, primarily that the author couldn’t be bothered to check his work and misuses bits and bytes throughout the whole novel which makes the code-breaking premise ridiculous. But to be fair, this was 1998 and for a first novel, it’s still a fun ride. So, if you’re a Dan Brown fan or love a fast-paced easy read give it a try. If you have even a basic understanding of how encryption works you may… show more.

Gary McGraw has been an advocate for the importance of developing secure software during the more than 15 years that I have known him, and before that! He has written a number of books, but this one captures his philosophy on how to develop secure software. It’s an excellent resource for practitioners and management.