Author: Mark Russinovich

Cybersecurity and Cyber Terrorism in the News

There's been a lot happening in the world of cybersecurity and cyber-terrorism. Here's a summary of some of the key recent headlines from just the last two weeks that relate to Zero Day:

Sky News story on Chinese hackers targeting Western firms (with live hack of Sky News reporter)

The US and EU have agreed to run a joint cyberwar exercise in 2011

Iran blames Siemens, the US and Israel for the Stuxnet virus attack they claim destroyed several centrifuges used in their Uranium enrichment program last summer

The White House is circulating a draft bill that would give DHS oversight of civilian networks

Howard Schmitd, the White House cybersecurity advisor and author of the forward to Zero Day, helped usher the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace through to become the government's official policy

The FBI's Assistant Director of the Cyber Division told the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism last week that "there is not enough protection to stop people from accessing personal home systems, businesses and much of our national infrastructure."

The FBI got an unprecedented court order allowing them to take over the Coreflood botnet in order to disable it

A US Senator stated last week that the US needs a cybersecurity emergency response team

FBI head Robert Mueller told Congress that Al Queda cyber terrorism is real threat and that al Queda has shown interest in hacking skills

Russian President Medvedev denounced a cyber-attack on a popular Russian social networking cite that hosts his blog

The University of Rhode Island hosted a cybersecurity symposium last week that drew members of the cybersecurity community and government

An industry survey admits that most energy and utility companies don't use state-of-the-art technology to defend their networks and are exposed to sophisticated cyber-attacks

Law firms are increasingly attacked by stealthy, low-profile cyber-attacks much like the one that opens Zero Day

The NY Times observes that cyber-attacks and cybercrime create an asymmetrical online war

Experts see a rising thread of cyberattacks in the US

A NASA report on a cyber-attack that compromised their networks put the International Space Station, Hubble telescope and Shuttle program at risk

The US government admits that cyber attackers have the upper hand

Germany has created a cyber-defense center

IBM says that they see 13 billion cybersecurity alerts every day

 

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Audiocast of Me Reading Chapter One

I just posted an audio recording of me reading the first chapter of Zero Day. You can listen to it online or download it from the book's excerpt page. 

 

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Interview with Dresser After Dark Radio Show

Here's my interview with the syndicated radio show Dresser After Dark, where I discuss cyber security and the threat of cyber terrorism:

Interview with Dresser After Dark

 

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International Kindle Availability

Unfortunately, because the publisher (St. Martin's Press) and Amazon.com haven't been able to agree on terms for foreign digital distribution, Zero Day is available on Kindle only in the US. They've been at an impasse for a couple of years, so I doubt that they'll work things out any time soon. I apologize on their behalf if you live outside the US, but hope you'll fall back on the hardcover instead of skipping Zero Day altogether. 

 

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My Podcast with AuthorsCast

Check out my interview with AuthorsCast.com:

Mark talks about this first foray into fiction writing, his motivations for writing a novel, and the five year effort to see the book through from concept to publication. He discusses how he uses his extensive background knowledge to imbue his story with a true sense of authenticity, in the tradition of literary influences like Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton. He goes on to discuss his own real-life work in the field, including how IT professionals are fighting back against malware, and other efforts now underway to make the Internet more secure.

Finally, he explains why he put sex scenes in the book, reveals how he got Bill Gates to provide a blurb, and speculates on who might play the lead characters in Zero Day: The Movie.

http://authorscast.com/Episodes/Mark-Russinovich-on-Zero-Day-A-Novel

 

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On Writing Fiction versus Nonfiction

I share my  views on the similarities and differences between writing fiction and non-fiction:

http://booktrib.com/2011/03/fiction-vs-non-fiction-how-different-are-they/ 

 

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Winners of the Twitter and Facebook Book Giveaways

I'm excited to announce the winners of the Twitter and Facebook Zero Day book giveaways. If you see your name in the list, email your address to markrussinovich@hotmail.com and I'll send you your signed copy. If you didn't win, keep following my Twitter tweets and Facebook posts for announcements of future giveaways. 

Twitter Winners

The Twitter contest required entrants to email me a link  to their retweet of my tweet announcing Zero Day's availability on its publication day, March 15. There were 20 winners of a signed copy of Zero Day and one winner of one of my two Advance Reading Copies of Zero Day, which the publisher sent me a few months before publication. Congratulations and I hope you enjoy the book!

Chris Rhodes
David Sebban
Eric Thomas
Hikmat Kanaan
Ivan Jaimes Martínez
Jeroen Verhulst
Juergen Nieveler
Karsten Strøbæk
Kirby Huntsinger
Mark Griffiths
Markus Arvidsson
Malcolm McCaffery
Nikolay Matyukhin
Orin Thomas
Robin Ferris
Scott Ladewig
Sander Spierenburg
Sandip N Vashi  
Алпеев Максим
Артем Ушаков  

And the winner of the signed Advance Reading Copy (ARC) is: 

Matthew White

Facebook Winners

The Facebook contest required entrants to like Zero Day's Facebook page by March 15. There were 10 winners from the approximately 700 that liked Zero Day by the deadline. Congratulations!

Abey John
Alex Fairly
Ed Chapman
Jean Hudson
Jim Griffin
Larry E Jones
Mark Hett
Mike Howells
Nicolas Clerc
Steve Bucci
 

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Interview with D.A. Confidential

I answer questions ranging from how he got started writing fiction to what writing books he found helpful in this written interview posted on the D.A. Confidential blog:

http://daconfidential.blogspot.com/2011/03/author-interview-mark-russinovich_17.html

 

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My 'X' Zone Interview

Check out my interview about cyber-security on the syndicated radio show, 'X' Zone, hosted by Rob McConnell:

Mark Russinovich on 'X'' Zone

Zero Day is Here

I’m excited to announce that Zero Day is now available at all major book retailers! You can read all the reviews I’ve collected so far on the Praise for Zero Day page at the Zero Day Web site.

If you’re curious about the novel publishing process, you can read my three-part blog post describing my experience with Zero Day, from the initial idea, to finding an agent, signing a publisher, and final publication: The Road to Zero Day

Buy the book, leave a review on Amazon.com, follow me on Twitter, meet me at a book signing, and send a note sharing your thoughts to markrussinovich@hotmail.com.

I hope you enjoy the book look forward to hearing from you!