The author of Facebook nation: total information awareness [1] presents in this new book a timely, informative, and interesting discussion of cybersecurity and cyberterrorism. Easily read and generally nonpartisan, this book should be on the reading list of anyone thinking about the broad policy issues and trends surrounding data mining, privacy, and cyberwarfare.

A listing of the section headings and chapter titles provides a basic outline of the contents. Part 1, “Counterterrorism in Retrospect: Then and Now,” contains two chapters: “September 11 Attacks” and “US Intelligence Community.” Part 2, “Counterterrorism Technologies: Total Information Awareness and Data Mining,” contains three chapters: “The Rise and Fall of Total Information Awareness,” “The Afterlife of Total Information Awareness,” and “Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining.” Part 3, “Counterterrorism Technologies: Social Media and Cybersecurity,” has four chapters: “Social Media and Two-Way Street of Total Information Awareness,” “Cyber Warfare: Weapon of Mass Disruption,” “Cyber Attacks, Prevention, and Countermeasures,” and “Plan X and Generation Z.” Finally, Part 4, “Counterterrorism Strategies: Causes and Cures, War and Peace,” concludes the book with chapters on “Understanding Terrorism,” “Cures for Terrorism,” and “War and Peace.” The book presents a crisp narrative on common cyber attacks that currently occur and discusses how business and government may protect against these attacks.

Readers need no special technical background. While containing a few general flowchart models, the book is not a heavy programming guidebook or a detailed state-of-the-art equipment exposition. The narrative is certainly full of detail, but it moves along briskly in a compelling fashion that makes it hard to put down. The author provides numerous source footnotes in each chapter, with as many as 105 at the end of one chapter. Consequently, it is easy to go beyond the text.

Plan X is an announced Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program to provide control and management of real-time military cyber operations. The section on Plan X begins with a quote from Marc Goodman: “If you control the code, you control the world. This is the future that awaits us.” The US is recruiting, among other groups, Generation Z individuals who have been exposed to advanced technologies since birth.

The author views terrorism as a disease that may be cured through education and communication. He repeats Gene Sharp’s list of “198 Methods of Nonviolent Action,” and writes that “terrorism does not advance the cause but only serves to hurt the intention of its perpetrators.” The book concludes with the optimistic view that people want peace, and that social media provides opportunities for achieving this. The last sentence is: “Let us all reach for the higher and more positive side of the human equation!” Readers will decide if these statements are too simplistic and naive or truly achievable.

The author includes a comprehensive index for easily locating desirable material, but readers will want to read the entire book straight through. Many anecdotes and short verbatim conversations provide human interest and illustrations. The book is a relevant, useful, and genial mix of history, current times, practical advice, and policy goals.

More reviews about this item: Amazon