Cyber War: The Next Threat To National Security And What To Do About It, by Richard A. Clarke

The time has finally come for me to wade into the controversy of Richard Clarke's latest book Cyber War: The Next Threat To National Security And What To Do About It.

First, for full disclosure.  I met Richard Clarke, and he was very generous to we with his time and advice.  He is very smart, and he has experience personally more counter terrorism operations than most of us will ever read about. He is a close colleague of a friend of mine, so my opinion may be biased.

Reviews of the book have spanned the spectrum from very positive to very negative.  Generally, it appears to me that policy makers and lawyers greet it positively, while computer techies have gone as far as to call it "pure fantasy."  The book is open to criticism because it is thinly sourced.  There are, I think, some good reasons why citations to authority are almost non-existent.  Clarke is writing for the masses, not for academics.  He is attempting to sound the alarm to the public at large.  Indeed, two of his previous works on cyber were novels, because he reportedly felt that a fictional tale was the best way to convey his message.  This new book is non-fiction.

In addition, some things presented in the book Clarke simply knows from first hand experience or from sources he can not cite.

Critics have argued that some assertions he makes already have been disproved elsewhere.  It is, I think, more accurate to say that in instances where no one knows for sure what happened, he has presented the version that he believes without citing evidence to the contrary.  One review I read blasted him for attributing the Estonian attacks to Russia, stating that such had been proven false.  That goes too far, I think.  Such issues are not resolved for certain one way or the other, at least not in the unclassified realm.  Some of Clarke's "facts" are disputed without his acknowledging the disputes.

In my opinion, the book is very good at the purpose for which it was written.  It would be useful background reading for our course, and I would add it to a summer reading list.  I have decided, however, to not make it a required text during the term.

You can buy the book on Amazon at this link. http://www.amazon.com/Cyber-War-Threat-National-Security/dp/0061962236/.  For $18, I recommend that you read it.  But, it will not be required.