Countdown to Zero Day
by Kim Zetter · first published 2015
80% recommend20% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Detailed, readable account of Stuxnet: how it worked technically, how it was discovered and reverse engineered, and the geopolitical context. Suits general readers and technical people who like true-crime-style infosec.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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What Hacker News says
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…weren't written in 2018, but some I enjoyed: * Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution (Steven Levy) * Masters of DOOM (David Kushner) * The simpsons and their mathematical secrets (Simon Singh) * Countdown to zero day (about stuxnet, by Kim Zetter) * Sapiens: A brief history of human kind (Yuval Noah Harari) * Coders at work (Some interviews, not all, but I enjoyed it. By Peter Seibel)
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗Seems like a good time to plug an excellent book: Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon [0] The US Government has spent two decades and hundreds of millions of dollars building tools to undermine the security of systems around…
on “U.S. Treasury, Commerce Depts. Hacked Through SolarWinds Compromise” ↗…gives a rounded picture of the figureheads that brought it so much fame. 2. Moonwalking with Einstein - A fun read about a journalist who took researching a memory competition a bit too seriously. 3. Countdown to Zero Day - A fascinating look at the development and deployment of Stuxnet -- the virus built to set Iran's nuclear program back.
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2017?” ↗It's all pretty well documented in a wide variety of sources, but if you want the definite read check out "Countdown to Zero Day" by Kim Zetter. Lots of technical information about how Stuxnet/Olympic Games actually worked. A good book as well.
on “The Drums of Cyberwar” ↗I thought Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon was a fantastic chronicle of Stuxnet. For those not interested in the whole narrative, it's still interesting to browse one or two chapters…
on “Stuxnet's Legacy Lives on in New Windows Bug” ↗Countdown to Zero Day by Kim Zetter. It talks about the Stuxnet and the story behind it, and I got the chance to learn some fairly interesting stuff in the meantime (like the complexity of building a nuclear bomb). I found…
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗I highly recommend reading the book "Countdown to Zero Day". Stuxnet was incredibly sophisticated and explicitly targeted at Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities. https://www.amazon.com/Countdown-Zero-Day-Stuxnet-Digital/dp...
on “Israel silent as Iran hit by computer virus more violent than Stuxnet – report” ↗Co author is Kim Zetter the Wired journalist who has been covering Stuxnet for years and wrote a great book on it “Countdown to Zero Day”.
on “How a secret Dutch mole aided the U.S.-Israeli Stuxnet cyberattack on Iran” ↗There's an incredible book by Kim Zetter called Countdown to Zero Day which is indispensable for anyone interested in Stuxnet: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465875-countdown-to-ze...
on “Stuxnet” ↗I've looked at recommendations in 25 articles and compiled a list of the most recommended books on cybersecurity sorted by how often they were mentioned. Hacking Exposed 7 by Stuart McClure Countdown to Zero Day by Kim Zetter Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick Spam Nation by Brian Krebs Practical Malware Analysis by Michael Sikorski Threat Modeling by Adam Shostack Social Engineering by Christopher Hadnagy…
on “Show HN: A compilation of cybersecurity book recommendations from 25 articles” ↗Style and subject: Ghost in the Wires, Kevin Mitnick Subject: Worm, Mark Bowden Countdown to Zero Day, Kim Zetter Style: The Soul of a New Machine, Tracy Kidder All the President's Men, Woodward & Bernstein
on “Cybersecurity in 1989: Looking back at “The Cuckoo's Egg” (2015)” ↗Has anybody else here read Kim Zetter's great book Countdown to Zero Day? It's a wonderful look at the discovery of Stuxnet.
on “Stuxnet Source Code” ↗For a broader overview of Stuxnet and the surrounding situation, I would recommend the book "Countdown to Zero Day" - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0770436196
on “Unilateral Israeli changes to Stuxnet caused its exposure, angering US” ↗Closely related is Countdown to Zero Day, an excellent book concerning the same subject matter written by Kim Zetter.
on “Chelsea Manning is missing” ↗You should read "Countdown to zero day"[0]. Some of the measures that were taken exceeded what anyone in Hollywood could ever imagine. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Countdown-Zero-Day-Stuxnet-Digital/dp...
on “The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written” ↗