This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends

Archival Summary & Scope

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Winner of the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award. Bronze Medal, Arthur Ross Book Award.

Nicole Perlroth's astonishing journalism unveils the untold story of the world's most secretive, government-backed cyberweapons market—a terrifying new global arms race. She exposes "zero-days": undetectable software bugs capable of silently spying on phones, dismantling industrial controls, altering elections, and shutting down power grids. For decades, the U.S. government became the dominant hoarder of these potent digital weapons, paying hackers millions for their silence and code. But when control was lost, these zero-days fell into the hands of hostile nations and mercenaries. Based on years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, this thriller-like account is filled with spies and hackers, revealing the urgent, widespread threat of an unchecked cyberarms race.