• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2020 December #1
  *Starred Review* Cybersecurity journalist Perlroth's terrifying revelation of how vulnerable American institutions and individuals are to clandestine cyberattacks by malicious hackers is possibly the most important book of the year. Perlroth spent seven years researching, traveling the world, and conducting hundreds of interviews about the elusive market for zero-day software bugs that allow a hacker to break into devices undetected and either implant malware, extract data, or take control of entire systems. Much of this hidden arms race is shrouded in secrecy behind government classification or nondisclosure agreements, which made her quest for the truth about cyber vulnerability difficult, yet ultimately she is able to reveal how hackers found and acquired zero-day bugs, how the U.S. government first cornered, then lost the market for them, and how this insidious technology has invaded our lives. From holding sensitive information hostage, which can lead to the shutting down of hospitals or the electric grid and disastrous meddling in elections, this new level of cyberwar poses threats unknown to most Americans. That makes Perlroth's precise, lucid, and compelling presentation of mind-blowing disclosures about the underground arms race a must-read exposé. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

Nicole Perlroth is an award-winning cybersecurity journalist for The New York Times, where her work has been optioned for both film and television. She is a regular lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford University. She lives with her family in the Bay Area, but increasingly prefers life off the grid in their cabin in the woods.