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  • This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends

  • The Cyberweapons Arms Race
  • By: Nicole Perlroth
  • Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
  • Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (106 ratings)

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This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends

By: Nicole Perlroth
Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
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Publisher's Summary

Bloomsbury presents This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole Perlroth, read by Allyson Ryan.

Zero day: a software bug that allows a hacker to break in and scamper through the world’s computer networks invisibly until discovered. One of the most coveted tools in a spy's arsenal, a zero day has the power to tap into any iPhone, dismantle safety controls at a chemical plant and shut down the power in an entire nation - just ask the Ukraine.

Zero days are the blood diamonds of the security trade, pursued by nation states, defence contractors, cybercriminals and security defenders alike. In this market, governments aren’t regulators; they are clients - paying huge sums to hackers willing to turn over gaps in the internet and stay silent about them. 

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth’s discovery, unpacked. A intrepid journalist unravels an opaque, code-driven market from the outside in - encountering spies, hackers, arms dealers, mercenaries and a few unsung heroes along the way. As the stakes get higher and higher in the rush to push the world’s critical infrastructure online, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is the urgent and alarming discovery of one of the world’s most extreme threats.

©2021 Nicole Perlroth (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic Reviews

"Reads like a modern-day John le Carré novel, with terrifying tales of espionage and cyber warfare that will keep you up at night, both unable to stop reading, and terrified for what the future holds." (Nick Bilton, author of American Kingpin)

"A stemwinder of a tale of how frightening cyber weapons have been turned on their maker, and the implications for the world when everyone and anyone can now decimate everyone else with a click of a mouse.... Perlroth takes a complex subject that has been cloaked in opaque techspeak and makes it dead real for the rest of us. You will not look at your mobile phone, your search engine, even your networked thermostat the same way again." (Kara Swisher, co-founder of Recode and New York Times opinion writer)

"Nicole Perlroth has written a dazzling and revelatory history of the darkest corner of the internet, where hackers and governments secretly trade the tools of the next war.... This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends is a rollicking fun trip, front to back, and an urgent call for action before our wired world spins out of our control. I've covered cybersecurity for a decade and yet paragraph after paragraph I kept wondering: 'How did she manage to figure *that* out? How is she so good?'" (Garrett M. Graff, author of The Only Plane in the Sky)

What listeners say about This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends

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Most informative and interesting book in years

A truly excellent book which cuts through the complexity of this domain. A separate review made me laugh where the person also really enjoyed the book until the facts weren't convenient with their political alignment.

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  • LC
  • 06-06-2021

Comprehensive and detailed

Excellent modern history and explanation of information security. Required reading for public policy professionals and policy makers.

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Great book. but I don't think the narrator????

this is a great book. I loved it and found it compelling. but the Narrator clearly dosn't watch the news, she miss pronounced words that if she had it would have been obvious. the Ukraine capital city for instance dosn't have an R in it and she repeatedly pronounced Keiv as Kreiv??? go figure.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating and frightening

A compelling picture of a world that most people have no idea about. This book casts light on the shadowy world of cyber spying and cyber crime; in a way that should make us all take heed. Unfortunately let down by a disappointing production with far too many mispronunciations and words that I cannot believe were in the written text.

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Unfortunate mispronouncing

I'd continue listening if not for the narrator getting basic Ukrainian words and place names incorrect. Of course it's not going to be perfect but she is pronouncing 'Kyiv' as 'Kriv' and it's off putting and disrupting the flow of the narration. Surely it is as simple as googling the pronunciation of these words.

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  • gtm
  • 04-03-2024

Scary & Fascinating

a view into a world few people know exist. i a would love a follow up supplement covering 2020-24!

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Very eye opening.

It lost some stars because of all the blatant political biases….. but the subjective matter in this book was very interesting and has changed how I see things.

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Great book! Narrator was a bit frustrating.

This was an incredible read and also listen! I found this book to be so informative and interesting on many levels.
Unfortunately, the narrating of TIHTTMTWE was only 'ok'. The main frustration I had was the mispronunciation of Ukraine's capital Kyiv. I am unsure why but Allyson Ryan always pronounced it as "Kreeve". Some may see this as minor but when this is constantly spoken of, it tends to get annoying. I found myself saying it correctly in my head whenever I heard the incorrect pronunciation.
Other than that, Nicole Perlroth's 10 years of research is beyond intriguing, mind boggling and at times terrifying (of the amount of "invisible" information, cyber wars and trades unknown to the general public). Loved it!

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A good roadmap to this side of the internet

A good roadmap to this side of the internet and the vulnerabilities associated with this technology.

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Essential reading for anyone in the Cyber Security profession

If you are working in or are considering working in the Cyber Security realm then this is essential reading to calibrate your understanding of the threat level we are currently in.

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