This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends

The Cyberweapons Arms Race

By: Nicole Perlroth

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

Bloomsbury presents This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole Perlroth, read by Allyson Ryan.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award * Bronze Medal, Arthur Ross Book Award (Council on Foreign Relations)

“Part John le Carré and more parts Michael Crichton . . . spellbinding.” The New Yorker

"Written in the hot, propulsive prose of a spy thriller" (The New York Times), the untold story of the cyberweapons market—the most secretive, government-backed market on earth—and a terrifying first look at a new kind of global warfare.

Zero day: a software bug that allows a hacker to break into your devices and move around undetected. One of the most coveted tools in a spy's arsenal, a zero day has the power to silently spy on your iPhone, dismantle the safety controls at a chemical plant, alter an election, and shut down the electric grid (just ask Ukraine).

For decades, under cover of classification levels and non-disclosure agreements, the United States government became the world’s dominant hoarder of zero days. U.S. government agents paid top dollar—first thousands, and later millions of dollars— to hackers willing to sell their lock-picking code and their silence.

Then the United States lost control of its hoard and the market.

Now those zero days are in the hands of hostile nations and mercenaries who do not care if your vote goes missing, your clean water is contaminated, or our nuclear plants melt down.

Filled with spies, hackers, arms dealers, and a few unsung heroes, written like a thriller and a reference, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is an astonishing feat of journalism. Based on years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, Nicole Perlroth lifts the curtain on a market in shadow, revealing the urgent threat faced by us all if we cannot bring the global cyber arms race to heel.©2021 Nicole Perlroth (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Critic reviews

Part John le Carré and more parts Michael Crichton ... spellbinding.

An intricately detailed, deeply sourced and reported history.

Vivid and provocative.

Told in an enthrallingly cinematic style . . . a stark, necessary, thoroughly reported reminder that no matter how strong the safe is, there’ll always be someone who can come along and crack it.

Possibly the most important book of the year . . . Perlroth’s precise, lucid, and compelling presentation of mind-blowing disclosures about the underground arms race a must-read exposé.

An engaging and troubling account of ‘zero-day exploits’ . . . This secretive market is difficult to penetrate, but Ms. Perlroth has dug deeper than most and chronicles her efforts wittily.

[Perlroth] has delivered a five-alarm page turner that weighs the possibility of cyber-cataclysm.

A masterful inside look at a highly profitable industry that was supposed to make us safer, but has ended up bringing us to the brink of the next world war.

Takes a complex subject that has been cloaked in techspeak and makes it dead real for the rest of us.

100% gripping. For anyone interested in cybersecurity, whether as student, policymaker, or citizen, it is well worth your read.

A rollicking fun trip, front to back, and an urgent call for action before our wired world spins out of our control.

A whirlwind global tour that introduces us to the crazy characters and bizarre stories behind the struggle to control the internet. It would be unbelievable if it wasn't all so very true.

The definitive history of cyberwarfare.

A must-read tale of cloak-and-dagger mercenary hackers, digital weapons of mass destruction and clandestine, ne'er-do-well government agencies. Perlroth's intrepid reporting shows why the consequences could be frightening.

Will keep you up at night, both unable to stop reading, and terrified for what the future holds.

Nicole Perlroth tells a highly technical, gripping story as if over a beer at your favorite local dive bar. A page-turner.

[A] wonderfully readable new book. Underlying everything Perlroth writes is the question of ethics: What is the right thing to do? Too many of the people she describes never seemed to think about that; their goals were short-term or selfish or both. A rip-roaring story of hackers and bug-sellers and spies that also looks at the deeper questions.

The murky world of zero-day sales has remained in the shadows for decades, with few in the trade willing to talk about this critical topic. Nicole Perlroth has done a great job tracing the origin stories, coaxing practitioners into telling their fascinating tales, and explaining why it all matters.

From one of the literati, a compelling tale of the digerati: Nicole Perlroth puts arresting faces on the clandestine government-sponsored elites using 1s and 0s to protect us or menace us—and profit.

I wish the author had read her own book

the person reading the book struggled quite a bit with pronouncing some of the technical vocabulary. It would be worthwhile to clear those sorts of things up as they detract quite a bit from the book.

Some mispronounced words but all in all a great listen

I agree with some of the reviews that some words or mispronounced. That alone is not worth throwing the baby out with the bath water here. This book is well researched and if you have any interest in the cyber warfare that is currently going on in the world, this book is a must read/listen.

Computer

After listening to this story I am about to unplug myself from the digital world and go back to pen and paper. You read about how sloppy software companies wrote buggy code and didn’t worry about fixing it and our own government failing totally us about the break ins the got by using this bad core. Even worse the NSA and others didn’t tell the software companies about what they could do with this horrible. Again it all comes back to money and need for greater profit!

Good insight into the dangers of a new world

First off, it's important to note that the reviews criticizing the book's political aspects mostly originate from individuals who struggle to handle any form of criticism directed at their idols. Additionally, to enhance its credibility, the book includes a comprehensive section of meticulously documented sources at the end. Moreover, considering the modern threats we face, such as infrastructure implosion resulting from data breaches and day one attacks, reading this book becomes an absolute necessity for anyone involved in maintaining the security of network systems connected to the World Wide Web. Furthermore, given the repeated instances where we teetered on the brink of mass destruction due to hacking incidents orchestrated by foreign countries or groups, it is imperative that we become more aware of the significant threats we face. Regrettably, our government has proven to be subpar in safeguarding us, largely due to their own tools and a lack of understanding regarding the intricacies of our interconnected world.

Amazing Read! Facts are facts. Forget your partisan bias and politics

Fantastic, insightful read. Facts are facts. Too many clearly biased reviews here that have zero credibility. If you want to understand the history and background leading up to the ongoing global cyberwar, then this is a worthwhile listen. Planning to get the physical copy for reference as well.