Zero day by S. Hussain Zaidi

​"Zero day" by S. Hussain Zaidi - Cyber terrorism! 

This book is published by Harpercollins India  in 2022 and has 224 pages. This is Book 3 of 'Shahanwaz Mirza-Vikrant Singh series'. 

A DDoS attack shuts down all Mumbai signals and brings city to stand still. Hacker calls himself Muntazim. Maharashtra ATS Chief Shahanwaz Ali Mirza and Cyber crime chief and Mirza’s protégé Vikrant Singh are on the case. They are one up against the hacker. Another cyber attack. This time railway signals. A Pakistani terrorist has infiltrated the border. 

Can Mirza-Vikrant deny the hacker what he covets most? What does the hacker want? Who is he? Which country is behind this? What’s the zero day?

It’s a game of cat and mouse. A game of wits. A game of nerves. A game of moves and counter moves. It’s Mirza against the hacker. There is politics, services rivalry, terrorism, espionage, and there are back stories. 

The story is good. Cyber terrorism is the in thing. But the book can’t be based in Cyber world alone. So there is also action, real action. There is HumInt. But the pace of the story is uneven. On occasion it slows down. Characters of Shaina and Vijayan fade away suddenly. The climax comes a little too fast and the ploy of climax is also a little naive. 

Zero day vulnerability is when enemy finds a vulnerability in your system, since there are zero days between discovery of vulnerability and its exploitation. Hence the title. But it’s a misnomer. 

Why did I read this book? Author

What I didn't like? Misnomer title. 

What did I like? Overall effect. 

Recommend reading.