Worm is the gripping story of the 'Conficker' virus- which, since its introduction in November 2008, has infected millions of computers around the world - and the cyber security elites who have joined forces in a high-tech game of cops and robbers to find its creators and defeat them. This dramatic cybercrime story travels from the Ukraine to the United States (and all parts in between) to explore the next frontier in terrorism. It is the story of a dazzling battle of wits over the future of the Internet. In Worm, Mark Bowden delivers an unputdownable account of the ongoing and largely unreported war taking place literally beneath our fingertips.
Reviews
"["Worm"] is well-written and informative, capturing a key episode in a fast-moving field we all need to better understand."--"The Washington Post" "When Mark Bowden writes, smart readers pay attention. . . . Bowden is a deserved brand name - a superb reporter and compelling narrative writer, whether his subject is war in a forlorn land ("Black Hawk Down," set in Somalia) or a variety of others in seven other books ("Killing Pablo," "Guests of the Ayatollah," etc.). And now we have the current masterpiece, "Worm.""--"The Philadelphia Inquirer" "Worm is a solid although disquieting read for anyone with a stake in the Internet's continued smooth functioning--and these days, isn't that just about all of us?"--"Pop Matters" "In the world of nonfiction, Bowden is an ace, a writer with guts and gusto. . . ["Worm"] does a terrific job of setting the groundwork, turning the highly technical into something comprehensible."--"The Seattle Times" "Worm details a digital-age battle between good and evil . . . It is a harbinger of the future, where threats to the cyber domain are as real and potentially cataclysmic as a weapon of mass destruction."--"Military Review" "Bowden . . . gives this account of the computer world's efforts to neutralize the Conficker worm the flavor of a riveting report from the digital battlefield's front lines. . . . A nerve-wracking but first-rate inside peek into the world of cybercrime and its vigilant adversaries."--"Booklist" "[T]he thumbs of every 30-something untergeek will still Tweet in ecstasy at seeing technical terms like NCP/IP, Port 445, and MS08-067 spread across the pages of a mainstream book. But the rest of us should take Mark Bowden's warnings with the utmost seriousness because of the growing threats to our wired world."--"New York Journal of Books" "[T]his book chronicles a larger threat and should be on the shelves not just of computer collections, but any general lending library."--
Author description
Mark Bowden is the author of seven books, including Black Hawk Down. He was a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years and now writes for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic and other magazines.
