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1. Well done! Excellent, timely overview of today’s cyber threats.
   I’ve now finished Battlefield Cyber, authored by Bill Holstein and my friend Michael McLaughlin. I’m amazed at the breadth of their coverage. This is a great overview of the contemporary cyber situation focusing on threats from China and Russia. I especially liked the “unifying principles” and wide-ranging, bold recommendations. I’m a lawyer guy with some speciality in this area and claim to subject area knowledge. There are parts of the book which I thought were over-simplified, and arguments that were over-ambitious. But I, like many of us (I suspect), often get pulled into this cyber niche or that SCRM nook, such that I lose the “Big Picture.” This book helps refresh my understanding of the larger context and many facets of today’s cyber challenge. Even for experts, I submit, there is value in reading or listening (I did both).This isn’t a novelization of today’s security threat. Nor is it story driven. Even so, it held my interest, and helped me think more clearly about challenges to our national interest and how we might respond. There is an ambitious and positive finish, which I find encouraging (rather than another siren call that “doom is/will/or might be nigh”).Might there be a sequel? If so, I’d be looking further at the many hydra heads of AI.

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2. Accurate and clearly written book for anyone wondering why there’s more cyber news now than ever
   The first half is a comprehensive overview of how our adversaries have targeted us. Cybersecurity practitioners will largely see things they’ve been tracking. The value add is that the authors explain complex attacks in clear language accessible to a wide audience.The second half of the book contains the authors’ recommended policy and collaboration shifts which they believe would level the playing field.I’d strongly recommend this book to anyone working in policy, international relations. It is also useful to hand to anyone who doesn’t understand why they should be concerned about phone apps.

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3. Good characterization of the modern cyber threat for a broad audience
   The task of scoping cyber threat of China and Russia threat alone is a difficult task by itself. But the authors did not stop there, they reference real world events to attempt to posit a cultural shift. Its a call to change for politicians, military leaders, and general citizenry. This is real, the fight is NOT a business, it is a war. Policy and risk reduction needs to be conducted in terms of war with both countries and criminal service providers NOT business risk. Great work aggregating all the evidence to authors. Would recommend the read to all CTOs, CISOs, and concerned cyber curious citizens.

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4. This book is real!
   I work in this space and the concepts are not new to me but this book here opened my eyes on how massive the data situation we are in.Good read

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5. A must read
   For those who have any interest in our digital future and national security, this text will certainly open your eyes to the threats we face from China, Russia, and our other axis adversaries. The authors not only outline the risks and challenges we must overcome, they also propose solutions which engage the cooperative needs between both the public and private sectors.

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6. Critical Insights
   I gave this book to my father, the author Larry Smith. Here’s his review: Every once in a while, a book comes along that offers shattering insights. Like everyone else, I have seen the headlines about what the Chinese and Russians are doing but I couldn’t understand why they were doing it and what their strategy was. Like a bolt from the blue, BattlefieldCyber makes it abundantly clear that they are using our own Information Systems to steal technology and plant malware in our critical infrastructure (like water systems.) But the ultimate goal is nothing short of destroying our democracy by using social media and other avenues like TikTok to sow confusion among American voters and to create conditions that will undermine our electoral processes. Xi Jinping said he wouldn’t interfere in the U.S. election but he and his pal Vladimir Putin already are using a kind of cognitive warfare to confuse and divide Americans–and we are uniquely vulnerable to that because we are not very sophisticated when it comes to verifying the sources of our information. To the co-authors credit, the second part of their book is all about solutions–what must be done and who must do it? This book deserves the phrase–“a wake-up call.”

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7. A Timely and Essential Must-Read!
   “Battlefield Cyber” is an eye-opening and timely book that delves into the alarming but mostly ignored reality of cyber warfare facing the United States today. Authors go beyond educating on risks but also offer a roadmap and concrete ideas on how to mitigate these threats. What sets this book apart is its ability to explain these complex issues in a way that’s accessible to readers from all backgrounds.

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8. A Call to Action for Corporate America – Required Reading for any CEO in the Defense Industrial Base
   I have recently finished reading Michael McLaughlin and Bill Holstein’s new book “Battlefield Cyber”. I highly recommend that anyone seeing this message go pick up a copy. It is a call to arms for the cyber war that many still refuse to acknowledge is taking place. Corporate America at large does not yet seem to understand that we are on a precipice; one that we cannot afford to tumble over. I quote from the introduction of the book:”Corporate leaders also need to rethink their traditional notions of globalization, where they have historically borne no responsibility for U.S national security or technological strength. Entire generations of CEOs have fervently believed that they were stateless and owed no responsibility to the preservation of U.S. national security or its democracy. Their sole responsibility has been to seek to increase their earnings each quarter….”They continue…”If the United States is going to compete, it’s going to need a strong, more patriotic tech sector to lead the process.”We must take these words to heart and build the patriotic ecosystem that is going to protect US National Security and the United States ability to compete on the international stage. If we do not, subjugation by China is sure to follow.

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