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  • The Fifth Domain

  • Defending Our Country, Our Companies, and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats
  • By: Richard A. Clarke, Robert K. Knake
  • Narrated by: Marc Cashman
  • Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (15 ratings)
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The Fifth Domain

By: Richard A. Clarke,Robert K. Knake
Narrated by: Marc Cashman
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Summary

An urgent new warning from two best-selling security experts - and a gripping inside look at how governments, firms, and ordinary citizens can confront and contain the tyrants, hackers, and criminals bent on turning the digital realm into a war zone.

"In the battle raging between offense and defense in cyberspace, Clarke and Knake have some important ideas about how we can avoid cyberwar for our country, prevent cybercrime against our companies, and in doing so, reduce resentment, division, and instability at home and abroad." (Bill Clinton)

There is much to fear in the dark corners of cyberspace. From well-covered stories like the Stuxnet attack which helped slow Iran's nuclear program, to lesser-known tales like EternalBlue, the 2017 cyber battle that closed hospitals in Britain and froze shipping crates in Germany in midair, we have entered an age in which online threats carry real-world consequences. But we do not have to let autocrats and criminals run amok in the digital realm. We now know a great deal about how to make cyberspace far less dangerous - and about how to defend our security, economy, democracy, and privacy from cyber attack.
 

This is a book about the realm in which nobody should ever want to fight a war: the fifth domain, the Pentagon's term for cyberspace. Our guides are two of America's top cybersecurity experts, seasoned practitioners who are as familiar with the White House Situation Room as they are with Fortune 500 boardrooms. Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake offer a vivid, engrossing tour of the often unfamiliar terrain of cyberspace, introducing us to the scientists, executives, and public servants who have learned through hard experience how government agencies and private firms can fend off cyber threats.  

Clarke and Knake take us inside quantum-computing labs racing to develop cyber superweapons; bring us into the boardrooms of the many firms that have been hacked and the few that have not; and walk us through the corridors of the US intelligence community with officials working to defend America's elections from foreign malice. With a focus on solutions over scaremongering, they make a compelling case for "cyber resilience" - building systems that can resist most attacks, raising the costs on cyber criminals and the autocrats who often lurk behind them, and avoiding the trap of overreaction to digital attacks.  

Above all, Clarke and Knake show us how to keep the fifth domain a humming engine of economic growth and human progress by not giving in to those who would turn it into a wasteland of conflict. Backed by decades of high-level experience in the White House and the private sector, The Fifth Domain delivers a riveting, agenda-setting insider look at what works in the struggle to avoid cyberwar.

©2019 Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A sobering but hopeful exploration of defenses against the weaponization of the internet...Clarke and Knake, drawing on interviews with experts, explain cybersecurity’s intricacies in a lucid, engaging manner that avoids the alarmism that often surrounds the subject. The result is a fine survey that will interest policy makers, executives, and ordinary readers alike.” (Publishers Weekly)
 

“Clarke and Knake, both of whom logged time inside the cybersecurity arms of presidential administrations, have much to say about the ways in which governments and companies have tried to make themselves safe from the legions of hackers out there, from your ordinary black hats to agents of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and other entities..... The authors counsel reassuringly [that] as companies finally make the transition to more secure systems of transmission, encryption, and data storage, there is hope that the threats of old will one day be a footnote.... Largely of interest to policymakers and security experts, though with much for the Wired crowd as well.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“In The Fifth Domain, two of America’s top cybersecurity experts reach a surprising and encouraging conclusion: it is within our power to manage cyber threats. Clarke and Knake offer a wealth of practical and achievable ideas for how the US government, American companies, and private citizens can deter and thwart attacks.” (Susan Rice)

What listeners say about The Fifth Domain

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  • 12-05-21

Informative but biast

clarke and knake are doing a good analysis of the cyberwarfare for the past 10y, however the conclusions are once again polarized through the US filter. Looking forward for a more objective perspective on the topic.
Finally , I am missing is conclusions based on the analysis of cyber strategies of the major players.

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A great eye-opener

Although one could always argue it’s not current enough out, the book does a good job of highlighting multiple, sometimes ill-understood, challenges associated with cyber. I’d recommend this book to someone new to this field.

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Lobbying for change of US policy

Generally useful witj reference to well know cyber attacks but very US centric with a lot of lobbying for change of US cyber policy

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Truly interesting

As a guy who is not all that familiar with cyber security, and with a knowledge not stretching more than just keeping my passwords somewhat secure and my devices updated, I found this book very interesting.

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