Cyberbolt

CYBERBOLT is a medical cybercrime thriller in which FBI special agent Mica Bolt has been running from her past all her life. Cursed with an exceptional memory disorder that allows her to remember every event in her life in forensic detail, she can never run fast enough. A rare family get-together to celebrate New Year's Eve ends in tragedy, and Mica finds herself spearheading an investigation into a suspected Russian cyberattack against America's healthcare system. Then for Mica the investigation takes a highly personal turn. Her young niece's life hangs in the balance, and Mica must decide who she can trust and who she must fight. Or is it already too late? We are under attack ... we can't see the enemy ... we can't hear the enemy ... but they are marching through our very fiber. You need to look no further than the daily news to read about breached databases, stolen records, identity theft, ransomware, and software vulnerabilities. Even the U. S. government has been broadly infiltrated. The threat is global. As a physician, I am deeply concerned about the cybersecurity vulnerability of the U. S. healthcare system. Every day I read about ransomware attacks on hospitals - forcing cancellations of procedures and surgeries and endangering patients' lives. Many medical devices are now connected to the internet and open to the potential dangers of bad actors' misdeeds. I had to do something. I have always wanted to write a thriller series and, with Cyberbolt, I have been able to combine my concerns about this terrifying threat with my passion to write a gripping story. I hope you enjoy this thriller, and trust that it also shines a light on the important issue of national security. What much of the public is not aware of is the incredible threat to the healthcare system. Certainly, some have read about the ransomware attacks holding hospital operations hostage - pushing them back to pen and paper, and worse. They are even suffering major delays in care and, yes, deaths as a result have been reported. Paying up or toughing it out are the only options. What the public does not understand is how vulnerable the hundreds of connected devices are - those that drip medicine into their veins, track vital signs, image their body and brain, deliver pain relief, pace hearts or auto-defibrillate and dispense drugs. With outdated systems and simple factory passwords, a hacker can suddenly control people's lives, change records, or create mass confusion and distrust in an age already full of mistrust. That our banking systems are so much more secure than our health systems - that terrible things have already happened and far worse may be on the horizon - is my motivation for writing this book. It is time to blow the whistle. There is little excuse to stick our heads in the sand and hope for the best when we know there are steps that can be taken to make it all safer. Ours is a nation unprepared. The events recounted here that took place in early 2021 should serve as a warning to us all. What follows is not science fiction. While this is a work of fiction, media reports have themes ripped from the headlines - what follows is our wake-up call.