A riveting account of major ransomware attacks and their devastating consequences, revealing how exposed we really are--and how we can protect ourselves

"Brilliant, original, and authoritative." --Peter Frankopan, New York Times bestselling author of The Silk Roads

Imagine opening your computer only to find every document and every program locked. All you can see is a red screen with a countdown timer, urging you to pay a ransom within seventy-two hours or lose access forever. For more than a decade, hackers have been extorting billions of dollars from businesses, governments, and individuals with ever more sophisticated variations on this simple scheme.

Dark Screens offers a ringside seat to the most notorious ransomware attacks of the twenty-first century. It sheds light on the inner workings of criminal gangs that target hospitals, public infrastructure, and vulnerable companies--as well as the individuals and organizations trying to stop them. It tracks how ransomware could become a weapon of cyberwar, as shown by the Russian NotPetya attack and the worldwide WannaCry cyberattack by North Korea. Ransomware expert Anja Shortland shares these stories to sound the alarm about how vulnerable we are to cyberattacks and highlight best practices from cybersecurity and crisis management to law enforcement and public policy.

Dark Screens shines a light on the fascinating underworld of superhackers whose activities have potentially catastrophic implications for us all.