Countdown to Zero Day

Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon

By: Kim Zetter

Narrated by: Joe Ochman

A top cybersecurity journalist tells the story behind the virus that sabotaged Iran’s nuclear efforts and shows how its existence has ushered in a new age of warfare—one in which a digital attack can have the same destructive capability as a megaton bomb.

“Immensely enjoyable . . . Zetter turns a complicated and technical cyber story into an engrossing whodunit.”—The Washington Post

The virus now known as Stuxnet was unlike any other piece of malware built before: Rather than simply hijacking targeted computers or stealing information from them, it proved that a piece of code could escape the digital realm and wreak actual, physical destruction—in this case, on an Iranian nuclear facility.

In these chapters, journalist Kim Zetter tells the whole story behind the world’s first cyberweapon, covering its genesis in the corridors of the White House and its effects in Iran—and telling the spectacular, unlikely tale of the security geeks who managed to unravel a top secret sabotage campaign years in the making.

But Countdown to Zero Day also ranges beyond Stuxnet itself, exploring the history of cyberwarfare and its future, showing us what might happen should our infrastructure be targeted by a Stuxnet-style attack, and ultimately, providing a portrait of a world at the edge of a new kind of war.

©2014 Kim Zetter (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“An authoritative account of Stuxnet’s spread and discovery . . . [delivers] a sobering message about the vulnerability of the systems—train lines, water-treatment plants, electricity grids—that make modern life possible.”—Economist

“Exhaustively researched . . . Zetter gives a full account of this ‘hack of the century,’ as the operation has been called, [but] the book goes well beyond its ostensible subject to offer a hair-raising introduction to the age of cyber warfare.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Part detective story, part scary-brilliant treatise on the future of warfare . . . an ambitious, comprehensive, and engrossing book that should be required reading for anyone who cares about the threats that America—and the world—are sure to be facing over the coming years.”—Kevin Mitnick, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost in the Wires and The Art of Intrusion

Want to know about Stuxnet this is the book.

excellent book, very detailed, as such it was a little difficult to listen to at times. bit definitely worth the listen and read..

Cyber Scarry!!! You will want to unplug after....

Would you listen to Countdown to Zero Day again? Why?

The amount of detail ensures that each read will uncover something that you will have missed previously, but one pass is enough to give you the sense of the danger to online systems.

What did you like best about this story?

The technical details were great, but did not sound like reading of a Comp Sci text book.

Eye Opening

This book provides an excellent account of how exactly Stuxnet actually works in an understandable way. Once you start to wrap your head around how the payload actually affected its target, it is shocking at how simple and effective the techniques employed are. It makes you wonder that if these systems were vulnerable and successfully exploited, what other industrial control systems are equally/more exploitable? It really makes you start to think about all kinds of computer controlled systems that we rely on as a society that are likely susceptible to a similar type of attack.

An essential for anyone in the cybersecurity field.

Title says it best but I’ll say it again: An absolute essential for anyone in, around, or near the cybersecurity field. Having a solid grasp of where we’ve come from and the capabilities therein is essential in seeing where we’re going.

malwary!

this story was enlightening and and exciting as the complications of defence and triage are examined.
well written and performed

Reader MAKES you Interested

I'm still in the midst of listening to this, but I want to comment on the reader. I don't know how he does it, but he infuses every sentence with excitement. This book could be slow-going for a non-programmer such as myself, with very very complex structures underlying the story that ARE the story, so they must be understood. This reader never lets your attention flag by the repressed excitement and drama in his voice. It makes understanding the complex structures easier. It's well-written too (although I could do without the minibios - but I guess that's the payoff for being in the book).

Well researched, well told

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. It is very well researched, and it covers a vast landscape. It contains deep dives into technical, political, military, historical, personal and psychological aspects, and most of them are well covered.
I'm from a technical background, and I'm surprised that it contained such thorough coverage of how a virus and digital vulnerabilities work.
But I also think that the research and presentation of the political and military facets were equally impressive. This makes the book an exciting read for most people, technically inclined or not.

Fascinating

Learned a lot of background infirmation on Stux net I never knew before and was completely engaged throughout the entire book.

Interesting listening.

I have heard about Stuxnet first in a podcast. The host recommended on this book and since the podcast was interesting I figured I'll enjoy this audiobook and sure I did. This, audiobook describes the complicity of the code behind Stuxnet and the amazing things this virus could do. The book is also includes some other examples for similar attackes and describes also what was the reason for the development of this virus and who was behind it. Recommend it for every tech lover who interested in computers /Programming

Still Haunts Me, Years Later

Having read this book many years ago, I'm still haunted by the reality exposed in this documentary. Once you read this, you will not be able to forget it and you will realize how fragile our world's infrastructure is. The internet is a house of cards.