Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime: Cybersecurity Tactics to Outsmart Hackers and Disarm Scammers

by Eric O'Neill

The Invisible Threat has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology, Audiobook

304 pages, Hardcover

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

Eric is an accomplished public speaker, security expert and author that presents keynotes internationally about espionage and national security, cybersecurity, fraud, corporate diligence and defense, hacking, pursuing ones dreams and surviving Hollywood.

Eric has worked as an FBI counterterrorism and counterintelligence operative, a national security attorney and as a corporate security consultant. He founded The Georgetown Group, a premier investigative and security services firm. Eric is also the founder and National Security Strategist for Nexasure AI, a cybersecurity advisory company.

In February 2001, Eric helped capture the most notorious spy in United States history, Robert Phillip Hanssen. In the three months preceding Hanssen’s arrest, Eric was selected to work with the spy within the newly minted information assurance division, created to protect all classified FBI intelligence. Eric was charged with gaining Hanssen’s trust and then using that relationship to slowly draw the traitor out of deep cover. Eric’s investigative skill led to the arrest and ultimate conviction of the master spy.

Eric is an honors graduate of Auburn University. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from The George Washington University Law School, also with honors.

Reviews

[Elwin Kline · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I liked it." - 3 out of 5 star rating.

Good book for some refresher material for seasoned cybersecurity professionals.
Even better book for newbies/beginners.

The author did a good job hitting some of the more terrible and horrific dark web topics, such as the body part bazaar, crimes against women/children, and all the other things that sadly go down on TOR.

After you get over that hump, there is some engaging content on scams, AI, social media, and other general cybersecurity topics that mid-career and above will be very aware of.

This book would hit significantly harder for someone just getting into the field, or possibly a management type role person wanting to sharpen their cybersecurity knife a bit.

[Michael Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good advice here that will help protect you and your children online from various predators, scammers, and other con artists. A major weakness is that the book repeats stories often (for example, how bitcoin started.) Overall, very helpful.

[Becky of Becky's Bookshelves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime: Cybersecurity Tactics to Outsmart Hackers and Disarm Scammers by Eric O'Neill is a book that everyone should read and especially if you are a parent. The author's writing style is easy to understand, so informative, and very engaging. He shares how to think like a spy to protect your information, your family, and your data.

The book is told with several stories and also includes many helpful lists and resources. Honestly, everyone should read Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime: Cybersecurity Tactics to Outsmart Hackers and Disarm Scammers by Eric O'Neill. I very highly recommend.

I was gifted a copy and not required to write a positive review.

[David Strom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eric O’Neill has had an interesting career hunting down some of the worst spies and cybercriminals (he was one of the principals behind the takedown of Robert Hanssen). His book is a part travelogue, part instruction and best-practices manual, and part a detailed narrative of how cyber attackers ply their trade. If you haven’t heard of a few of the exploits (Colonial Pipeline, Solar Winds, WannaCry, and many others), this book is useful in describing the back story of these and others that have receded from the headlines. He draws on his own experiences at fighting these attackers from real life IT workers that are trying to keep their networks secure and protected, and “another grim reminder that once your data is out there, it’s out there for good—¬ and the dark web has no return policy,” as he writes. The dark web – where criminals operate – has a gross cybercrime haul greater than Germany and Japan’s GDP combined.

We have already reached the place where we can’t trust everyday sites such as texts, FaceTime, Teams and other social sharing platforms. “Trust has become an uncommon commodity.”

O’Neill has spent years as a national security lawyer, corporate investigator and part of the threat response teams for cybersecurity vendors, so he knows the landscape very well. He wrote this book for a laudable purpose: “If enough of us become covert agents and learn to safeguard our personal data, we can also make the world safe from cyberattacks. This is how we start. One data point at a time.” His philosophy is that we must do better and start thinking like our adversaries if we are to repel their digital advances. “There are no hackers, there are only spies.” His years in law enforcement “left me with a simple axiom: Criminals are lazy. If they weren’t, they’d get day jobs.” So true. And being patient in understanding how your business has been compromised will pay off in finding where the breach took place and how to shore up your defenses.

The end of the book is worthy of clipping as a ready reference, what he calls the Spy Hunter Tool Kit. It is a list of dozens of valuable suggestions, such as never respond to a phishing text (such as the one I got while I was writing this review, asking me to change my PayPal password. (I no longer have a PayPal account, having gotten tired of all the scams and come-ons such as this one.)

His book was written while AI blossomed (I guess that is one way to describe it) and audio and video deepfakes became more common. One way to suss out if they are fake is to move your hands wildly at the beginning of a video conference call, although eventually AI will figure out a solution to this too.

If you are an experienced cybersecurity professional and want a book to give your friends, family, and co-workers, this is a good place to start with their education. If you are new to the cybercriminal world, this book will show you its depths and darkest corners, and hopefully motivate you to use better and unique passwords and other protective techniques.

This is a great introduction to cybercriminals and how to protect yourself from being their next victim.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book at the library, with the title screaming it'll help me outsmart hackers. The author is a former FBI counterintelligence agent who now does security consulting. While the book has some good points about current threats on the internet, he doesn't go into detail on how to actually lock things down. A lot of "think like a spy hunter," then some basics. Actionable it isn't for those who don't know where to start.

The story that threads through the book, about the NGO he consults for gets hit with a ransomware attack. Each chapter or two is a drip in the story to then allow the author to give further tips. Or use past cyberattack cases as examples. The whole NGO story could have been a chapter at most, but stretching it out makes it more annoying than anything else.

The only thing I really got out of the book was the increased use of AI voice & video generation to scam people. The story about the financial controller being fooled in a zoom call that included avatars of high ranking people in his company. That I hadn't heard of, as that is a level of sophistication that warrants a lot of training in any company.

I know of an employee who was scammed via text message & email to purchasing gift cards for the "CEO." The employee was relatively new & didn't understand that it was way out of character for the CEO. That type of attack is mentioned in the book, when the scammers use LinkedIn to find new employees and then build a company profile. Someone has tried it on me via email, but it was obvious it was a scam.

If you want to learn actual steps to increase privacy and lock down things, then get _Extreme Privacy_ by Michael Bazzell. He's a former FBI cybercrimes specialist & his book is filled with the steps required to reduce your attack surface. He tells stories to make a point, then provides pages of step by step instructions. I did this several years ago & in checking the book title I saw there is a newer version out. This is the same book he hands his clients who want to disappear (legally) due to identity theft or victim of abuse.

If you want better stories about the cybercrimes discussed in _Spies, Lies..._, pick up _Sandworm_. It goes into detail about each case, the vector and impact of serious events. It'll scare just about anyone who can understand just how frail computer systems are.

Oh, one tip the author doesn't do is say how to keep a lot of the ransomware and other malware off of your computer. First step is to get rid of Windows. Macs or Linux, then to add a number of extensions to Firefox to keep websites from doing bad things and fingerprinting you. Michael Bazzell goes into detail about what to do and why (he lives what he writes).

[LM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime: Cybersecurity Tactics to Outsmart Hackers and Disarm Scammers by Eric O’Neill is an eye-opening and fascinating look into the one thing that connects us all—the internet. It’s staggering to realize that the average person only accesses about 10% of the web, while the rest belongs to the dark web, where much of the world’s criminal activity takes place.

O’Neill, a former FBI counterintelligence operative, shares firsthand experiences and walks readers through real-life situations that shaped his understanding of cyber threats. He explains how tactics used by hackers and scammers have evolved over time, especially with the rise of email and social media, which have made targeting individuals easier than ever. The introduction of AI adds another layer of complexity to an already challenging landscape. What I found most valuable is how he teaches readers to “think like a spy”—to stay alert, question everything, and recognize red flags before it’s too late.

As someone currently pursuing a master’s in cybersecurity, I especially resonated with O’Neill’s reflections on the dark web. His discussion of the disturbing and permanent images found there reaffirmed why I could never go into forensics—it’s something that would stay with me forever.

This book is an essential read for anyone who wants to better understand cybersecurity and the mindset needed to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals. O’Neill’s storytelling makes technical concepts both accessible and deeply human.

Thank you to Eric O’Neill, William Morrow, and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Susie (DFWSusie) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime is a deep dive into the realities of the technological world each of us exists in today, even if we wish we didn't.

Eric O'Neill leverages his expertise working in the counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and corporate security sectors to speak to the average citizen about their risk from cybercriminals.

The book is sectioned out in a way that makes it easy to skip around and read in more detail the parts which apply to you, and move on from the things which don't. For example, while I thought the advice for parents was excellent and necessary, if you don't have children (as I do not) those parts can be saved for less crucial times than financial scams or immediate threats to your privacy.

In a time where our data is being compromised on a daily basis by large corporations we have trusted, it's important to learn ways to mitigate the damage on our own end as much as possible.

O'Neill's book is well worth the read and I'd recommend this for any citizen concerned about how to protect themselves in the digital world.
_____
Thank you to William Morrow for the Advanced Review Copy.

[Janice Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember that most of us, who have read this book, read it to protect ourselves from cybercrimes. However, there will be, and there are always nefarious characters “really without character” waiting to do something morally bad. I suggest that you read this book, ask questions, have dialogue and be vigilant in protecting your data. Search for more solutions to stay safe. You don’t want to be one of the stories in Eric’s book.

Janice Mason

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eric tells the story of a ransomware case he was a consultant on. He weaves this less than spectacular story into so, so many other breaches that have occurred in the last several years. His unremarkable story is lost in all the news stories he repeats throughout the book. It's not a bad book, but as someone who reads these in the news when the occur, I was re-reading a lot in this book.

[Larry H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

After having read Gray Day about his outing of FBI mole Robert Hanssen, when I say this title I simply just had to read it. As techie, it was fascinating and very informative read (not to mention also, very disturbing about the state of our cyberworld). A bit technical, but is recommended reading for ANYONE that uses the internet, just to know what kind of "waters" you are dealing with.

[Ivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reminds me of that CSI episode, where they created GUI interface using Visual Basic to track the killer's IP address. Just skip it and read Sandworm or Tracers in the Dark instead.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Great stories, what to look for and how to protect yourself.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information!