Fred Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize-winning national security journalist for Slate Magazine, talks about his new book DARK TERRITORY: THE SECRET HISTORY OF CYBER WAR. We discuss why it took Washington decades to take cyber threats seriously, and how a computer pioneer and a Mathew Broderick film led President Ronald Reagan to sign the first presidential directive on cyber security.

Fred Kaplan reveals how the 2010 cyber attack that damaged Iranian nuclear facilities may have opened a pandora’s box, we’ll get an idea of just how much U.S. cyber teams are capable of, and we’ll weigh the cyber arms race between the U.S. and China. Plus we discuss the how the FBI broke into the San Bernadino shooter’s iPhone and whether Hillary Clinton’s private unsecured email server might have gotten hacked.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, order DARK TERRITORY: THE SECRET HISTORY OF CYBER WAR on Amazon or download the audiobook for free through a special trial offer just for our listeners at www.audibletrial.com/kickasspolitics.com. You can read Fred Kaplan's column at www.slate.com or at www.fredkaplan.info. You can follow Jacob Weisberg on Twitter at @fmkaplan.

Please subscribe to KickAss Politics on iTunes and leave us a review. You can also help us reach our fundraising goal for this year and donate at www.gofundme.com/kickasspolitics. Or go to the website for the show at www.kickasspolitics.com and click on the donate button. Thanks for listening!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices