Synopsis (heavy bias)
Going into the 2020 elections, I thought it would be good to get some insights on how Russian cyber efforts affected the 2016 elections. The Plot to Hack America: How Putin’s Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election seemed liked it could wrap things up neatly. It did not.
The majority of this novel is focused on the history of Russian spycraft. There are a few sparse paragraphs that discuss how common Russian spycraft methods were applied to the hack of the Democratic National Convention emails, how they use Donald Trump as an unwitting asset, and what role WikiLeaks had on the elections. However it is mostly trying to draw correlation between what Russia is known to do and how people acted going into the elections.
My Reaction
This novel does not talk about the technical methods of getting into the DNC’s emails. It does not address the use of social media to promote their ideology. It does not talk about events were used to manipulate the media. It does not talk about any real cyber security topics.
Overall, this novel does not address its title. It reads as a rant against WikiLeaks and as a means to vilify Russia. Maybe those organizations are horrible, but this book does a poor job of proving it.
Recommendation
I do not recommend this novel for anyone. The only lesson for a cyber security professional in this book is to make sure you consider your software as a service offerings in your security plans. Don’t assume that Google, Microsoft, or any other SaaS provider is doing all the security for you.