Friday, May 21, 2010

what i'm reading now

Cyber War,  by Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake is an interesting and unsettling read. The authors lay out the threat to national security by foreign hackers or "cyber warriors" and what must be done about it.  The book begins by explaining how the Internet functions. It's an education on how information gets from one place to another and how our infrastructure has become dependent on computers. It also reveals how vulnerable the United States is to cyber attacks from foreign countries; not only militarily, but economically. For instance, our military's ability to move troops and material can be interrupted by hackers. The electric grid of the country can be shut down by someone with a laptop computer.  In a cyber war America would be at a disadvantage because we are so dependent on computers and our potential enemies (North Korea for example) are not so vulnerable. This is an important book to read.  The authors not only expose the danger but offer some solutions to prevent the disaster that would occur if an all-out cyber war erupted.

1 comment:

Paul said...

I doubt that the government will pay attention to this book...