The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age

by David E. Sanger

It had been more than two years since Obama, alarmed by North Korea’s progress, had pressed the Pentagon in early 2014 to drastically accelerate the effort to bring down North Korea’s missiles—and turned again to cyber and electronic sabotage for the solution to geopolitical tensions. A lot had happened since then. The Sony attack had focused the administration’s attention on North Korea, but on its cyberattacks, not its missile program. The negotiations with Iran—which led to a deal in the summer of 2015 that shipped 97 percent of Iran’s nuclear fuel out of the country, setting back its efforts by a decade or more—consumed the attention of Washington’s nuclear experts. Russia emerged as a far greater aggressor, and China demonstrated, with surprising vigor, that it was in search of influence, economic dominance, and a military presence in places it had never before ventured. The emergence of Donald Trump made for captivating television as he transformed from a late-show punch line to an unstoppable candidate.