Breakpoint

by Richard A. Clarke and Kenneth V. & Kenneth V. M.D. Iserson Iserson

Book Overview

Americas preeminent counterterrorism expert and #1 bestselling author presents the global village--an intricately intertwined network of technology that binds together the worlds economies,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399153780
• ISBN13: 9780399153785
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
• Length: 309 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Technology Terrorists

One day. That is how long it took me to read this book. Rarely, do I stop everything to read, let alone, finish, a book. But this one was too good to put down. Again, I found this book on the new books stack at the library. The reason I picked it up was due to the subject matter - the fact that everything is connected to the internet. Breakpoint, by Richard A. Clarke, begins with a series of explosions. No one is killed, but the explosions take out the primary internet connections between the United States and Europe and Asia. And then a couple of satellites go missing. After the dust settles, the US has no communications with anyone outside of the US using the internet. Only the highly secure and encrypted military internet service remain, but those don't carry the university, financial, government, or personal communications. Enter a small team from the Intelligence Analysis Center. The work for the government, but because they aren't a large bureaucracy, and because they move outside of normal channels, they move quickly and see things differently. Then the attacks become more frequent and violent. The early favorite for this attack is China because the United States is increasing the technology gap between the two countries. Add in some Russian mobsters, transhumanists, Luddites, and Living Software, and you have an exciting novel. And, of course, there is a time constraint (the chapters are broken up into time segments - as if I needed any more suspense). This novel will strike home with those of you in the technology field (but don't think that only tech people will enjoy it - it is a great novel). First, there is one software company that owns the desktop and server operating systems. And there is one company that owns the majority of the infrastructure business. Sound kind of familiar? What if there is a concerted effort to hijack specific systems using the holes in either the Operating System? Or, what if during manufacture in China, certain "back doors" are installed in switches, routers, and firewalls? Scary thought. Oh, and Living Software? Basically, it is software that writes software. Without humans. This novel takes place in the not-so-distant future. Around 2012, if I remember correctly. Almost everyone is driving a hybrid of some nature. To get from one place to another, Very Light Jets (VLJ) are used. And the military is very close to rolling out exoskeletons for their troops. Be sure to read the Author's Note to learn more about the technology that is he uses in the novel. If you need some fiction, that uses a lot of fact, rolled up in an exciting premise, this is the novel for you. Very highly recommended.

Too close to reality for comfort

Working in the high tech industry, I read about these amazing advances on a daily basis and I'm awed. Clarke connects the dots of where we'll be in a few years and I'm stunned. His compelling characters and fast moving plot are an entertaining way to present pros/cons on a slew of emerging moral, legal and ethical issues.

Breakpoint

It's definetly a novel for any reader. I've read it and scaryingly it seems alot of the events in the book are coming true.

Truth as Fiction

This book belongs to the science fiction genre despite Dick Clark's disclaimer that it is not science fiction. There is nothing wrong with this genre although Clark appears to think so. Science fiction authors, as a whole, have never pretended to great writers, but consider themselves explorers of probable futures and purveyors of original ideas. This book does exactly this. It is not great literature, but it contains a number of significant ideas and presents a very probable future for the digital age. The central, and overarching, premise of this book is the extreme vulnerability of the so-called Global Network as it exists today. The term Global Network (Clark calls it the `Globalgrid')), refers not to a specific network, but rather refer to the phenomenon of worldwide inter-connectivity that has been created between independently owned and operated telecommunication networks. Curiously, given his tenure a presidential advisor on Cyberspace Security, Clark apparently is not aware that the Global Network exists today and such 21st Century phenomenona as the Internet are dependent on it. Be this as it may, Clark does an excellent job of expounding on the physical and operating vulnerabilities of the Global Network. Further he implies that the third leg of information assurance, robust network resilience, is lacking in the Network and would contribute to the massive disruptions even a partial Network failure would cause. Clark is not a great writer of novels, but he is an excellent purveyor of important ideas. This book is not even on the Tom Clancy level as work of fiction, but it is an enormously significant contribution to the on going debate information assurance in a digital age. In Clark's own words, "Sometimes you can tell more truth through fiction." Hear, hear.

Great book. Thrilling Read.

I wanted to escape a little from work so started this book and finished it within 24 hours. It's a quick read, and Clarke gives the reader insights into many new technological innovations that I had not heard of. If you liked this book, you should also read Against All Enemies and The Scorpion's Gate. All three are very informative and interesting.