Despite all of us existing here in the digital space, it’s famously been difficult to portray this. You either have a bunch of punk kids with goofy hairdos banging on about ‘googling the mainframe’ over a throbbing bassline, or it’s some greasy dude parked in front of his laptop spouting incomprehensible jargon. Neither is ideal, so how do you get that perfect balance?
Here we’ll break down the cyberthriller genre with five books to get you started on your journey into the binary realm.
View on Amazon.comWe’ll begin with a quick primer on early hacking, and this is as good a history lesson as any to find your feet in the subject. Echoing the vibe of WarGames, Clifford Stoll’s digital cat-and-mouse chase sees him hunting for the elusive German hacker Markus Hess.
When an intruder penetrates the Lawrence Berkeley Lab systems, Stoll is convinced espionage is at play, but it’s up to him alone to prove it. It provides a fascinating insight into the roots of the internet that still holds up today, showing just how far we’ve come while proving that some security challenges never truly change.
Complete with an international spy ring linked to the KGB and drugs, it’s surprisingly accessible to the non-techy person as a straightforward spy thriller. And with its genuine insight into the early internet (via DARPA), it’s the ideal book to kick things off.
View on Amazon.comFamous for his Snow Crash, Stephenson here takes a more historical techno-thriller approach, showing what can really be done with the genre. Never an author to hold back, he bounces between World War II and modern day (which is the late nineties). Drawing the past and present together through code-breaking, it’s a story that questions technology and where it’s taking us.
With his classic nerd outlook, it’s a book that effectively combines scientific know-how with literary prowess. That said, it may lose some readers in its sheer density, but it’s worth sticking with. There are mathematical conundrums and detailed cipher explanations that may make you lose it at points, but then you’ll hit a section that’ll bring you right back up.
I will mention that some of the attitudes may have dated a little (the depictions of women don’t exactly hold up), but overall it’s an ambitious book that shows what can be done with the genre.
Countdown to Zero (2014) – Kim Zetter
View on Amazon.comSetting the template for years to come, Stuxnet was pretty terrifying in terms of scope and scale. For those that don’t know, back in 2010 Iranian nuclear facilities were targeted with malware. The worm was designed to physically destroy centrifuges, and while it was discovered before it could achieve its full objective, it successfully caused significant damage, proving that a cyberattack could have real-world, physical consequences.
Now it’s become shorthand for any serious attack intended to cause actual physical harm. We have a blueprint for fictional attacks where authors can make planes fall from the sky or power grids go dark with the click of a mouse.
And here American journalist Kim Zetter offers the definitive account of what actually happened. Providing her evidence, she traces the worm’s American and Israeli origins and its discovery. The investigation also uncovers a host of other digital spy tools and weapons revealed in its wake. While a little technical knowledge may be required, it remains a compelling read in its immediacy.
Ghost in the Wires (2011) – Kevin Mitnick
View on Amazon.comSo often when we think of ‘hacking’ we conjure up images of lines of Matrix code scrolling past our faces. But, as anyone in the trade will tell you, there’s also the psychological component that’s just as, if not more important. And if you can combine social skills with coding then you’re unstoppable. On second thought, ignore everything I just said. The last thing grans of the world need is more Microsoft tech support calls.
In this memoir, infamous hacker Kevin Mitnick demonstrates that humans are the weakest security link, detailing his exploits breaking into various corporations. From Sun Microsystems to Nokia, few companies were safe. Duping people over the phone, his passkey was his silver tongue. And this is his story, looking back across his life.
Some hacking purists refer to Mitnick as simply a con artist (as if the social aspects are a lesser part of the process). But social-engineering is just as much a part of the process as any other. And it’s not as if he wasn’t also technically adept. His misbehavior, while landing him in prison, fundamentally changed how we think about cybersecurity and inspired multiple thrillers. In many ways, he is the archetypal, all-round quintessential hacker. You only have to watch a show like Mr. Robot to see this.
View on Amazon.comAfter some intense reads, you may be wondering why I’m now ending on what is essentially an airport novel. Well don’t scoff say I. Walking the tightrope between realism and pot-boiler entertainment is no easy task. You run the risk of either creating an impenetrable slog, or something profoundly silly (although Ice T did have fun reading out some of that NCIS nonsense). Yet here Deaver’s hugely underrated police-procedural thriller shows how to do it just right.
In it Wyatt Gillette is an incarcerated hacker freed by the authorities to take down the notorious cyber killer ‘Phate’ who’s socially engineering people to their demise. Teamed with grizzled detective Frank Bishop, Wyatt must work with him, stopping this sadistic villain before it’s too late.
So a pretty straightforward action-packed thriller.
But it’s what it does with the genre, taking traditional fun tropes and combining them with modern (for the time…) technical prowess. Deaver shows what can be done with the format, never substituting jargon for fun. And I, for one, want to see more of that.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A lifelong lover of quality storytelling, Sam grew up in rural England with little else but reading (okay, and some gaming). Starting with Charlotte's Web, he developed a passion for ghost stories and comedy. With his background in narrative and scriptwriting, he writes for Book Notification, providing recommendations both good and not so terrible.