Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It

An Amazon Best Book of the Month for March 2015: It won't surprise many people to read that computers, networks, and personal information are under constant attack. Most of us install a commonly available anti-virus program, mind our clicks, and hope for the best. More than that seems like work, and stories of data theft have become so ubiquitous that a certain amount of desensitization is probably inevitable. Well, Goodman's book should take care of that. When your C.V. includes titles like "futurist-in-residence with the FBI," you've seen who's creeping through those internet pipes, and it's harrowing; his litany of cyber criminals and their multitudinous misdeeds are often shocking in their inventiveness and audacity, and Goodman brings the nightmares one after another at an almost breathless pace. But not all is hopeless--Goodman aims to educate, offering from high-level policy to practical layman's advice for buttoning down your own data. Despite the scare factor, it's a fun, fast, and fascinating 400 pages. My only quibble is with the title, which implies a coming threat. The threat is here, and the future is now. --Jon Foro