The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power

<h5>Sometimes, it is the things you can&rsquo;t see which are the most dangerous to you.</h5>
&nbsp;
Although we are living in a time of land wars and potential famines, these are all impacts visible to the human eye. These impacts can be relieved through government support and future planning, however, The Wires of War is something completely invisible to the human eye; a cyberwar that has been ongoing for years.
After graduating with his MSc in cybersecurity risk and strategy from New York University, Jacob Helberg led Google's internal global product policy efforts to combat disinformation and foreign interference. He is now a senior adviser at the Stanford University Center on Geopolitics and Technology.&nbsp;
The Wires of War looks at the physical systems connecting our global internet, which are unsurprisingly underwater, and the rise of politically motivated cyber-attacks on the US from authoritarian nations like China and Russia. Jacob makes clear that data is the new oil and after looking at the potential vulnerabilities of our global system, this book will leave you questioning how secure your data is and how easily someone can hack into your phones and computers.&nbsp;
From Edward Snowden to the Donald Trump Election, these cyberattacks happen on a daily basis and mostly go unnoticed. Some hacks are to gain information (i.e. data), some are hacks to push a political agenda (i.e. tweets), while some are hacks to simply monitor the progress of something without being noticed, such as hacking into a competitor's data warehouse and monitoring their progress on a project you are also developing.&nbsp;
If you thought the US Government Agencies were secure, now is time to think again. Jacob crudely describes how different government agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security were hacked and had data stolen from them, potentially putting national data into the hands of countries like China. Aside from government agencies, Jacob explores the likes of Huawei and other foreign companies with access to American data like TikTik owner ByteDance. Despite these companies' declaration of independence from the China Communist Party, one can only wonder how honest that is.
The book ends with a more positive, although patriotic tone, of how to win this cyberwar against the perpetrators. Despite the tone of this book being very nationalist and pro-America, there are some great insights into a war not often spoken about around the world, a great read for anyone with interests in cyberspace.

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