First published 2016
Fred Kaplan chronicles how America stumbled into the digital battleground that defines modern conflict. When President Reagan saw WarGames in 1983 and learned that a teenager really could hack the Pentagon, he issued the first presidential directive on computer security. From that moment, the NSA and Pentagon began developing cyber weapons that would reshape warfare itself. Kaplan traces this evolution through decades of secret operations, from disabling Saddam's communications during the Gulf War to Obama's offensive cyber doctrine. The Pulitzer Prize winner reveals how Israeli jets bombed Syria's nuclear reactor by hacking air defenses, how two California teenagers penetrated major military commands, and how North Korea attacked Sony to kill a Hollywood film. Through classified incidents and policy battles, Kaplan shows how cyber warfare became the new frontier where any nation or individual hacker can wield devastating power.
Genres: history, politics, non-fiction, 21st-century, military-history, computer-science
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism
Setting: Pentagon, Syria, California
Period: 1983, Gulf War, Obama Administration
339 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster