I have worked in cybersecurity for over 20 years and think it’s one of the most important topics in our modern world. Everyone needs to be secure–from young kids to elderly people avoiding online scams. As a practicing Chief Security Officer, I work with security technology and people every day, and I’m getting to live my childhood dream of being a writer helping people understand these complex challenges. Security is a part of the foundation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and allows everyone to live up to their full potential as humans. People are the most important part of security, and you don’t need a degree in computer science to be cyber secure.
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…
Before the Internet became widely known as a global tool for terrorists, one perceptive U.S. citizen recognized its ominous potential. Armed with clear evidence of computer espionage, he began a highly personal quest to expose a hidden network of spies that threatened national security. But would the authorities back him up? Cliff Stoll's dramatic firsthand account is "a computer-age detective story, instantly fascinating [and] astonishingly gripping" (Smithsonian).
Cliff Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab when a 75-cent accounting error alerted him to the presence of an unauthorized user on his system. The hacker's code name…
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.
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.
"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).
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.
It is a reporter’s account of a cybersecurity entrepreneur stumbling into criminal and nation-state level cyberattacks, assisting in the investigation, and ultimately becoming a target. The writing is clear and accessible to the non-technical reader but it still conveys a good sense of what it is like to witness and investigate cyber-crime. It is a suspenseful human drama.
In 2004, a California computer whiz named Barrett Lyon uncovered the identity of a hacker running major assaults on business websites. Without fully grasping the repercussions, he set on an investigation that led him into the heart of the Russian mob. Cybercrime was evolving. No longer the domain of small-time thieves, it had been discovered by sophisticated gangs. They began by attacking corporate websites but increasingly stole financial data from consumers and defence secrets from governments. While Barrett investigated the cutting edge of technology crime, the U.S. government struggled to catch up. Britain, however, was a different story. In the…
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.
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.
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…
I realised in my twenties that there were millions of people who desperately needed advice about their money but could not afford an accountant or an adviser. Since then my passion has been to simplify the deliberately complex financial world, explain the obscure and often unintelligible rules about tax, childcare, benefits, investment, savings, and borrowing. Recently as the tsunami of fraud has swept across the UK I have devoted more time to help people avoid losing money to scammers – both criminal and respectable. Most people can’t afford professional advice, but they can afford me – I’m freely available in print, on air, and online.
Fraud is now 40% of all crime. It is the crime we are most likely to come across. Yet the authorities seem powerless to stop it. This book explains how frauds work and, armed with that knowledge, how to prevent them happening to you. Doug has years of experience and understands the world of fraud as well as any fraudster. Read it and keep safe.
Email protection, PayPal security, web browser attacks... how to prevent cybercrime and protect your digital self from being a target of scammers.
Not all frauds require your participation. Whilst scams require you to fall for their ruse, other frauds occur in the background completely without your knowledge or consent, such as identity theft.
Whilst millennials and the elderly are statistically at a higher risk, due to lack of life experience or technological advancements, fraudsters often actively target business owners aged between 30-60 as they often have better credit ratings. Even high-ranking police officers and fraud specialists have fallen victim. Anyone…
Jeremy N. Smith is the author of three acclaimed narrative non-fiction books, including Breaking and Entering, about a female hacker called “Alien” and the birth of our information insecurity age. He has written for The Atlantic, Discover, Slate, and the New York Times, among other outlets, and he and his work have been featured by CNN, NPR, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, and Wired. He hosts The Hacker Next Door podcast and lives in Missoula, Montana.
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.
In this "intriguing, insightful and extremely educational" novel, the world's most famous hacker teaches you easy cloaking and counter-measures for citizens and consumers in the age of Big Brother and Big Data (Frank W. Abagnale).
Kevin Mitnick was the most elusive computer break-in artist in history. He accessed computers and networks at the world's biggest companies -- and no matter how fast the authorities were, Mitnick was faster, sprinting through phone switches, computer systems, and cellular networks. As the FBI's net finally began to tighten, Mitnick went on the run, engaging in an increasingly sophisticated game of hide-and-seek that escalated…
The prevention of money laundering caught my attention, and at that time, with so little information on the market, I decided to write my first book so that more people can protect themselves from this crime. I have a gift: explain complicated topics in an easy way. This has helped me to write several articles on different topics in international magazines. I’m a passionate-effective trainer who believes that helping people to grow helps to make this world better. It’s my legacy! I like to do the right thing; take this as a reliable fact: I consult my own book and articles written. I hope to help you grow too!
I worked at Arthur Andersen, and I was selected to be among the few teams that started to understand, learn, and apply risk assessments or business risk management methodology. In this book, I came across these concepts again, which are vital to identifying where the risk of money laundering and any other crime may occur. In addition, this book also includes useful information to be considered in the compliance program and how fraud and corruption are related to money laundering. It's a book that provides solid knowledge.
Praise for Managing the Risk of Fraud and Misconduct: Meeting the Challenge of a Global, Regulated, and Digital Environment
"This book belongs on any desk where fraud and misconduct threaten. It is bristling with the kind of detail this field truly needs. Written by leading pros at the top of their game, its soup-to-nuts advice matches solutions to problems. Read it once to gain broad insight; come back again and again to manage particular risks." Thomas Donaldson, Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics,Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
"A valuable road map for corporate fraud fighters in an…
I’m the Head of Trend and Innovation Scouting for Nokia, and I’ve been with the company since the glory days of Nokia mobile phone world dominance. I know first-hand what happens when a company focuses exclusively on the technology, not the humans that use it, and how quickly that can lead to disaster. One of the lessons that I see repeated continuously in the field of innovation is that a huge amount of attention gets paid to the new technology, and not nearly enough on how the technology will interact with our existing systems, beliefs, attitudes, and culture. Learning from the mistakes is the best way to make sure that the future doesn’t repeat them!
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!)
Scattered across the world, an elite team of code-cracking techies is working tirelessly on your behalf to thwart the most notorious cyber scourge of our time. You've probably never heard of them. But if you work for a school, a business, a hospital, or a municipal government, especially if its cybersecurity is imperfect, chances are that you're painfully familiar with the group's sworn enemy: ransomware. Again and again, these ordinary people, mostly self-taught and often struggling to make ends meet, have outwitted the shadowy networks of hackers and criminal gangs that lock computer networks and extort huge payments in return…
I have been fortunate to have spent the last 40 years of my professional life dealing with new networks and new technology. From the early days of cable television and mobile communications to the development of digital video and the transmission of data over cable lines and satellite. It was a career topped off with the privilege of being the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with regulatory responsibly for approximately 1/6th of the American economy (on which the other 5/6s depended).
Microsoft president Brad Smith’s thoughtful book is basically about responsibility in the digital age.
Smith takes an approach that is different from most corporate executive books in that he calls out the threats represented by digital technology his company is built on rather than trying to sugarcoat them.
Then he suggests responsible steps that everyone – individuals, public policy, and companies like his – should take to mitigate those threats.
The New York Times bestseller, now updated with new material on cyber attacks, digital sovereignty, and tech in a pandemic.
From Microsoft's president and one of the tech industry's broadest thinkers, a frank and thoughtful reckoning with how to balance enormous promise and existential risk as the digitization of everything accelerates.
"A colorful and insightful insiders' view of how technology is both empowering and threatening us. From privacy to cyberattacks, this timely book is a useful guide for how to navigate the digital future." -Walter Isaacson
Microsoft president Brad Smith operates by a simple core belief: When your technology changes…
I have been an information technology and cybersecurity professional for over two decades. I’ve learned over and over again that “people are the weakest link.” You can build the most secure system in the world, with stringent password requirements. But if the user writes their password down and leaves it where someone else can see it, system security is irrelevant! The easiest way to gain access to a system is via “social engineering” – to trick a human being into giving you the access you need, rather than trying to hack the systemitself. The books on this list will help the reader lower their chances of being exploited like this.
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?
Online security and data privacy is one of the most pressing yet misunderstood issues of our time.
Today we use the internet to shop, work, learn, and be entertained. At the same time, we leave a trail that others can use to steal from us, assume our identity to commit crimes in our names, and hack our computers. If you ever felt helpless because governments and corporations can’t protect themselves with all their resources, then this book is for you. The vast majority of fraud and cybercrime can be stopped with basic knowledge about how your data is collected and…
