This work of fiction focuses on the political intrigues around cybersecurity and hacking. The author was a cybersecurity reporter and draws inspiration from the (mostly anonymous) sources she interviewed.
There are two main stories.
In a fictional NOW bank in America, a serious outage has taken place. The top management, paying attention to the issue for the first time, hired an ex-General to head up cybersecurity operations. But the General was clueless and useless. Long timer Caroline Chan pulls the levers to speed his downfall and to ensure a more competent replacement. Caroline was pushed out herself, but as landed on her feet with the connections she has built up over the years.
In Romania, a tech start up scene is booming in small town. These are all cybercrime operations, flourishing in an environment where there was almost no policing for it. 19-year old Rene Kruetz became a customer service agent for a ransomware business and must made a daring escape.
Interweaved between these stories is the tale of Bo, an ex-army bi-sexual Chinese hacker. Apparently the Chinese are very good at a kind of graceless “smash-and-grab” hacking. Bo yearned for the more stylish Russian-types hacks, and for a time ran a one-man band snooping operation. But he eventually tired of it and became a top player in cybersecurity in Singapore.
Kingdom of Lies was a very enjoyable read. It is also very helpful background reading for me to properly contextualise what I have read about cybersecurity and hacking. As the author points out, most likely anyone can be hacked if the attacker spends enough time and ingenuity on the problem.
The fact that one particular person/institution hasn’t been hacked yet may have as much to do with there being “low(er) hanging fruit” and other fictions, as any good practices on their part.