Zero Day Threat: The Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cyber Crooks Steal Your Money and Identity | 
 enlarge | Authors: Byron Acohido, Jon Swartz
Publisher: Union Square Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $9.95
You Save: $10.00 (50%)
New (32) Used (10) from $6.73
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 45846
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 140275695X
Dewey Decimal Number: 364
EAN: 9781402756955
ASIN: 140275695X
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK BOOK, EXCELLENT CONDITION, NEXT DAY SHIPPING, PADDED ENVELOPES
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Product Description
“If you bank or manage your stocks online, you have to read this book. Cyberspace is making all sorts of things possible. Unfortunately, among them are fraud, theft, and espionage—all of which can directly impact you.”--Richard Clarke, noted counterterrorism expert and bestselling author of Against All Enemies
A white-collar true-crime story, Zero Day Threat is a powerful investigative expose on bank and lending policies that actually facilitate ID theft and fraud. USA Today reporters Acohido and Swartz reveal the many ways that established corporations and technology giants (including Bank of America, Microsoft, and Google) have fixated on the Internet to maximize their profits, heedless of increased risks to customers. While examining the exploding range of hidden Internet hazards, they reveal the ways in which cyber crooks nab identity data--such as Dumpster diving for bountiful paper trash that offers account user names, passwords and Social Security numbers--and then exploit that information through channels opened up by careless corporate policies.
Using real-life examples of those who have endured the nightmare of a stolen identity, Zero Day Threat organizes its narrative around three central archetypes: - The Exploiters: The drug addicts, scam artists, and crime lords who carry out the gritty aspects of data theft and financial fraud;
- The Enablers: The credit card companies, banks, and credit bureaus who broker data;
- The Expediters: The technology experts running the gamut from good guys like Bill Gates to the devious virus writers and database hackers always on the alert for fresh flaws.
Intended not merely to alarm, but to illuminate, Zero Day Threat exposes how lawbreakers do their dirty work, and how corporations help them do it.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
Zero Day Threat June 10, 2008
Excellent book re: the international scope of identity theft. From thief to enabler, the authors follow the chain of criminals from start to finish. You'll never feel as secure as you did before you read this book.
A practical road mad to safe computing June 5, 2008
I highly recommend Zero Day Threat by Pulitzer Prize winner Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz. This is a must read for anyone who currently uses or contemplates using the internet. Ignoring the information in this exceptional book is like journeying to a foreign land without speaking the language or carrying a GPS. The risk may be as great as walking down a dark alley with all your earthly goods exposed to any predators waiting for an easy target. The book is interesting, informative and full of good advice. Not only will you understand why the internet has become a huge risk - you will learn how the organizations that you thought would protect you actually put you at risk! The book is loaded with practical recommendations that you can put into use right now that will help you practice safe computing and guard your identity and credit. Don't close the barn door after the crooks have escaped with your horse. Read this book now and avoid spending hundreds of hours, frustration and your money to fix a problem you could avoid. Better safe than sorry - and this is just the insurance you need.
 Informative May 16, 2008
The book has good facts on latest threats on cyberspace.
I admire the author's plot setting in how he tried to combine a real
life scenarios from a informative story line.
As a point of improvement, it would be great if he invested more on a more exciting story, so that an avid reader wont get sleepy in the middle of the book.
Great Book April 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read the book Zero Day Threat (ZDT) by Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz. I really liked the book! Zero Day Threat is about the underground cyber-economy. It makes some surprising points grounded in real truths. I liked that the book paints a complete picture, i.e., how malware,
identity theft, and "drop off" gangs collaborate to facilitate
a well oiled cyber-economy. Since my research area is security,
I was very familiar with the different types of malware brought up in Zero Day Threat. However, this book gave me a complete picture of the problem.
I particularly appreciated two features of the book.
Structure: Each chapter is broken into three sections: exploiters,
enablers, and expeditors. Exploiter sections focus on crooks (such
as scam artists and drug addicts) and how they benefit from the
underground economy. The Enablers sections focus on credit card
companies, banks, and credit bureaus, and how their current practices
enable the underground cyber-economy. Expediters
are guys (good and bad) that allow the cybercrooks to exploit
vulnerabilities in an expeditious manner. I thought this structure
was just brilliant! It really brings out the correlation between
various factors and actors that enable the underground cyber-economy.
Narrative Style: I really enjoyed various anecdotes in the book.
There are several stories about people being scammed or getting
lured into the profitable cyber-underground. For example, there is a story of
a "drop off" gang in Edmonton which is narrated throughout the
book. These anecdotes makes the book very interesting and provide
a "human side" to the cyber-underground.
I highly recommend this book.
Superior Analysis of Privacy Piracy April 23, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The authors have done a superior job in showing how criminal elements combined with loose security in banks have created a serious breach in our own personal and individual privacy. I have spoken and consulted nationally concerning this very issue, very often to deaf ears in the financial industries. They simply do not want to hear of the dangers to their systems and the compromising nature of exposing their customers to easy piracy.
I only hope that the public reads this expose and demands that their information is much better safeguarded. I have spoken to Mr. Acohido on many occasions and he is passionate about this subject and the dangers to every consumer.
Thanks
Jay Morrow
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