Crypto-crashby Ian McKinley 
| No. words: 84000 Ebook Price: $3.99 
| Genres: Science fiction, General Published: 11 / 2023 Available Formats to Download: MOBI EPUB PDF 
| | STORY DESCRIPTION In the mid 21st century, a Swiss cyber-security firm tasked with countering ransomware attacks on major financial institutions exposes a Russian criminal gang supported by a top North Korean hacker. This leads to the discovery of a much more dangerous plot to destroy economic databases, aimed at causing chaos on a global scale. The defence against this threat requires extending the abilities of neural networks run on an advanced quantum computer, creating a form of artificial intelligence which can compromise the cryptography forming the basis of the security of both computer networks and electronic communication. Not only does this tool exceed expectations, it opens a Pandora's Box of other possible applications that could risk destruction of civil liberties and the entire basis of free democracies.
The team use this tool to combat threats from China, the USA and also criminal organisations who are competing to gain control of such power. Inevitably, this leads to inflicting punishments that are comparable with the impacts of conventional warfare. Recognising the dangers of wider access to this technological singularity, they decide to actively limit further developments in this direction elsewhere so that, for the near future, this small group are reluctantly placed in the position of a global oligarchy - with all the responsibilities and dangers that this entails.
| Keywords related to this title - click on a keyword to find more, related stories Near-future thriller science fiction cybercrime quantum computing AI Author information: Ian McKinley is a Scot, living in Switzerland and spending much of his time in Japan. A professional scientist and fan of all forms of science fiction in books, comics and movies, he decided at the turn of the century to extend from writing text books and technical papers to the new challenges of fiction. Writing occurs mainly during long vacations spent diving, skiing and exploring exotic locations, which provide inspiration and settings for his books.
He writes novels set in the middle of this century, major social and environmental changes along with rapidly developing technology forming the backdrop for action thrillers written for a mature audience. The characters play a central role, tacitly establishing the cultural changes resulting from increasing sexual permissiveness and growth in the power of mega-corporations at the expense of national governments. As Ian has a wide overview of the most recent developments in science and technology, the future worlds described are credible and, given their generally dystopic nature, maybe worryingly so. |
