Dark Screens

A riveting account of major ransomware attacks and their devastating consequences, revealing how exposed we really are—and how we can protect ourselves

Imagine opening your computer only to find every document and every program locked. All you can see is a red screen with a countdown timer, urging you to pay a ransom within seventy-two hours or lose access forever. For more than a decade, hackers have been extorting billions of dollars from businesses, governments, and individuals with ever more sophisticated variations on this simple scheme.

Dark Screens offers a ringside seat to the most notorious ransomware attacks of the twenty-first century. It sheds light on the inner workings of criminal gangs that target hospitals, public infrastructure, and vulnerable companies—as well as the individuals and organizations trying to stop them. It tracks how ransomware is becoming a weapon of cyberwar, as seen in the Russian NotPetya attack, and the worldwide WannaCry cyberattack by North Korea. Ransomware expert Anja Shortland shares these stories to sound the alarm about how vulnerable we are to cyberattacks and highlight best practices from cybersecurity and crisis management to law enforcement and public policy.

Dark Screens shines a light on the fascinating underworld of superhackers whose activities have potentially catastrophic implications for us all.

• “Brilliant, original, and authoritative. An extraordinary book that will change the way you think about ransomware and the digital ecosystems that surround us.” 
  Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads
• “A spellbinding narrative of the rise of hacking and ransomware—from pranksters tinkering with phone lines to cybercriminal gangs capable of taking down whole societies. In clear, illuminating prose, Shortland guides us through the digital underworld, where cybercriminals and intelligence agencies, big tech firms and hackers in childhood bedrooms wage shadowy battles with existential stakes for us all. Dark Screens is a book that every public official, business leader, and concerned citizen should read.” 
  Edward Fishman, New York Times–bestselling author of Chokepoints
• “Shortland is an excellent guide to the hidden paths and secret passages of our economy. Dark Screens is a fascinating book about one of the great scourges of the modern world.” 
  Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland
• “Shortland is a gifted storyteller, and this is a real achievement: a page-turning true-crime account of ransomware’s rise, rich with human detail and head-spinning figures, technically precise and historically deep.” 
  Thomas Rid, author of Active Measures
• “A completely engrossing and extremely well-informed account of a world we wish would disappear—but must expect to grow.” 
  John Kay, author of The Corporation in the 21st Century
• “A fascinating and frightening description of how a largely unregulated system can be used to parasitize the legitimate economy. There is stuff in here that will keep you awake at night.” 
  Dan Davies, author of Lying for Money
• “Another dispatch from the economic underworld. An expert on extortive crime, Shortland tells the story of ransomware through the fascinating characters that inhabit this criminal ecosystem—its facilitators and its challengers. This is a ripping read that gives readers the insights and tools to make themselves safer from cybercrime.” 
  Peter T. Leeson, author of The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates
• “A gripping exploration of ransomware’s rise from curiosity to catastrophe. Blends the human stories behind the malware—from desperate coders to overwhelmed victims—with actionable insights into reducing our collective vulnerability to this billion-dollar criminal extortion and national security threat.” 
  David Omand, author of How Spies Think
• “Shortland takes us into the world of hacking and ransomware as nobody has done so far. This compelling and illuminating book is a must read.” 
  Federico Varese, author of Mafias on the Move