The Language of Cyber Attacks - (Bloomsbury Studies in Digital Cultures) by Aaron Mauro (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Many cyberattacks begin with a lure: a seemingly innocent message designed to establish trust with a target to obtain sensitive information or compromise a computer system. The perils of clicking an unknown link or divulging sensitive information via email are well-known, so why do we continue to fall prey to these malicious messages?This groundbreaking book examines the rhetoric of deception through the lure, asking where its all-too-human allure comes from and suggesting ways in which we can protect ourselves online.

Examining practices and tools such as phishing, ransomware and clickbait, this book uses case studies of notorious cyberattacks by both cyber criminals and nation-states on organizations such Facebook, Google, and the US Department of Defence, and in-depth, computational analyses of the messages themselves to unpack the rhetoric of cyberattacks. In doing so, it helps us to understand the small but crucial moments of indecision that pervade one of the most common forms of written communication.

Review Quotes

A fascinating consideration of a timely topic, via a human-centred approach; Mauro explores the real human allure of cyber attacks and the value of understanding them at a human level.
Raymond Siemens, Distinguished Professor, University of Victoria, Canada

Aaron Mauro offers a fascinating exploration of the rhetoric of hacking, a valuable contribution to several fields, from the study of hacking, to rhetoric, to cultural studies more broadly; this book strikes me as an original, creative, and appealing work.
Nathan Schneider, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, University of Colorado Boulder, USA

About the Author

Aaron Mauro is Assistant Professor of Digital Media at Brock University, Canada.