Dawn of the Code War

America's Battle Against Russia, China, and the Rising Global Cyber Threat

By: John P. Carlin, Garrett M. Graff

Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell

The inside story of how America's enemies launched a cyberwar against us - and how we've learned to fight back.

With each passing year, the Internet-linked attacks on America's interests have grown in both frequency and severity. Overmatched by our military, countries like North Korea, China, Iran, and Russia have found us vulnerable in cyberspace. The "Code War" is upon us.

In this dramatic audiobook, former assistant attorney general John P. Carlin takes listeners to the front lines of a global but little-understood fight as the Justice Department and the FBI chases down hackers, online terrorist recruiters, and spies. Today, as our entire economy goes digital, from banking to manufacturing to transportation, the potential targets for our enemies multiply.

This firsthand account is both a remarkable untold story and a warning of dangers yet to come.

©2018 John P. Carlin and Garrett M. Graff (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"This book is thrilling, important, and deeply fascinating. Cybersecurity is key to modern life: an imperative for us as a nation and each of us personally. It's about protecting our personal data, our businesses, and our democracy. John Carlin has been on the front lines, defending us against attacks from China, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and criminal gangs. The riveting stories of these secret battles for our digital safety teach us much about what America can - and must - do to protect itself." (Walter Isaacson, New York Times best-selling author of Leonardo Da Vinci)

"John Carlin has written a crucial book - for practitioners and laymen alike - about the evolution, impacts, and implications of the abuses we've all witnessed, and many have personally experienced, in the cyber domain. Cyber is yet another example of the dual-edged nature of technology: huge benefit to mankind on one hand, and the potential for great harm on the other. And, unique to this book, is the historical description of how we have tried to respond to the harmful activities that occur all too frequently in the cyber domain. An interesting read, with vivid detail. John represents a superb amalgam of legal insight and great writing skill. A must read in my view." (James Clapper, New York Times best-selling author and former director of national intelligence)

great story z

I liked the story and look forward to another updated version about techno threats in our future.

Must Read for Cybersecurity Professionals

Dawn of the Code War brought together the state of cybersecurity through 2018. If you do nothing else, listen to the last chapter and epilogue, it is refreshing to hear real world solutions presented and not just the salacious details of cybercrime.

The only thing that kept me from 5 stars was the length of the audiobook. Kudos on getting this project completed, please write a short book on 2018 to 2020, including the 2020 election. Thanks!

very good info with just a little political bias

overall very good book, eye opening information about China and the amount of technology theft that has gone on over the past couple decades.
great insight into government policy and the attempts to deal with Internet security gets a bit partisan at the end kind of a FBI director Comey fanboy. the author criticizes Trump for using a cell phone but does not mention Hillary Clinton's use of private servers. however most of the book is unbiased and worth the credit.

must read/listen

the book does a great job at explaining the challenges of cyber security. a must read for everyone.

Urgent and clear.

A very detailed look at the history of US cybersecurity policy, attacks, and countermeasures. Author is highly experienced and very insightful. A must read for anybody in the field.

Master class

Incredibly comprehensive account of the past present and future of cyber security. Well written and understandable to the lay person. This is a seminal work and should be the primary textbook for a required course for decades to come. The topic sounds technical but this transcends cyberspace and affects every one of us. Revelatory and freaking frightening.

Cyber war, hackers, and the future of the internet

John P Carlin is a US civil servant he was the Assistant Attorney General (DOJ). He was also chief of staff for FBI Director Robert S. Mueller. It is therefore expected that his narrative is biased to what some might consider American exceptionalism.

Regardless, his experience at the front line of economic, and geopolitical cyber warfare is as good as they come. It is incredible that such little investment has gone into cyber security when the risks are as large as they seem. I am writing this review just as news of a hack on Largest Hotel Group compromised over 500 million customers personal details in a span of 4 years. As with the Sony hack, this is an all too common occurrence lately, even affecting Facebook, Google and many others.

The internets backbone was not built with security in mind, but ease of use. We are finding out the costs of such a free and open network where criminals are always ahead, and the policing and regulation is inherently playing catch-up, and reacting to more and more sophisticated attacks. The realm of what used to be a hacker society is now being used by governments to disrupt rival nations, where no one's hands are clean, and proof is hard to come by.

Whether its a pre-emptive attack on military installations, an economic attack to steal technology, or just vandals and blackhats disrupting the system, we are in the age of technical vulnerability and its up to the individual entities to secure themselves, without much help from government who are lagging behind in the know-how as well as financial support.

This book is extremely informative about the governments role in the cyber realm, where they are and where they should be. It is highly recommended.

Worth the Read/Listen.

Every honest internet user should read this book, used double security, strong passwords and BE SUSPICIOUS of received emails!

All the major cyber security stories and trends tied together in a riveting way

I’ve heard each of the stories separately. But, never tied together so neatly with the causes and effects so eloquently detailed. I normally listen to audibles while driving. I miss a lot because urban driving requires the brunt of my attention. So, to grasp the ideas in most audibles, I normally have to listen two or three times. This one captured my attention without having to decipher hidden meaning. So, left enough cerebral resources to drive without distraction. This was my favourite so far.

One of awesome book will first hand info

I highly recommend this book. Very well written and illustrated. Lot of Gov information that first time revealed