Summer reading for cybersecurity PR and marketing
Summer is often seen as a chance to slow down, but it can also be the perfect time to speed up your thinking. For those of us working in cybersecurity PR and marketing, a good book offers more than just a break from screens. It’s a way to step back, gain perspective, and draw fresh inspiration for the stories we tell. This year, the Code Red team has been diving into books that range from classic tales of hacker chases to cutting-edge explorations of AI, geopolitics and persuasion. Here are a few of our recommendations:
The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stoll
Clifford Stoll’s The Cuckoo’s Egg is often described as one of the first true cyber-thrillers. What starts as a 75-cent accounting anomaly at a Californian lab turns into a year-long pursuit of a hacker funnelling secrets to the KGB. Along the way, Stoll reveals both the painstaking detail and the dogged persistence needed to track intruders in a world that was only just waking up to the idea of computer security. For cybersecurity communicators, the book is a reminder that the most powerful stories go beyond the technology to explore the human drama behind it.
Ctrl+Alt+Chaos by Joe Tidy
BBC cyber correspondent Joe Tidy’s Ctrl+Alt+Chaos takes readers inside the world of teenage hackers, particularly Julius Kivimaki, aka Zeekill, notorious for callously blackmailing Finnish mental health patients.
From crypto heists to headline-grabbing breaches, the book explores how digital-native youths have become powerful actors in today’s cyber landscape. It’s a fascinating read for anyone keeping up with the latest cybersecurity news and working with Joe over the years.
Chip War by Chris Miller
Chris Miller’s Chip War is a sweeping history of the semiconductor industry and its outsized influence on global politics. From the Cold War to the race for AI dominance, chips have become the backbone of economic power and national security. The book puts our work into perspective and serves as a useful reminder of the bigger geopolitical story behind every narrative in our industry.
Fancy Bear Goes Phishing: The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks, by Scott J. Shapiro
In Fancy Bear Goes Phishing, Yale professor Scott Shapiro unpacks five landmark hacks that shaped modern cybercrime, from the Morris Worm to Russia’s interference in US politics. With wit and clarity, he shows how technical exploits are always tied to psychology, politics, and human fallibility. This book is a treasure trove of case studies, proof that explaining the why of an attack can be just as compelling as describing the how.
The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby
Sebastian Mallaby’s The Power Law reveals how venture capital fuels the rise (and occasional fall) of the world’s biggest tech companies. By tracing the outsized influence of a few bold bets, he illustrates why innovation often hinges on narrative as much as numbers. From a comms perspective, it’s an interesting lens on how investors evaluate risk, hype, and differentiation.
Influence by Robert Cialdini
Robert Cialdini’s classic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion has been shaping marketers’ thinking for four decades. By breaking persuasion into six core principles, from reciprocity to authority, it explains why people say yes, and how these levers can be used ethically in communication. There’s a lot to learn about how to build trust and credibility in comms campaigns.
Keep the learning going
If these books spark your curiosity, there’s more where that came from. At Code Red we recently published Trust Matters: Why cybersecurity influencers are shaping the future of B2B marketing, an eBook exploring how expert voices are reshaping the way security vendors build credibility. You can download it here.
And watch this space: a sequel on the role of analysts is coming soon!