Cyber war : the next threat to national security and what to do about it

They have accessed the office of the Secretary of Defense, the control systems for U.S. electric power grids, and the plans to protect America's latest fighter aircraft.

They can shut down our most vital systems, from transportation to finance, using such weapons as logic bombs, botnets, and trapdoors.

They are today's cyber warriors, the latest combatants in a battle for supremacy that has already begun-a battle America may already be losing. "Cyber War" goes behind the geek talk of hackers and computer scientists to clearly explain what this new warfare involving government, technology, and military strategy is and how we can prepare for it.

From the first cyber crisis meeting in the White House a decade ago to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley and the electrical tunnels under Manhattan, national security experts Richard A.

Clarke and Robert K. Knake trace the rise of the cyber age and profile the characters at its epicenter, including criminals, spies, soldiers, and hackers. As they outline how our national security has already been compromised, Clarke and Knake make chillingly clear what America stands to lose if we continue to follow policies that block our ability to effectively defend ourselves against a cyber attack.