Book Review: Zero Day by Mark Russinovich - Page 2

I won't spoil the plot twists and surprises for you, but I was hooked from beginning to end. It's hard to believe that this is Russinovich's first novel.

If his name rings a bell, it might be because you've seen it in conjunction with Winternals, a website dedicated to helping system admins manage, diagnose, troubleshoot, and monitor Microsoft Windows environments. It was so influential in Windows circles that Microsoft acquired it in 1996. Russinovich is co-author for several books in the Windows Internals book series, as well as a contributing editor for TechNet Magazine and Windows IT Pro Magazine. He has some serious geek cred.

Zero Day offers a scary scenario for what could happen via cyberterrorism. Hackers are only part of the problem and usually only out for their own best interests or to illuminate issues that need to be fixed. If terrorists can harness hacker knowhow and find ways to take down key systems, we're going to be in a world of hurt. Russinovich does a great job of shedding some light on the possibility. Hopefully businesses and governments are listening.

He does get a bit deep into "geek speak" at times, describing the inner workings of computers, BIOS, and operating systems and how they relate to one another. If you don't like the jargon, you can skim it and get the gist of what he's after, but I found it fascinating to see just how far he goes to detail the potential of this looming threat. It doesn't quite offer a step-by-step guide to destroying the world with a storm of computer viruses and 'bots, but damn if it doesn't come close.

Whether or not you're a computer geek, Zero Day tells a compelling story with thrills and chills to entertain you. I found it more plausible and fun than Dan Brown's Digital Fortress, so I'm hoping that Russinovich gets ideas for further cyber thrillers to educate us while entertaining and scaring us!

Article Author: Fitz

Brian Fitzpatrick (aka "Fitz") is a software engineer and writer living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his wife, two daughters, two dogs, a cat, and two rats (new for Xmas 2010!) -- trying desperately to survive the chaos!

Visit Fitz's author page — Fitz's Blog