This book presents a data-driven message that exposes the cyberwar media campaign being directed by the Pentagon and its patronage networks. By demonstrating that the American public is being coerced by a threat that has been blown out of proportion—much like the run-up to the Gulf War or the global war on terror—this book discusses how the notion of cyberwar instills a crisis mentality that discourages formal risk assessment, making the public anxious and hence susceptible to ill-conceived solutions. With content that challenges conventional notions regarding cyber security, Behold a Pale Farce covers topics—including cybercrime; modern espionage; mass-surveillance systems; and the threats facing infrastructure targets such as the Federal Reserve, the stock exchange, and telecommunications—in a way that provides objective analysis rather than advocacy. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned with the recent emergence of Orwellian tools of mass interception that have developed under the guise of national security.

Bill Blunden is an independent investigator whose current areas of inquiry include information security, antiforensics, and institutional analysis. He is the author of several books, including Offshoring IT: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and The Rootkit Arsenal. Violet Cheung is a professor of psychology at the University of San Francisco. Her research addresses self-control, aggression, and war. They both live in San Francisco.