Zero day—a software bug hackers use to break into your devices and move around undetected—is one of the most coveted tools in a spy’s arsenal. This powerful tool can silently spy on your iPhone, dismantle the safety controls at a chemical plant, alter a government election, and shut down a country’s electric grid.
For decades, under cover of classification levels and nondisclosure agreements, the United States government became the world's dominant hoarder of zero days. U.S. government agents paid top dollar—first thousands, and later millions—to hackers willing to sell their lock-picking code and their silence.
Then, the United States lost control of its hoard and the market.
Now those zero days are in the hands of hostile nations and mercenaries who do not care if your vote goes missing, your clean water is contaminated, or our nuclear plants melt down.
Join us for a conversation featuring George Perkovich and Nicole Perlroth as the two discuss Perlroth’s recently published book, This is How They Tell Me the World Ends, and the urgent threat to us all if we cannot bring the cyber arms race to heel.
