Worm:First Digital World War; how 8 million computers & botnet linked computers took over internet

Worm: The First Digital World War
by Mark Bowden

Book Description
Publication Date: September 27, 2011

From the author of Black Hawk Down comes the story of the battle between those determined to exploit the internet and those committed to protect it—the ongoing war taking place literally beneath our fingertips.

The Conficker worm infected its first computer in November 2008 and within a month had infiltrated 1.5 million computers in 195 countries. Banks, telecommunications companies, and critical government networks (including the British Parliament and the French and German military) were infected. No one had ever seen anything like it. By January 2009 the worm lay hidden in at least eight million computers and the botnet of linked computers that it had created was big enough that an attack might crash the world. This is the gripping tale of the group of hackers, researches, millionaire Internet entrepreneurs, and computer security experts who united to defend the Internet from the Conficker worm: the story of the first digital world war.

About the Author

Mark Bowden is the author of seven books, including Black Hawk Down, The Best Game Ever, Killing Pablo, and Guests of the Ayatollah. He reported at The Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years and now writes for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and other magazines. He lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania.

Review

“Worm is worth attention. Government officials up to and including President Obama have taken notice of Conficker and begun to address some of the issues it raised.”—Bloomberg

“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

“The author takes readers behind the scenes, showing the security specialists’ increasing frenzy, not to mention occasional infighting, as they worked to defeat the worm. Along the way, the author lucidly explains how malware can take over computers as well as how the very openness of the Internet makes it vulnerable to attack.”—Publishers Weekly

“From the author of Black Hawk Down, a different sort of blood-and-thunder heroism narrative, out on the frontiers of cybercrime. . . . A brief, punchy reminder of our high-tech vulnerabilities.”—Kirkus Reviews

“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 üntergeek 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

Review:

Should interest newbies and experts alike, September 27, 2011
By
Chris Lee Mullins (Highlands Ranch, CO)

One of the greatest things about airport bookstores - they often ignore sale dates. I purchased Worm a few days ago without realizing it wasn't supposed to be released yet. Which is good, because it made that flight from Denver to Baltimore tolerable.

First things first. If you are a network newbie, you will be coddled by this book. You don't need to have your MCSE or CISSP to read "Worm". Bowden does a good job of breaking down salient data - what is TCPIP, what is RPC - and creating explanations that make sense. Don't know why Port 445 is so special? Wonder why Windows is so often the target of malware around the world? (the technical explanation, not the political answer) You will after reading this book. It won't win you any medals at the next Cisco shareholders meeting or net you a job in IT, but at least you'll know why Patch Tuesday is important and why malware isn't just a problem with code - it's a social engineering problem, too.

The next best thing about this book is how much it stresses that the Internet is still in it's adolescence. It's a hodgepodge of ancient protocols and new-fangled protocols shoehorned into communicating with one another, and that's a fragile animal. you'll wonder why it doesn't go down more often.

"Worm" is entertaining and informative. Personally, I think it's too short. You'll get a quick bio about a particular researcher, follow them through some problem solving and then, inexplicably, drop them entirely while picking up with another researcher. I think the personalities involved are as important as the science. But those quibbles are trivial.