Book Review: Countdown to Zero Day

I’ve had a review copy of Countdown to Zero Day sitting on my shelf for several months now. When I first requested it, I was excited because it’s not everyday a book recommended to you by a friend ends up on an “available for review list.” (Aaron, who wrote about IoT security for us, recommended it to me.) But between request and arrival I started reading A Game of Thrones and completely forgot about Countdown to Zero day until I was straightening my shelves a few weeks ago.

I really should have started reading it sooner.

Countdown to Zero Day is the story of Stuxnet, which is widely considered to be the first cyber-weapon. The book starts from the discovery of the virus, and the way the engineers deconstructed it piece by piece to discover it’s intent and creators. We follow the political climate Stuxnet was released into. And lastly, what the implications of this weapon are as the world moves forward.

Really, the topic should be a fairly dry read. But Zetter writes the story with the tone of a techno-thriller. The security professionals tracking down the code are presented as our heroes, the ones looking out for the average user. They unravel the tale told in code, and release the information into a world that just doesn’t seem to care. It wouldn’t be out of place on the fiction shelves, if every word of it weren’t true.

I recommend Countdown to Zero Day particularly to those interested in politics or technology. But really, the way Zeller has written this story makes it approachable even if you aren’t up on either topic.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Countdown to Zero Day from Blogging For Books for review. Amazon links are affiliate links.