Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It

Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It, Richard A. Clarke and Richard Knake, Ecco Books, 2010

This book looks at the next arena for war, cyberspace, a war that America may already have lost.

Cyber war is already here. In the past few years, several countries have found themselves under cyber attack from unknown persons. There have been a number of documented instances when American defense computer systems have been hacked, and terabytes of information (including classified information) have been copied.

American computers, because America is so wired, are quite vulnerable to hacking. The average home computer, along with thousands of others, can be taken over by an anonymous person, and used to simultaneously attack, for instance, the computer system of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. A potential enemy has probably installed "logic bombs", bits of undetectable software, in the right place. At the proper moment, they will, for instance, shut down a large part of the electricity grid (for weeks or months), or spread a computer virus inside the Pentagon.

The best thing America can do about it is to really beef up its cyber defense. America can put some doubt in an attacker's mind that their cyber attack will work.  America's entire electricity system is extremely vulnerable to hackers, because the important parts are very accessible from the Internet. Tests have been conducted to see how easy it is to take control of a major electric generator system from the Internet. In several cases, it happened in less than an hour. New regulations are needed to force utilities to secure their systems, with real penalties for non-compliance. In the pentagon, it is very easy for malware to move from an unsecured computer to those that handle classified data, with disastrous results. If another country really wanted to declare all-out cyber war, the electronic collapse of America could happen in less than one hour.

It would be easy to dismiss the warnings in this book as impossible; it can't happen here. Which would you prefer: to let it happen, and then panic and point fingers, or spend some money now to reduce the chances of cyber war affecting the average American?

This is a really interesting book that is certainly up to the minute. It's easy to read for the average person, and not filled with technical or military jargon. This one is very much recommended.

Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror

Against all Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror, Richard A. Clarke, Free Press, 2004

Richard Clarke has worked in the area of national security for the past 30 years. He was head of counterterrorism affairs for Presidents Clinton and Bush II. In this book, he severely criticizes the current Bush Administration for its lack of interest in terrorism and al Qaeda before 9/11, and its disastrous decisions afterwards.

He first explores the Reagan and Bush I reactions to events like Lockerbie, TWA 800, and the Beirut bombing that killed over 200 American soldiers. The word "terrorism" had not yet entered the American lexicon. Whatever else is said about the Clinton Administration, at least President Clinton took the threat from al Qaeda very seriously, and tried to do something about it.

There were several opportunities to get Osama bin Laden during the Clinton years. Unfortunately, the reports that he was in a certain building at a certain time were never rock solid. Even if they were totally reliable, it takes time to get the report from Afghanistan to Washington, and for the appropriate orders to be sent to the ships or planes in the area. No senior al Qaeda figure, especially bin Laden, was going to stay in one place for any length of time. If the US had bombed innocent people, it would have been a public relations disaster.

The second Bush Administration came into office much more concerned about Iraqi terrorism than about al Qaeda (according to Clarke, for no good reason). When he tried to impress upon senior White House officials the seriousness of the threat from al Qaeda, he was met with bureaucratic delay after delay. Bush's decision to invade Iraq (again, according to Clarke, for no good reason) gave al Qaeda a propaganda coup of immense proportions.

After 9/11, the Bush Administration should have worked to improve relations with the frontline states, like Iran and Saudi Arabia, that are most vulnerable to al Qaeda. It should also have worked to improve relations with Islam, in general. These things were not done. Officially, there was no federal money available to fix the gaping holes in America's domestic vulnerability to terrorist attack, but there was plenty of money to invade Iraq.

Could 9/11 have been prevented, even if all parts of the intelligence community were running like a well-oiled machine (another area of criticism from Clarke)? Perhaps not. If a major attack didn't happen on that particular day, it would have happened some other day. This book is a huge wake-up call, and it is very highly recommended for all Americans. If I could, I would give this book three thumbs up.

Your Government Failed You

Your Government Failed You, Richard A. Clarke, Ecco Books, 2008

This book takes an uncompromising look at the inability of the government to prevent security and
intelligence failures, like those that occurred before 9/11.

Prior to the invasion of Iraq, the US Army had no counter-insurgency strategy. Part of the reason was to not resurrect unpleasant memories from Vietnam, and part of the reason was the absolute belief among top officials of the Bush Administration that it would not be needed, that the US troops would be greeted as liberators. It wasn't until four years into the war that General Petraeus was asked to put together a counter-insurgency strategy.

In Iraq, there is a nearly equal number of US troops and civilian contractors. There is a similar ratio between government and private intelligence analysts here in America. The author thinks that should change, now. Analysis should be brought back under government control. Analysts also have no access to public sources
of information. Some public bit of information may be all that is needed to, for instance, turn a satellite
photo into a photo of secret missile bases.

The author also feels that the percentage of ambassadorships and high-level defense and security jobs
available to big political contributors and former elected officials should be reduced by a lot; those jobs
belong to the professionals. Other countries are better than America at getting human spies on the "inside."
That part of the US intelligence business should be downsized, and America should focus on the technical part of intelligence gathering. But, America needs to resist the temptation to launch more and more sophisticated satellites into orbit, when a simpler satellite will do the job.

Clarke feels that the next major battleground will be in cyberspace. The current staff of the Office of
Management and Budget working on federal IT security is 2 people. That should be increased to more like 200 people, and they should get the clout to force agencies to take proper security precautions.

Clarke has spent many years in high government positions, so he knows what he is talking about. Here is a fascinating, and eye-opening, book that will help to explain large parts of recent US foreign policy.

Alphanauts

Alphanauts, J. Brian Clarke, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, 2006

A small group of explorers have just returned to Earth after a several year trip to an earthlike planet of Alpha Centauri. They find, to their dismay, that they, literally, can't live on Earth at all. Anyone who has been away for at least 3 full years contracts a murderous disease called Earth Allergy Syndrome, or EAS. Also, relativity has reared its head; the toddler daughter of one of the explorers is now a middle-aged grandmother. The explorers are forced to return to Alpha Centauri, to what is now called Genser's World (named after one of their group who succumbed to EAS).

Back on Genser's World, the colonists find the de-evolved descendants of another spacefaring race, and their empathic symbionts. Think of the symbionts as flying creatures the size of a hawk, with the face of a cat, and they love to be petted and scratched. They form bonds with humans almost instantly, a bond that becomes impossible to break. The colonists also come into contact with two cyborg intelligences, and a computer intelligence which is about to evolve into something that could easily wipe out the humans.

Suddenly, all contact with Earth is lost. By this time, the intelligences have modified the colonist's ship so that a trip of several years duration back to Earth has been reduced to several weeks. A group of colonists returns to Earth, and finds a scene of total devastation. Just before "The End," an asteroid was hollowed out and turned into a colony ship. It was launched toward Genser's World, with over 500 people on board. Their intention is to turn Genser's World into a fascist utopia.

This is a first-rate planetary colonization story with lots of science. Engineers and scientists will enjoy this book; so will everyone else who likes good, interesting writing.