Computer Wars

In Cyber Hacking: Wars in Virtual Space, we peer behind the cyber curtain. First, we look at the hackers - who they are, how they work, their motivations, and methods. The opening article examines hardware - specifically microprocessors and why they are vulnerable to tampering. Then we turn to the internal attacks, the worms and viruses whose resulting damage ranges from merely inconvenient and attention-getting to expensive and dangerous. Next, we take a broad look at issues of privacy and the technology used to gather and track personal information.

For better or for worse, Google and social media - “Big Tech”, collectively - have become the new public square. Unfortunately, this public square has a watchful referee standing behind them, ready and waiting to blow the whistle if they veer too far from the preferred narrative. Americans have given these companies enormous power to select the information they read, share and discuss with their neighbors and friends.

Terrorism and Extremism are well known 21st Century terms, despite being largely undefined in law. Weaponized by the powerful, terms are attributed based on malleable current affairs and policy, as apposed to strong legal foundations. What one group considers terrorism, another may view as legitimate resistance or self-defense. The gift of the 21st Century, the internet, has allowed the voiceless to be heard, for new societal ideas to flourish, and for different political views to become the next hashtag.

July 1967: At the Moscow Air Show, the Soviets unveiled six new state-of-the-art aircraft. From among this lineup of new fighters and interceptors stood the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 - purportedly capable of outrunning and outmaneuvering any aircraft in NATO’s inventory. Yet even before its public appearance in Moscow, the MiG-25 had been a grave concern for Western analysts.

Life has never been easier thanks to the advancement of technology. However, with all new technological advancements also come new risks. The most drastically increasing issue in the world today is not biological warfare, but cyber warfare. Data has become the single most valuable commodity in today’s world, and, of course, there are always people lurking around the corner, trying to get their hands on it.

Adversarial Minds provides a thorough analysis of the interplay between society and AI, being one of those current events books that will help you keep up with the increasing complexity of our world while trying to provide a useful guide map to what our future holds. Debut author and computer scientist Nate Myers insightfully tackles the main debate over artificial intelligence in his AI book, familiarizing the listener with basic terminology and key concepts in a friendly and compelling manner.