**A cybersecurity expert and former FBI "ghost" tells the thrilling
story of how he helped take down notorious FBI mole Robert Hanssen, the
first Russian cyber spy.
**
"Both a real-life, tension-packed thriller and a persuasive argument
for traditional intelligence work in the information age."--Bruce
Schneier, New York Times bestselling author of Data and Goliath and
Click Here to Kill Everybody
Eric O'Neill was only twenty-six when he was tapped for the case of a
lifetime: a one-on-one undercover investigation of the FBI's top target,
a man suspected of spying for the Russians for nearly two decades,
giving up nuclear secrets, compromising intelligence, and betraying US
assets. With zero training in face-to-face investigation, O'Neill found
himself in a windowless, high-security office in the newly formed
Information Assurance Section, tasked officially with helping the FBI
secure its outdated computer system against hackers and spies--and
unofficially with collecting evidence against his new boss, Robert
Hanssen, an exacting and rage-prone veteran agent with a fondness for
handguns. In the months that follow, O'Neill's self-esteem and young
marriage unravel under the pressure of life in Room 9930, and he
questions the very purpose of his mission. But as Hanssen outmaneuvers
an intelligence community struggling to keep up with the new reality of
cybersecurity, he also teaches O'Neill the game of spycraft. The student
will just have to learn to outplay his teacher if he wants to win.
A tension-packed stew of power, paranoia, and psychological
manipulation, Gray Day is also a cautionary tale of how the United
States allowed Russia to become dominant in cyberespionage--and how we
might begin to catch up.
