You can’t help but wonder how much Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security, was written to enhance the reputation and revenue stream of its primary author, Richard Clarke. After all, he was the anti-terrorism official from the Clinton and Bush Administrations who publicly apologized in 2004 for failing to stop the Sept. 11 attacks, and he’s been making hay as a security consultant and television pundit ever since. Cyber War (Ecco Press, April 2010, 290 pps., $26, with co-author Robert Knake) continues in that vein, as a vehicle for Clarke to grandstand and tout the wisdom of Richard Clarke.
Maddeningly, however, Clarke also raises some profound points about cyber-security and the nightmarish strategic questions it raises—for the government and private sector alike. So anyone worried about IT security in the Internet age would be remiss to ignore this book.
