It was only a matter of time before we learned that the NSA has managed to thwart much of the encryption that protects telephone and online communication, but new revelations show the extent to which the agency, and Britain’s GCHQ, have gone to systematically undermine encryption.

Without the ability to actually crack the strongest algorithms that protect data, the intelligence agencies have systematically worked to thwart or bypass encryption using a variety of underhanded methods, according to revelations published by the New York Times and Guardian newspapers and the journalism non-profit ProPublica, based on documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

These methods, part of a highly secret program codenamed Bullrun, have included pressuring vendors to install backdoors in their products to allow intelligence agencies to access data, and obtaining encryption keys by pressuring vendors to hand them over or hacking into systems and stealing them.

Most surprising, however, is the revelation that the agency has worked to covertly undermine the encryption standards developers rely upon to build secure products. Undermining standards and installing backdoors don’t just allow the government to spy on data but create fundamental insecurities in systems that would allow others to spy on the data as well.

Read more at Wired.

Black Flagged is the first book in Steve Konkoly’s Black Flagged series (the sequels being Black Flagged Redux and Black Flagged Apex). In this first book Konkoly introduces us to a complex, high-energy world of special ops and intelligence personnel engaged in a chess game that often plays out in bloody mayhem. Two things immediately stand out about Black Flagged.

The first is that Konkoly doesn’t make this an easy, bad guys versus good guys morality play. There are plenty of questionable motives and devious maneuvering to go around and, initially at least, we have to pay close attention to discern who the real heavies are in the book. This approach by Konkoly not only cleverly underlines the dangers of this special ops world but also treats the reader as a partner in the process of unwrapping the story. Nothing is simple black and white here.

The second intriguing element of Black Flagged is Konkoly’s main character Daniel Petrovich. The larger sense of moral quicksand is crystallized in Petrovich. He is a man with a heavy history who is reluctantly drawn back into his former murderous profession — a profession he excels at — by larger forces. But once Petrovich is back in, he is in with a furious vengeance. As a writer, Konkoly has the confidence to give us a guy who we respect, but who clearly is a resident of the black ops swamp. Konkoly doesn’t try too hard to make the reader like Petrovich. He has faith that once we get to know Petrovich better, we’ll understand his demons and his motivations. And we do. By the end of Black Flagged I had a deep appreciation for Petrovich as a maestro of special ops violence but also saw the wounded human side of the character under the tactical vest.

And for lovers of “thriller procedurals” Black Flagged doesn’t disappoint. Konkoly, a former U.S. Navy officer, knows his weapons and his tradecraft inside and out. The details are plentiful and fascinating. From edged weapons to submachine guns to grenade “specials”, there is plenty of gear and great action to keep the hardcore thriller fan turning pages.

My only quibble with the book is the flip side of the complex world Konkoly presents: there are enough characters that I was challenged a few times to keep track of who was who (Konkoly does provide a helpful cast of characters list). Overall, however, this is a rousing tale with great action and a well woven plot that will keep you on the hook to the end. I look forward to the next books in the Black Flagged series.

Black Flagged is available on Amazon.com 

View all my reviews on Goodreads.

Great review of The Atlas Fracture by Joseph Souza, author of the zombie thrillers, The Rewakening and Darpocalypse.

“The Atlas Fracture, a technological thriller by Tim Queeney, takes the reader to a faraway place most people have little knowledge of: the Antarctic. Our hero, Perry, is somewhat of a misfortunate chap with a troubled personal history and frigid upbringing. Lonely and alone, due to the requirements of his covert assignments, Perry seeks above all to reconnect with his estranged son now living in L.A. He misses Lucas so much that he’ll do just about anything to be with the boy, a son he finds difficult to connect with on account of his own shortcomings. But as always he’ll meet up with him just after the next assignment is completed.

“So what better place to reconnect with humanity than the Antarctic, where a secretive conglomerate of scientists, Muslims and thugs gather in disharmony to achieve a singular goal? Although each team’s ultimate goal is a shared endeavor, their motives are as disparate as their ideologies.

“The Atlas Fracture is a clever plot device, and throwing poor Perry into this glaciated oasis obviously requires that he snuggle up with a body, and the warmer and softer the body the better. And that he does by the mysterious pull of romantic chemistry. Or maybe it’s just the bitter cold that brings them together. But not before mayhem, intrigue and duplicity divides the various members of the team into their ideological cliques. What turns out to be an expedition in search of sub-glacial, deadly organisms soon becomes a red herring for a more malevolent plan of action.

“Queeney is a competent and confident writer. His ability to describe this frozen tundra in meticulous detail impressed this reader. Equally impressive was his description of the technological processes involved in drilling through ancient ice, not to mention glacier history and shift patterns. I didn’t expect to learn much, but I found the information on oceanic currents, Soviets artillery shells, and sub-glacial lakes to also be rather interesting topics, topics that I rarely if ever come across. Queeney has done his research so strap on your seatbelt and jump aboard this novel at your own risk.

“The Atlas Fracture is a compelling thriller that hums right along and skillfully integrates science, intrigue and ideological extremes. My only quibble was that the book was a bit too compact and could have used more fleshing. Perry Helion is an intriguing character with enough heft to carry the day, and I wanted more of him. A more expansive approach to the novel would have enriched and better informed the reader. But let there be no doubt, The Atlas Fracture possesses enough velocity and mass to heat up the room. Snuggle up with an electric blanket and put the thermostat on high while reading this book because you won’t put it down until your hands are frostbitten to the bone.

Get The Atlas Fracture at Amazon.