Sandworm

“Sandworm” by Andy Greenberg is a fascinating reflection of the Russian state prior to the modern Ukrainian conflict. Published in 2019, the book dives deep into Russia’s powerful hacking teams from modest inception to their infamous hacks at the Olympics, during elections, and towards their neighbors. I highly recommend this book for those interested in getting a deeper context to the Ukrainian conflict.

The book constantly touches on the need for a Digital Geneva Convention. In many ways the opportunity for such a stance has passed and we’re left with only a world increasingly becoming more weaponized in the cyberspace. A missed opportunity.

I enjoyed the book’s emphasis on the individual researchers. Many one off, random researchers have had an outsized impact on the history of cyber investigations. This resonates with my own experiences in cyber - oftentimes the most proficient technologists are from unlikely places.

The book overlaps fairly significantly with other tellings of cyberwar published in the late 2010s - “Countdown to Zero Day” in particular. I was reading the two books concurrently and it was funny to see “Sandworm” reference Kim Zetter’s work at the same time I was reading it.

I would recommend “Sandworm” to folks wanting to learn more about geopolitical tensions in the cyberspace. The book is also intriguing for techies due to specific details of exploitations and malware attributions. I’ve likely gotten my fill for 2010s cyberwar in the immediate term and will be looking for more modern tales moving forward.