Lisa Monaco
This is a gripping book about today’s cyber threat landscape. Through riveting stories of move and counter-move among global adversaries, Buchanan explains why we are in a constant state of cyber conflict—where the stakes couldn’t be higher. From China’s attacks on our companies to Russia’s attacks on our elections, The Hacker and the State is indispensable reading for anyone who cares about our security, our prosperity, and our democracy.
Thomas Rid
The Hacker and the State is one of the finest books on information security published so far in this century—easily accessible, tightly argued, superbly well-sourced, intimidatingly perceptive.
Encyclopedia Geopolitica - Lewis Tallon
Buchanan is well-placed to detail the history and evolution of this new and oft-misunderstood form of warfare…This book argues that states must learn to read the signaling implied by a cyber-attack, in the same way that they would a military exercise along their border.
Foreign Affairs - Lawrence D. Freedman
A substantial and measured history of cyberattacks in recent decades…Despite the growing ubiquity of cyberattacks, Buchanan also highlights their limits as a means of coercion or as a way of sending a message.
General David Petraeus
This is a great book and the best examination I have read of how increasingly dramatic developments in cyberspace are defining the ‘new normal’ of geopolitics in the digital age. No book I've read does a better job of describing what has transpired in recent years as state and non-state actors have developed ever more diabolically powerful and clever cyber capabilities. Ben Buchanan makes it clear that the future lies not just in Asia, but also in cyberspace, and he captures the dynamics of all of this truly brilliantly.
Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books - Kevin Cassidy
Probes deep into cyber security, the truths and myths about cyber security, and how society, corporations, and individuals pay particularly close attention to it in today’s everchanging world…Allows the reader to understand the real geopolitical competition of the digital age as it applies to business and government agencies.
New York Review of Books - Jonathan Freedland
A helpful reminder…of the sheer diligence and seriousness of purpose exhibited by the Russians in their mission…Information warfare is designed to bamboozle, but its digital variant can be especially baffling to the nonspecialist.
Former senior intelligence officer
More than any other book, The Hacker and the State shows how and why governments hack one another. Having lived and worked in this shadowy world for many years, I came to appreciate its fascinating nuances, fierce competition, and strategic significance. If you read this book, you will, too. Buchanan shares digital spy stories and distills geopolitical insights that you just won’t find anywhere else. Remarkably, he has made his detailed insight accessible to a non-technical audience without any loss of fidelity in the underlying narrative.
Vint Cerf
This is a must-read book. Factual and perceptive, it reveals important truths about cyberthreats and the role they play in international relations.
Joseph Nye
Highly intelligent, important, and timely. Buchanan’s chronology of cases, from early espionage to devastating operations like NotPetya, makes for a great read.
New York Journal of Books - Walter Clemens
Provides a reliable summary and deep analysis of a novel force bound to shape world affairs.
Richard Harknett
The Hacker and the State fundamentally changes the way we think about cyber operations from ‘war’ to something of significant import that is not war—what Buchanan refers to as ‘real geopolitical competition.’ He writes in a highly accessible manner, with in-depth stories that will engage the non-specialist.
MIT Technology Review - Patrick Howell O'Neill
With an academic’s eye, Buchanan compares and contrasts the emerging tactics [of digital competition] with the traditional ways of military conflict, nuclear competition, and espionage to make some sense of the new age. The book dissects how governments use cyberattacks to fundamentally ‘change the state of play.’
Geographical - Angus Parker
Demonstrates how this field has evolved from espionage operations and a field dominated by the United States to cyber-attacks that have broader implications for economies and societies…An excellent primer for understanding how cyber operations have become an indelible part of global relations and ably demonstrates how hacking has ‘earned its place in the playbook of statecraft.’
Bruce Schneier
A great read, packed with insider information and great stories. But the book also makes an important argument about how cyberattacks are transforming the geopolitical playing field, changing our defense priorities and forcing us to rewrite our national security policies.
Antonio Calcara
If you believe that cyber attacks are now critical to understand today’s International Relations, stop doing everything you are doing and start reading Ben Buchanan’s new book…Makes clear how we need to pay attention to the distinctiveness of cyber attacks and the strategic logics behind them…An incredibly informed examination of the cyber attacks that have taken place in recent decades.
