VIRTUAL: An Evening with Journalist Nicole Perlroth, Author of This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race

In the book Booklist calls, “possibly the most important book of the year,” This is How They Tell Me the World Ends uncovers the untold story of the cyberweapons market―the most secretive, government-backed market on earth―and a terrifying first look at a new kind of global warfare. Join the Hudson Library & Historical Society on Monday, February 27 at 7 p.m. for a live, virtual streaming event with reporter Nicole Perlroth, who will discuss her New York Times bestseller.

Zero day: a software bug that allows a hacker to break into your devices and move around undetected. One of the most coveted tools in a spy's arsenal, a zero day has the power to silently spy on your iPhone, dismantle the safety controls at a chemical plant, alter an election, and shut down the electric grid (just ask Ukraine). For decades, under cover of classification levels and non-disclosure agreements, the United States government became the world’s dominant hoarder of zero days. U.S. government agents paid top dollar―first thousands, and later millions of dollars― to hackers willing to sell their lock-picking code and their silence. Then the United States lost control of its hoard and the market. Now those zero days are in the hands of hostile nations and mercenaries who do not care if your vote goes missing, your clean water is contaminated, or our nuclear plants melt down. Filled with spies, hackers, arms dealers, and a few unsung heroes, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends lifts the curtain on a market in shadow, revealing the urgent threat faced by us all if we cannot bring the global cyber arms race to a heel.

Nicole Perlroth is an award-winning cybersecurity journalist for The New York Times, where her work has been optioned for both film and television. Her investigations and outing of hacking divisions within China’s People’s Liberation Army earned her the prestigious “Best in Business Award” from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and her co-investigation of the use of commercial spyware in Mexico was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She is also a regular lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Registration for this program is required and a valid email address is required at the time of registration. Participants will receive an email invitation to attend the program, hosted on Zoom, a day before the program begins.