Synopses & Reviews
Richard A. Clarke warned America once before about the havoc terrorism would wreak on our national security -- and he was right. Now he warns us of another threat, silent but equally dangerous.
Cyber War is a powerful book about technology, government, and military strategy; about criminals, spies, soldiers, and hackers. This is the first book about the war of the future -- cyber war -- and a convincing argument that we may already be in peril of losing it.
Cyber War goes behind the "geek talk" of hackers and computer scientists to explain clearly and convincingly what cyber war is, how cyber weapons work, and how vulnerable we are as a nation and as individuals to the vast and looming web of cyber criminals. From the first cyber crisis meeting in the White House a decade ago to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley and the electrical tunnels under Manhattan, Clarke and coauthor Robert K. Knake trace the rise of the cyber age and profile the unlikely characters and places at the epicenter of the battlefield. They recount the foreign cyber spies who hacked into the office of the Secretary of Defense, the control systems for U.S. electric power grids, and the plans to protect America's latest fighter aircraft.
Economically and militarily, Clarke and Knake argue, what we've already lost in the new millennium's cyber battles is tantamount to the Soviet and Chinese theft of our nuclear bomb secrets in the 1940s and 1950s. The possibilities of what we stand to lose in an all-out cyber war -- our individual and national security among them -- are just as chilling. Powerful and convincing, Cyber War begins the critical debate about the next great threat to national security.
Review
For decades, while America obsessed over Soviet spies, China quietly penetrated the highest levels of government. Now, for the first time, based on numerous interviews with key insiders at the FBI and CIA as well as with Chinese agents and people close to them, David Wise tells the full story of Chinaand#8217;s many victories and defeats in its American spy wars.Two key cases interweave throughout: Katrina Leung, code-named Parlor Maid, worked for the FBI for years, even after she became a secret double agent for China, aided by love affairs with both of her FBI handlers. Here, too, is the inside story of the case, code-named Tiger Trap, of a key Chinese-American scientist suspected of stealing nuclear weapons secrets. These two cases led to many others, involving famous names from Wen Ho Lee to Richard Nixon, stunning national security leaks, and sophisticated cyberspying. The story takes us up to the present, with a West Coast spy ring whose members were sentenced in 2010and#8212;but it surely will continue for years to come, as China faces off against America. David Wiseand#8217;s history of Chinaand#8217;s spy wars in America is packed with eye-popping revelations. "Wise's conclusion is sobering--'China's spying on America is ongoing, current, and shows no signs of diminishing--and his book is a fascinating history of Chinese espionage that should appeal to a diverse readership."
-Publishers Weekly "David Wise is a master of the nonfiction thriller and, once again, he delivers a fact-filled inside account, with sources named and no one spared, including some very amorous and reckless FBI agents.and#12288; There is an important message inTiger Trap-- about the often overlooked threat posed by China's demonstrated ability to dig out America's most important military and economic secrets."
-Seymour M. Hersh "David Wise has given us a rare combination in today's literary world -- a book that is great reading, while at the same time shedding light on a subject whose seriousness should concern every thinking American."
- Jim Webb, U.S. Senator from Virginia, author ofBorn Fighting,Fields of Fire "Extraordinary. A stunningly detailed history of China's spy war with us - from sexy socialite double agents to "kill switches" implanted offshore in the computer chips for our electric grid. Wise remains the master."
and#8211;R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence and#12288;
Review
“Chilling... [A] harrowing and persuasive picture of the cyberthreat the United States faces today.” Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
Review
“Clarke and Knake are right to sound the alarm.” Wall Street Journal
Review
“Will strengthen Clarkes claims as one of the founding fathers of cybersecurocracy....It is worth buying this book if only for his pithy five-page vision of this coming apocalypse and a return to stone-age conditions within a week, all because of a few pesky hackers and viruses.” Financial Times
Review
“[CYBER WAR] may be the most important book about national-security policy in the last several years.” Slate
Review
“In this chilling and eye-opening book, Clarke and Knake provide a highly detailed yet accessible look at how cyber warfare is being waged and the need to rethink our national security to face this new threat.” Booklist
Review
Washington Post "Chilling . . . Extraordinary and urgent."
Christian Science Monitor
"Unsettling . . . Deeply informative."
James Risen, author of Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War
“@War is a remarkable achievement. Harris uses dogged shoe-leather reporting to take us deep inside the government’s surveillance and cyber operations to give an unsparing look at what the NSA and other agencies are really doing with all our data. In the age of abstract Snowden documents, @War actually introduces us to the people running America’s electronic spying machine, and offers invaluable insights into how their ambition and turf battles impact our financial security, our privacy, and our freedom.”
Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco and The Generals
“A great overview of our new cyberfronts. Unlike most books about cyberwar, this one is enjoyably readable. At times it feels like a modern spy novel, but it is a guide to tomorrow’s headlines.”
Peter Bergen, author of Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad
“@War is a tour de force of reporting on the past, present, and future of cyber-conflict. It will be required reading both in the Pentagon and among the army of Chinese cyber spies now assaulting American businesses. Hackers, policy makers, and others will find this book both intriguing and alarming; not to mention very well written.”
Publishers Weekly
"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. 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."
Kirkus Reviews
"Sprawling account of how the U.S. military joined forces with the National Security Agency to develop 'cyber warfare' capabilities, monitoring America's enemies and its citizens alike. Harris adeptly documents the online threats directed at American society, ranging from the Chinese military's well-funded hacking cells to large-scale information thefts committed by international crime syndicates, but he also demonstrates the NSA's insatiable collection of metadata and preparation of "backdoor" cyberweapons for future use, concluding that '[a]nonymity and collective security may be incompatible in cyberspace.'"
Review
"Wise's conclusion is sobering--'China's spying on America is ongoing, current, and shows no signs of diminishing--and his book is a fascinating history of Chinese espionage that should appeal to a diverse readership."
-Publishers Weekly "David Wise has done it again. This time it's China. He's taken us deep into the American efforts to root out Chinese spies here and abroad. As always, Wise is the master - writing with clarity and style abou thte murky and consequential underworld of nuclear espionage."
- Tom Brokaw "David Wise is a master of the nonfiction thriller and, once again, he delivers a fact-filled inside account, with sources named and no one spared, including some very amorous and reckless FBI agents. and#12288; There is an important message in Tiger Trap -- about the often overlooked threat posed by China's demonstrated ability to dig out America's most important military and economic secrets."
-Seymour M. Hersh "David Wise has given us a rare combination in today's literary world -- a book that is great reading, while at the same time shedding light on a subject whose seriousness should concern every thinking American."
- Jim Webb, U.S. Senator from Virginia, author of Born Fighting, Fields of Fire "Extraordinary. A stunningly detailed history of China's spy war with us - from sexy socialite double agents to "kill switches" implanted offshore in the computer chips for our electric grid. Wise remains the master."
and#8211; R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence "Forget Moscow rules, Lubyanka Prison, and KGB assassins.and#12288; Todayand#8217;s most threatening web of spies is spun out of Beijing and reaches from Silicon Valley to the Pentagon.and#12288; David Wise has written a dead-on accurate narrative of major PRC cases against American targets.and#12288; He names names, details agent tradecraft, and takes you into the courtroom and even a jail cell to witness the final unraveling of these sensational cases.and#12288; You will never think about Chinese espionage the same way again. " - Peter Earnest, Executive Director of the International Spy Museum
Review
"The First 'Post Snowden' Technothriller"--the Intercept
"Fascinating...Though it is fiction, the authors have taken great pains to keep their storytelling realistic....Ghost Fleet has a certain weight. Cole and Singer are so steeped in future wars that they depict the fighting — on the ground, in space and on the Internet –with an air of indisputable authority....Ghost Fleet is full of wonderful moments. It’s got space pirates, drug-addled hackers out of a William Gibson novel and American insurgents fighting occupation in Hawaii. Cole and Singer make these fantastical elements work, and weave them into the story."--Reuters
“Its like the Battlestar Galactica reboot meets Band of Brothers meets Hunt for Red October meets Call of Duty.”--Yahoo! News
"A novel that reads like science fiction but bristles with rich detail about how the next World War could be fought."--Vice
"With their new techno-thriller, Ghost Fleet, Peter Singer and August Cole take an unexpected twist on the classic Clancy formula, producing a book that is equal parts science fiction and science fact...The book is a ‘must read’, the kind of book you read in a day and relentlessly turn page after page."--Medium.com
"Ghost Fleet is not only a riveting novel, it is science fiction at its best. It helps us ask the right questions about our future - questions the answers to which might help us take advantage of technology while minimizing risk to humanity."--H. R. McMaster, Author, Dereliction of Duty, Lt General, US Army, Director, Army Capabilities Integration Center and Futures, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
"It's a page turner...Thoughtful, strategic and relevant." --Admiral Jonathan Greenert, 30th Chief of Naval Operations, US Navy
"It’s Tom Clancy for the twenty-first century, a rip-roaring, “near-futuristic” thriller...The book is peppered with real-life military facts and figures, but it moves so briskly you may hardly notice that you’re learning as you go."--Council on Foreign Relations
"Ghost Fleet Nails The Perfect Vision of World War III...a futuristic techno-thriller that’s as plausible as it is entertaining. Make no mistake, however, this is no technical slog — it’s a highly readable and engaging thriller that sets a new standard for techno-thrillers."--io9
"An engaging, ‘near-futuristic’ war-thriller packed with cutting edge technologies...[Yet] also pays homage to the works of master military strategists Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz and Alfred Thayer Mahan."--Real Clear Defense
"Singer and Cole have crafted an eminently readable novel, which is both highly entertaining and sobering. If you have ever wondered how today's tech trends might affect future conflicts there is no doubt about it; you will want to read this book."--Small Wars Journal
"Ghost Fleet is a great book." --Kevin Mauer, author of the New York Times Bestseller No Easy Day
"A ripped from the headlines novel about war that’s just around the corner...Exciting."--Buzzfeed
"An absolute pleasure to read. It contains much of the same storytelling as a work by someone like Tom Clancy, but with an intensity, depth of knowledge, and vision infrequently found in those books. It is an expansive work in its scope, and one that will undoubtedly retain its relevance for years to come....Ghost Fleet is an enjoyable book. It is a fun book. What’s more, it is an insightful and prescient book, without forcing the reader to ever acknowledge that fact."--Medium.com
“Ghost Fleet is a gripping account of an all-too-possible future where America has lost its technological edge and US-China relations have deteriorated to the point of war. Although American decline and US-China conflict are by no means inevitable, this exciting techno-thriller provides an ominous warning of what might be coming our way if the forces of disorder get the upper hand.” -Jamie Metzl, author of Genesis Code and The Depths of the Sea
"Tom Clancy fans will relish Singer and Cole’s first novel, a chilling vision of what might happen in a world war launched by a Chinese sneak attack on America’s eyes and brains in outer space. Singer, a military strategist, and Cole, a former defense-industry analyst for the Wall Street Journal, easily wed their knowledge to a fast-moving plot and characters who make an impression, even the minor characters who appear briefly. After the global economy tanks, urban workers’ riots sweep China, but instead of repressing the workers themselves, the military ousts the Communist leaders, clearing the way for a new government. When the Chinese strike, the Americans fight back.
Among the many heroes is Cmdr. James Simmons, who assumes command of the USS Coronado when its captain is killed. Detailed endnotes documenting the real-world technologies and trends behind the book make the fiction even more plausible."--Publishers Weekly
"If you’ve been looking for a smart update to Tom Clancy, this is for you." —Foreign Policy
"Ghost Fleet is a page-turner filled with thrills and chills, but it is also more than that. Drawn from real world trends in cyber tech, intelligence, and defense, it offers a haunting glimpse into our future that you'll find hard to forget." —Nina Jacobson, Producer of The Hunger Games
“I couldn’t put this one down. Reads like the very best of classic Tom Clancy, updated for the 21st century, persuasive in its detail, simultaneously thrilling and terrifying.” —Phillip Meyer, author of The Son
"Global war between China and the United States — unimaginable? Hardly. In Ghost Fleet, Peter Singer and August Cole lay out a plausible, frightening, and pitch-perfect vision of what such a war could look like in the near future. This page-turning marvel is the best source of high-tech geopolitical visioneering since Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising and Sir John Hackett's The Third World War. A startling blueprint for the wars of the future and therefore needs to be read now!" —Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret); Supreme Allied Commander, NATO, 2009-2013; Dean, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
"Ghost Fleet is a thrilling trip through a terrifyingly plausible tomorrow. This is not just an excellent book, but an excellent book by those who know what they are talking about. Prepare to lose some sleep." —D.B. Weiss, Writer and Executive Producer of HBO's Game of Thrones
Synopsis
For decades, while America obsessed over Soviet spies, China quietly penetrated the highest levels of government. Now, for the first time, based on numerous interviews with key insiders at the FBI and CIA as well as with Chinese agents and people close to them, David Wise tells the full story of Chinaand#8217;s many victories and defeats in its American spy wars.Two key cases interweave throughout: Katrina Leung, code-named Parlor Maid, worked for the FBI for years, even after she became a secret double agent for China, aided by love affairs with both of her FBI handlers. Here, too, is the inside story of the case, code-named Tiger Trap, of a key Chinese-American scientist suspected of stealing nuclear weapons secrets. These two cases led to many others, involving famous names from Wen Ho Lee to Richard Nixon, stunning national security leaks, and sophisticated cyberspying. The story takes us up to the present, with a West Coast spy ring whose members were sentenced in 2010and#8212;but it surely will continue for years to come, as China faces off against America. David Wiseand#8217;s history of Chinaand#8217;s spy wars in America is packed with eye-popping revelations.
Synopsis
Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Against All Enemies, former presidential advisor and counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke sounds a timely and chilling warning about Americas vulnerability in a terrifying new international conflict—Cyber War! Every concerned American should read this startling and explosive book that offers an insiders view of White House ‘Situation Room operations and carries the reader to the frontlines of our cyber defense. Cyber War exposes a virulent threat to our nations security. This is no X-Files fantasy or conspiracy theory madness—this is real.
Synopsis
An investigation into how the Pentagon, NSA, and other government agencies are uniting with corporations to fight in cyberspace, the next great theater of war.
Synopsis
A surprising, page-turning account of how the wars of the future are already being fought todayThe United States military currently views cyberspace as the “fifth domain” of warfare (alongside land, air, sea, and space), and the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, and the CIA all field teams of hackers who can, and do, launch computer virus strikes against enemy targets. In fact, as @WAR shows, U.S. hackers were crucial to our victory in Iraq. Shane Harris delves into the frontlines of America’s new cyber war. As recent revelations have shown, government agencies are joining with tech giants like Google and Facebook to collect vast amounts of information. The military has also formed a new alliance with tech and finance companies to patrol cyberspace, and Harris offers a deeper glimpse into this partnership than we have ever seen before. Finally, Harris explains what the new cybersecurity regime means for all of us, who spend our daily lives bound to the Internet — and are vulnerable to its dangers.
Synopsis
Two authorities on trends in warfare join forces to create a taut, convincing novel set in the near future in which a besieged America battles for its very existence
Synopsis
What will the next global conflict look like? Find out in this ripping, near-futuristic thriller. The United States, China, and Russia eye each other across a twenty-first century version of the Cold War, which suddenly heats up at sea, on land, in the air, in outer space, and in cyberspace. The fighting involves everything from stealthy robotic–drone strikes to old warships from the navy’s “ghost fleet.” Fighter pilots unleash a Pearl Harbor–style attack; American veterans become low-tech insurgents; teenage hackers battle in digital playgrounds; Silicon Valley billionaires mobilize for cyber-war; and a serial killer carries out her own vendetta. Ultimately, victory will depend on blending the lessons of the past with the weapons of the future.
Ghost Fleet is a page-turning speculative thriller in the spirit of The Hunt for Red October. The debut novel by two leading experts on the cutting edge of national security, it is unique in that every trend and technology featured in the novel — no matter how sci-fi it may seem — is real, or could be soon.
Synopsis
A narrative nonfiction account of the devious workings of Chinese Intelligence agents in the FBI over the past 30 years.
About the Author
SHANE HARRIS is the author of The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State, which won the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism and was named one of the best books of 2010 by the Economist. Harris won the 2010 Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense. He is currently Senior Correspondent at the Daily Beast, covering national security, intelligence, and cyber security. He is also an ASU fellow at New America, where he researches the future of war. Previously, he was senior writer at the Washingtonian, and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Slate, the Daily Beast, the Washington Post, and numerous other publications. He has provided analysis and commentary for CNN, NPR, the BBC, and many other media organizations and radio stations.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
1. A Thousand Grains of Sand 5
2. Parlor Maid 20
3. The Recruitment 29
4. Double Game 34
5. Destroy After Reading 42
6. and#8220;Holy Shit, Mr. Grove!and#8221; 50
7. Riding the Tiger: China and the Neutron Bomb 65
8. The Walk-in 71
9. Kindred Spirit: Wen Ho Lee 81
10. Sego Palm 99
11. Trouble in Paradise 109
12. Ethereal Throne: The Spy Who Never Was 121
13. Storm Clouds 134
14. The Counterspy 139
15. Royal Tourist 154
16. Richard Nixon and the Hong Kong Hostess 167
17. Anubis 176
18. Endgame 187
19. Eagle Claw 202
20. Red Flower 214
21. The Cyberspies 227
22. An Afterword 236
Authorand#8217;s Note 243
Notes 247
Index 279
Prelude 1