The Wires That Lied: What Every Leader Needs to Know About Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity governance for the executives who own the risk

The Wires That Lied: What Every Leader Needs to Know About Cybersecurity frames cybersecurity as a business risk management problem, not an IT problem. Written by Frank Dickson, Group Vice President of Security & Trust at IDC, the book gives CEOs, CFOs, board members, general counsel, and business leaders of all kinds the conceptual vocabulary, historical context, and governance frameworks they need to oversee cybersecurity without pretending to technical expertise.

The book examines real incidents including the Mirai botnet attack, NotPetya, Stuxnet, SolarWinds, Colonial Pipeline, and Change Healthcare, organized around three attack categories: disruption, data and intellectual property theft, and ransomware. It provides an eight-domain security framework covering network, endpoint, application, identity, data, messaging, response, and governance, with self-assessment guides for each domain.

Readers will also find:

• A recurring historical narrative tracing cyberattack logic from an 1834 French telegraph fraud to modern network threats
• "What to Remember" summaries after each case study that convert technical events into governance and business lessons
• Specific questions non-technical leaders should ask their security teams and guidance on which decisions belong to the board
• A tabletop exercise framework providing executives with a concrete, actionable first step they can implement immediately after reading
• Self-assessment guides spanning eight security domains that help leaders evaluate organizational readiness without requiring deep technical background

Written for senior executives, board members, general counsel, and operations leaders who govern cybersecurity rather than run it, The Wires That Lied delivers the specific vocabulary, decision frameworks, and assessment tools these leaders need to engage credibly with their security teams and make informed risk management decisions.