@War

September 8, 2014
Cyber-espionage is the “single most productive means of gathering information about our country’s adversaries,” writes Harris (The Watchers: The Rise of America’s Surveillance State), senior writer for Foreign Policy, in this unnerving exposé. After 9/11, the National Security Administration (NSA), the nation’s global information-gathering agency, submitted a wish list to the Bush administration. It was approved and the “military-Internet complex was born.” According to Harris, electronic eavesdropping was fundamental to 2007’s Iraq surge and the NSA located Osama bin Laden through spyware planted in his operatives’ mobile phones. On the other hand, Chinese hackers have stolen important military and industrial secrets, revealing how adversaries could sabotage computer-dependent infrastructure. Warning that we remain staggeringly vulnerable, America’s cyberdefenders have persuaded an obliging Congress to provide an avalanche of money and to ease privacy laws. Readers will squirm as they learn how every communications enterprise (Google, AT&T, Verizon, Facebook) 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. Agent: Tina Bennett, William Morris Endeavor.

June 1, 2014

According to Harris, the battlefield of the future is cyberspace. In fact, the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, and the CIA all boast hackers able to launch computer virus strikes against enemy targets; cyberwarfare helped advance our cause in Iraq. Since Harris is a senior writer at Foreign Policy magazine and winner of the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, we need to listen. The idea of links between the military and companies like Google and Apple is unsettling.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2014

It seems as if nearly every day brings new reports about groups hacking into vital government networks or criminals stealing personal information. There are also concerns about the government's collection of data. This fluid state of cybercrime and cyberwarfare, with government-sanctioned hackers launching cyberattacks at enemies, is a significant issue for the nation's economy and security. Taking a cue from President Eisenhower's Farewell Address of January 1961, journalist Harris (Foreign Policy magazine) reveals how the military and law enforcement branches have not only established agencies to work in this specialized field but have also gotten private companies to do much of the development and data gathering. There is a real concern that these companies, whose resources are definitely needed, are not well supervised by the government and may end up influencing operations more for financial gain than security reasons. The writing seems to reflect tensions between a need to discuss and counter a national security threat and disgust that so much of this is being done secretly and with private businesses. The research resources consist of articles, books, and government publications, supplemented by many interviews with experts in this subject. This book complements the author's previous work, The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State. VERDICT 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. [See Prepub Alert, 5/12/14.]--Daniel Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.