Customer Reviews

The Next World War: Computers Are the Weapons & the Front Line Is Everywhere

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is entertaining and, as other reviewers have pointed out, Mr Adams does not hesitate voicing his opinions.

Unfortunately there are several problems with the overall thesis :

1) Accuracy and fact checking are obviously not very high on the author's priority list. Somalia is given a given a 250 millions square miles area on page 61( in reality 256.000 ), 56 bit encryption is supposedly 250.000 times harder to break than 40 bit encryption ( in reality 65536 or 2^16 ) (page 219), PGP is described as having a vague backdoor when the local PC where it is used is accessible (it does not) (p 222), etc... I could provide a dozen other examples. While not necessarily critical those mistakes cast a shadow of doubt over the whole book. "If this guy is so wrong on what I know, how can I trust him about what I don't know..." was the question I kept asking myself.

2) while the author seems to criticize the position of the upper level of hierarchy as far as Info War is concerned, he basically echoes their misinformed opinions in many occasions. For example, he mentions on several occasions that computer viruses were used and could be used meaningfully to fight an info-war. He repeats the meaningless "virus insertion" sentence but notes that "launching computer bombs that would destroy the offending computer or software is currently illegal" - not only is it illegal, but it is also technically impossible at least in the context where this comes up, the hacker's PCs... According to the author, most PCs sold to Russia are bugged : "the technology does the work, sending back a steady stream of bits and bytes from the computers that have been purchased in good faith". Of course, this is hilarious : it is technically impossible to export data out of a PC without its informed user at least noticing it. Clearly, in this case, the data has to be exported either by a kind of wireless network - hard to hide - or leaked on a cabled network - even harder to hide, freely downloadable network sniffers and protocol analyzers abound... "Independence Day", the movie, wasn't much worse than this.

Mr Adams, when you want to insert a virus or a trojan to wage an info war, the devil is in the details...

3) this book was written in the midst of the euphorical dot.com boom and it shows that time's bias for a new "information age" that was going to wipe the world as we know it. This is understandable, but doesn't help the long term viability of the ideas presented in the book. Now that we know that brick and mortar businesses still have a future, we could come to a similar conclusion about sweat and blood armies.

4) the author is, at times, incoherent. For example, after explaining how the NSA helped Boeing fight Airbus in Saudi Arabia, after convincingly demonstrating that everyone is spying on everyone, he goes on saying that the US wouldn't use the CIA for economic intelligence because of moral and legal hurdles (and also because they would probably fail spectacularly).

Yet, for all its shortcomings the book is entertaining, mainly because the author's interesting political analyses are cleverly exposed.

My shelves are littered with books that pretend to describe the threats in cyberspace. Recent lightweights take an apocalyptic approach - perhaps to scare readers into buying their books. Most of these cyber-scare books blur the line between fact and fantasy; they lose track of the difference between information in warfare and Information Warfare. This book is substantially different, however. It provides factual information and well grounded opinions.

Ever since Charles Colson wrote Kingdoms in Conflict we have become familiar with fictional White House dramas in the first chapter of nonfiction books. The first pages of Adams' book are very different, however. His White House sketch describes something that could very well happen next week in international cyberspace.

The book's setting is international; every chapter presents thoughtful issues that affect the global environment that security managers operate in. Using conventional wars as a background the author describes our defeat in Somalia, messy involvement in Haiti and limited victory in Iraq.

It transitions to next generation warfare by describing non-lethal weaponry. This isn't cyberspace but it will be of general interest to thoughtful managers.

According to Adams corporate security can expect little cybercop help from the government. "As a rule they have almost no computer security experience". The political forces that assign responsibility for detection of computer crimes have also dropped the ball. The presidential decision directive centralizing responsibility for defending gave responsibility to the "Neanderthal" FBI and Department of Justice.

The author's first hand sources in the US and foreign intelligence services make this book an interesting read. His clearheaded view of encryption technology and politics frame factual discussions. I strongly recommend it for security managers who would like to see the future threat to their organizations as well as the national infrastructure.

[adapted from a review published in Security Management. All rights reserved by the author]

Adams is either a liar or too gullible to be allowed in public without his nanny. The most laughable mistake of "Next World War" is Adams' story of a printer virus supposedly used in the first Gulf War. He got the story from an April's Fool joke printed in InfoWorld magazine. Duh! For a detailed analysis of the wildly false stories of this book, complete with references, see http://www.soci.niu.edu/~crypt/other/adams.htm

James Adams' The Next World War was a disappointing read from an author who usually produces solid national security writing.

The book is an effort (originally written in 1998) to provide a survey of how future wars might be waged. Divided into three parts, the book begins by providing an overview of the state of "information warfare," then discusses relevant applications of information warfare, and concludes by discussing how information warfare may impact US and global security.

While the book is a decent attempt to sum up innovative thinking in the world of security studies during the mid- to late-1990s, it suffers from a critical lack of focus. The author introduces the concept of "information warfare" but discusses several topics (most notably non-lethal weapons) that appear only tangentially related to even the most generous definitions of information warfare. In addition, like many books written during this time period, The Next World War argues that cyberwarfare, viruses, and hacking present the gravest threats to US security interests. This argument almost completely overlooks the importance of information warfare outside the cybersphere. Terrorists, insurgents, and other non-state actors practice their own form of information warfare that falls largely outside of Adams' discussion. In addition, while Adams' research was undoubtedly cutting edge in 1998, the rapid changes in information technology and military technology make some of his discussions seem antiquated.

While an interesting and relatively easy read, this book is too outdated and too broadly conceived to much use for today's readers. Specialists in military technology and information warfare may find this a valuable addition to their libraries. General readers and those interested in more up-to-date information on "information warfare" should opt for more recent studies.

I read this one really expecting to read about futuristic wars of all kinds. No way, the narrative was long, formal and quite boring. I found that it also was a bit disjointed, in nature and not worth the asking price of over $20.00. I would certainly not buy another book written by mr. Adams. I was not pleased with this one at all. As a total effort, it would have to be rated average, at best.

The World War is not only about military events, history and technology, but encompasses a vast range of subject including economic competition and espionage, privacy and government policies. The author clearly and intelligently reports on the explosive and often uncontrolled growth of issues relating not just to information warfare as viewed or shaped by the military, but also on the pervasive intrusion of technology into all aspects of contemporary life. This book is important not only to those interested in military history and issues, but should also be read and studied by business leaders and futurists. An excellent work.

This book covers the myriad of areas of Information Warfare. Mr. Adams goes into detail on the perception management areas of IW as well as the more expected computer areas. He covers much material and sometimes he jumps around but I appreciate the wide-ranging discussions. He even covers the Russian view of IW as well as Chinese operations. He reviews the defensive IW element of counterintelligence and includes economic espionage. He also talks about the morality and legality of the use of IW. He is not afraid to offer his personal opinions in this book. Overall a detailed treatment of IW while still being entertaining.

James Adams' book is a crisp, insightful look at how the next world war will be fought, and who might be the winners and losers. It's a wake-up call for anyone interested in infrastructure defense and for anyone interested in information security. It's a compelling read, gripping because it is so real, so informed.

This well-paced, careful book merits careful attention from policymakers and the general public alike. At times it reads like a novel, but it is very serious stuff indeed.