It’s two years post-Zero Day, and former government analyst Jeff Aiken is reaping the rewards for crippling al-Qaida’s attack on the computer infrastructure of the Western world.  His cyber - security company is flourishing, and his relationship with Daryl Haugen intensifies when she becomes a part of his team. But the West is under the East’s greatest threat yet. The Stuxnet virus that successfully subverted Iran’s nuclear defense program for years is being rapidly identified and defeated, and Stuxnet’s creators are stressed to develop a successor.  As Jeff and Daryl struggle to stay together, they’re summoned to disarm the attack of a revolutionary, invisible trojan that alters data without leaving a trace.  As the trojan penetrates Western intelligence, the terrifying truth about Iran is revealed, and Jeff and Daryl find themselves running a desperate race against time to reverse it - while the fate of both East and West hangs in the balance. Like Zero Day, Trojan Horse is a thrilling suspense story, a sober warning from one of the world’s leading experts on cyber-security, Microsoft’s Technology Fellow, Mark Russinovich.  Trojan Horse demystifies the dangerously realistic threat of a cyber-terrorism attack on the Western world, while chronicling the lengths through which one man and will go to stop it.

A thought-provoking new short story from the acclaimed author of Zero Day and Trojan Horse. Challenging Anonymous is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. But the CEO of a major investment firm has done just that, and now cyber security expert Jeff Aiken has to try to protect the company from its leader's mistakes. The timing couldn't be worse, as Jeff is scheduled to appear at a conference that has invited an Anonymous representative as well. And Jeff's about to discover that the hacker outfit plans to bring their fight offline—and into the real world.

SUMMARY:An insidious cyber-terrorist attack threatens to destroy the Western World in this debut by a leading expert on cybersecurity Over the Atlantic, an airliner’s controls suddenly stop reacting. In Japan, an oil tanker runs aground when its navigational system fails. And in the Midwest, a nuclear power plant nearly becomes the next Chernobyl. At first, these computer failures seem unrelated. But Jeff Aiken, a former government analyst who saw the mistakes made before 9/11, fears that there may be a more serious attack coming. And he soon realizes that there isn’t much time if he hopes to stop an international disaster. Zero Day presents a chilling “what if” scenario written in the vein of Richard A. Clarke and Daniel Suarez.

Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys revealed how high-frequency trading has created a ruthless breed of traders capable of winning whichever way the market turns. In Rogue Code, Mark Russinovich takes it one step further to show how their grip on high finance makes the stock market vulnerable to hackers who could bring about worldwide financial collapse.Cyber security expert Jeff Aiken knows that no computer system is completely secure. When he’s called to investigate a possible breach at the New York Stock Exchange, he discovers not only that their system has been infiltrated but that someone on the inside knows. Yet for some reason, they have allowed the hackers to steal millions of dollars from accounts without trying to stop the theft.When Jeff uncovers the crime, the NYSE suddenly turns on him. Accused of grand larceny, he must find and expose the criminals behind the theft, not just to prove his innocence but to stop a multibillion-dollar heist that could upend the U.S. economy. Unwilling to heed Jeff’s warnings, the NYSE plans to continue with a major IPO using a new, untested system, one that might be susceptible both to hackers and to ruthless high-frequency traders willing to take any risk to turn a profit.Now Jeff Aiken must unearth the truth on his own, following the thread to the back alleys of Rio de Janeiro to take on one of the world’s most ruthless cartels.Praised for his combination of real-world technology and quick-paced action, with Rogue Code Mark Russinovich delivers an intense thriller about a cyber threat that seems all too possible---and the Wall Street traders who might allow it to happen.Includes a foreword by Haim Bodek, author of The Problem of HFT: Collected Writings on High Frequency Trading & Stock Market Structure Reform.

From Publishers WeeklyMicrosoft computer guru Russinovich's first novel, a cautionary tale about the imminence of the great cyber attack to wipe out the Internet, works pretty well as a thriller, though it takes a while to boot up and for the bodies to begin to fall. Arab terrorists, with the collusion of Osama bin Laden, are behind the attack, which is supposed to destroy Western civilization. A New York City law firm enlists cyber expert Jeff Aiken to track down a virus that has knocked out the company's computer network. While working on this problem, Jeff uncovers the larger threat. With the help of "stunningly attractive" Daryl Haugen, an old friend who becomes his love interest, Jeff attempts to warn the authorities, but to little avail. The author effectively employs the usual genre types—government traitors, amoral hackers, professional assassins—but his main characters spend too much time at the keyboard to build up much heat. Bill Gates provides a blurb. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. FromThe horror of cyberterrorism explodes on the page in Russinovich's first novel. A plane over the Atlantic suddenly needs to reboot its computer to stay in the air, and the pilots barely avert disaster. A hospital network mixes up patient information, resulting in the death of several people. A law firm, which has lost all of its clients' data and can't get its system running again, turns to Jeff Aiken, a former government analyst and computer expert. He discovers that all of the crashes are insidiously connected, and an even greater disaster is coming. Computer technospeak is handled with ease by Russinovich, who makes the jargon understandable for nongeeks but does so without losing authenticity. His background at Microsoft ensures that he knows what he's writing about, but, equally important, he constructs a gripping narrative. A terrifying tale made all the more frightening by our concern that it could offers a glimpse into the future, Russinovich's thriller just could become one of those books that prompts a real-world response, in this case a wake-up call for greater cybersecurity methods. --Jeff Ayers