• The Perfect Weapon

  • War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age
  • By: David E. Sanger
  • Narrated by: Robertson Dean
  • Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,435 ratings)

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The Perfect Weapon  By  cover art

The Perfect Weapon

By: David E. Sanger
Narrated by: Robertson Dean
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Publisher's summary

Soon to be an HBO® documentary from award-winning director John Maggio

“An important - and deeply sobering - new book about cyberwarfare.” (Nicholas Kristof, New York Times)

The Perfect Weapon is the startling inside story of how the rise of cyberweapons transformed geopolitics like nothing since the invention of the atomic bomb. Cheap to acquire, easy to deny, and usable for a variety of malicious purposes, cyber is now the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists. Two presidents - Bush and Obama - drew first blood with Operation Olympic Games, which used malicious code to blow up Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, and yet America proved remarkably unprepared when its own weapons were stolen from its arsenal and, during President Trump’s first year, turned back on the United States and its allies. And if Obama would begin his presidency by helping to launch the new era of cyberwar, he would end it struggling unsuccessfully to defend against Russia’s broad attack on the 2016 US election.

Moving from the White House Situation Room to the dens of Chinese government hackers to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger reveals a world coming face-to-face with the perils of technological revolution, where everyone is a target.

“Timely and bracing.... With the deep knowledge and bright clarity that have long characterized his work, Sanger recounts the cunning and dangerous development of cyberspace into the global battlefield of the 21st century.” (Washington Post)

©2018, 2019 David E. Sanger (P)2018, 2019 Penguin Random House LLC

Critic reviews

"[Sanger's] description of the cyber portion of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election is thorough and convincing. It ought to be required reading for anyone who doubts the extent and seriousness of the Russian effort.... The great value of The Perfect Weapon is less in its specific policy prescriptions than in its being the most comprehensive, readable source of information and insight about the policy quandaries that modern information technology and its destructive potential have spawned." (The New York Times)

"In his new book, The Perfect Weapon, Sanger offers a panoramic view of the rapidly evolving world of cyber-conflict. He covers incidents from the covert US cyber-campaign to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program (a story we know about largely because of Sanger’s diligent reporting) to Edward Snowden’s epic heist of National Security Agency data. And yes, there’s also plenty of background on Russia’s active measures during the 2016 campaign. But there’s also a wealth of gripping material on stories that have probably been missed by the broader public.... It all adds up to a persuasive argument for the truth of the book’s title." (Christian Caryl, The Washington Post)

"[The Perfect Weapon] reads like a thriller spy novel, except the stories are true, which makes the book more terrifying.... Sanger shows the political, military, and economic impacts of actual hacks, moves made by governments and industry to counter moves and protect against future attacks, and the counter to the counter to the counter, all told at a breathtaking pace. But this is more than just a real-life drama; it also is a cautionary tale of the policy of information power.... This book at turns was both fascinating in its detail and access and terrifying in its implications." (Proceedings)

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mix of information and propaganda

Yet another hack for the liberal ideology. mixes some useful information with outright left-wing liberal Obama focused sycophancy. Writer makes claims about what Obama was "feeling" and "Wished for". This is NOT a book on just facts that are known or can be reasonably surmised. This reads more like a screenplay for a movie. Much of the writing about the 2016 elections are written like the writer was present in high level and secret meetings. (doubtful at best) Some of the facts/claims made by the writer have been contradicted with the release of the Mueller report!!

I was as a person that is in the tech field was hoping this book would shed some light on the topic of our government's understanding of hacking instead this book is mostly propaganda (democrats=good, Trump=stupid/bad) and if it were not such an important topic would be mildly entertaining.

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18 people found this helpful

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BY FAR the best book to date on this topic!

I've listened to every (reputable) book on Audible on the topic of cyberwarfare/hacking released over the last five years. This is BY FAR the best.

Seriously, there isn't even a close second.

This book was clearly written by a professional journalist who knows how to keep a story moving and a reader interested. Sanger is a skilled craftsman at the top of his game, and it was an absolute joy to listen to this. The writing is so crisp and compelling that it could've been narrated by a cockatoo and still been enjoyable. Having said that, the narrator was good.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

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17 people found this helpful

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If you are an irrational Trump hater...

If you hate Trump and see Russian ‘bots behind every Twitter account that you even slightly disagree with, then you might like this book.
Highly biased and very partisan based upon a false premise.
It was so bad that I returned the audio book, but did give the author every chance to redeem himself, but he didn’t.

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9 people found this helpful

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Chilling and thought provoking

well reached and comprehensive yet easy to grasp even by the non tech savvy. I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone looking for information on the current cyber threat knocking on our door daily.

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8 people found this helpful

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The perfect book!

Brilliant book. Highly compressible clear exposition perfectly delivered!!! Recommended for lay readers such as I.

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6 people found this helpful

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Oh my god

The reader has a voice and tonality that makes you feel safe while he tells you how very unsafe you actually are. This is not a story book but seams like a science fiction. I never thought about the subject matter here but it is presented as if we all should have realized it.
I listened to it in three sittings

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5 people found this helpful

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A New Dimension to International Hostilities

Sanger’s book is brilliant. It is a deeply thoughtful, highly informed account of cyber weapons and their role in international power struggles. A must-read!

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Analysis on the Golden Age of Cyberspace

strategic analysis and design in the complexity of cyberspace, cyber security and the art of cyber warfare in a digital age of uncertainty. The book is detailed, however simplified to understand the content and context of how the evolution of cyberspace in the digital age constitutes the number one threat to US National Security.

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Interesting, but

The first half of the book is interesting, but the authors absolute disdain for everything Trump completely trashes the second half of the book (and I'm no Trump lover). He never once mentions holding accountable any of the people actually in charge at the time when most of this went down, namely Obama, Clapper, Brennan, H. Clinton, Blinken, etal. Many of these same corrupt people continue to have important roles in the current administration and mainstream media. Only in America baby!

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3 people found this helpful

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Lucid, eloquent, sourced

What more can I say? This is critical and balanced reportage. It's so well written (prosified, if you will) and read with such gravity and care. Love Robertson Dean's voice. He the James Earl Jones of audible. And Sanger is James Earl Jones of the NYT.

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