Worm

The First Digital World War

By: Mark Bowden

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Worm: The First Digital World War tells the story of the Conficker worm, a potentially devastating piece of malware that has baffled experts and infected more than twelve million computers worldwide. When Conficker was unleashed in November 2008, cybersecurity experts did not know what to make of it. Exploiting security flaws in Microsoft Windows, it grew at an astonishingly rapid rate, infecting millions of computers around the world within weeks. Once the worm infiltrated one system it was able to link it with others to form a single network under illicit outside control known as a “botnet.” This botnet was soon capable of overpowering any of the vital computer networks that control banking, telephones, energy flow, air traffic, health-care information — even the Internet itself. Was it a platform for criminal profit or a weapon controlled by a foreign power or dissident organization?

Surprisingly, the U.S. government was only vaguely aware of the threat that Conficker posed, and the task of mounting resistance to the worm fell to a disparate but gifted group of geeks, Internet entrepreneurs, and computer programmers. But when Conficker’s controllers became aware that their creation was encountering resistance, they began refining the worm’s code to make it more difficult to trace and more powerful, testing the Cabal lock’s unity and resolve. Will the Cabal lock down the worm before it is too late? Game on.

©2011 Mark Bowden (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Interesting book, strong middle, weak ending.

I found this an good listen and had nicebalance of technical information with character and story depth. Without ruining it, the ending is somewhat a let down. It is very current.

A surprisingly suspenseful story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone I knew that both was enthralled by Internet and computer security enough to grasp some of the higher level computer jargon that is used. While the author does a great job of breaking the oat complex down into very simply terms it would seem somewhat confusing to someone who knows nothing of both the computer and how virus's work.

Any additional comments?

The story was dramatic and engaging. Even though it happened in the past so I Know for a fact that the world survived, I found myself biting my fingernails at the possible outcome and understanding just how those involved at the time must have felt.

Good Introduction To Malware Concepts

Any additional comments?

Well written and at times gripping account of a team of good-guy techies trying to defend the internet from a fast spreading virus whose dangers are unknown.

I am listening to a series of books on computer viruses/malware and I read in a review that this book was a good primer on the subject. I agree. Informative and enjoyable listen.

Solid, classy narration by Christopher Lane.

Next up for me, Countdown to Zero Day, then Kingpin. Yay for techie books!

Excellent audio book

I liked this book. Just listening to it I was like "really?" And "I can't believe it!" All through the book. I would never guess this cyber war was going on. Yes I had heard of the conficker worm, but never knew the behind the scenes war between the bot master and the cabal. It is amazing. I loved the book and the narration is excellent. I feel like my world view has changed.

competently done, mildly interesting

This is not the best book I've ever read, but nor is it the worst. It was slow enough with the techno-speak that I kept up with it easily (as a somewhat layman) but it struck me as a little overly generous with the metaphors used in explanations.

An interesting story, meticulously researched, and told in about as compelling a way as I think could be accomplished. I was never vibrating out of my seat in excitement but I brought it up a few times over coffee with friends as I was reading it, as it did occupy my imagination at least a little bit.

On the whole, my verdict is a lukewarm 'go for it.'

Science fiction that isn’t fiction!

An interesting tale of the behind the scenes war to retain control of the internet. Not to actually control it, but to prevent the harm that could occur if bad actors were able to take control.
Also, indirectly, a good reminder that when as individuals we use our digital devices, we also have some responsibility to do so with some thought for security.

Bowden can make computer security interesting.

What made the experience of listening to Worm the most enjoyable?

Mark brought the history of the internet and computing together in a way the set the stage for the future of this technology. Both Good and Bad.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Worm?

I really enjoyed how it is still all about people, and institutions and hardware and choices that were made that had unintended consequences.

What does Christopher Lane bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Lane told the story in a way that made it fit together. You could tell what was important, what was interesting and what was background.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Just when you thought it was safe to go back

Nice security/history reading

It was a Nice reading about security and some history about how Worms have been evolving

Nerdy

He book give you better understanding of the new world war will begen. Not a lot solution to solve the problems of cyber warfare.

working in it, I find the topic interesting

I couldn't finish this book. The technical inaccuracies and overly verbose storytelling work too much. The author seem more interested in getting the word count than the substance of the story, or some of the minut technical details correct. I found this unforgivable in this topic, the details really matter, and walleye accept some creative liberties this took it too far.

working in information technology I'm familiar with many of the stories being retold through this book. The main problem I have is that the author frequently glosses over or misrepresents facts they're not essential to the story, but should be correct in a story presenting historical information. if this was purely drama I could accept a wide variety of misrepresentation. but in a book that is supposed to be historical, not so much.