Acknowledgments

This book was a journey. At first, it seemed so simple: All I had to do was go throw the ring into Mordor—I mean, write a book about data breaches. After I started writing, Yahoo was breached. Equifax was breached. Cyber extortion became an epidemic. Business email compromise cases spread like wildfire. I threw my plan out the window and started again, and again. It was like trying to chart a swiftly moving river while rafting it.

I am so grateful for many people who were part of my journey. First and foremost, for my two wonderful children, who grew so much over the time that I was writing this book! Thank you for your steadfast love and companionship. This book is for you.

There are three amazing women who I am lucky to have in my life on a daily basis: Kaloni Taylor, Karen Sprenger, and Annabelle Winne. Every day, I am thankful for your wisdom and for all that you do. This book literally could not exist without you.

Thanks to the excellent team at Pearson; in particular, my dear editor, Chris Guzikowski, who set me off on this adventure and was there for me with patience and wisdom along the way. Chris Cleveland, my development editor, took the time to slice vast territories off my manuscript and reorient me in the right direction. As painful as it was to have to “kill my darlings,” the book is far better because of his direction. Thanks to Haze Humbert, for seeing the writing through its final phases, and for her delicious hot toddy recipe that cured my flu. I am deeply grateful for the work of consultant Louisa Jordan, who meticulously formatted hundreds of footnotes that appear throughout this book.

It is the production team that brings a book to life, and I am thankful for the fantastic crew that brought my words to the page that you are reading now. In particular, many thanks to producer Julie Nahil, project manager Ramya Gangadharan and her team, and copy editor Lisa Wehrle (who checked every single letter of the book—and beyond, since she also edited the formatting and margins!). The immensely talented Jonah Elgart drew the cover art for this book, giving it a striking visual “face” that is creative, quirky, and geeky—exactly the right fit.

Thank you to everyone involved in the review process. My friend and mentor Michael Ford provided advice and feedback on every phase of this process, from pie-in-the-sky early brainstorming sessions to the technical review, during which he read every page of the book and provided extensive comments. Mike Wright and Randy Marchany kindly reviewed the book as well and provided very helpful feedback. I am also grateful to Jeremy N. Smith for providing guidance on the writing process and encouragement along the way, and who (shockingly) edited the entire book by hand on paper (and then told me to rewrite it, which I did).

In researching this book, I reached out to dozens of colleagues, whose knowledge and expertise make this book far richer. Many thanks to Brett Anderson, Jay Combs, Heidi DeArment, Sherri Douville, Randy Gainer, Katherine Keefe, Jason Kolberg, Scott Koller, Rob Lee, Dale Leschnitzer, Larry Pierce, Lynne Pizzini, Frank Quinn, Howard Reissner, David G. Ries, Donald Rome, Dave Sande, Shane Vannatta, Neil Wyler, and Anonymous (whoever you are).

I couldn’t believe my good fortune when I met attorney Chris Cwalina on a conference call and discovered that he had been the general counsel for the ChoicePoint case—a historic breach. His perspective was invaluable, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share it with readers. In similar fashion, I felt especially fortunate to meet Mike Donovan, the inventor of breach response insurance. Mike took the time to share his experience developing breach response insurance and provided insights on the evolution of risk.

LMG Security’s forensics team was instrumental in helping me stay up-to-date on the latest threats and breach response issues. Special thanks to Matt Durrin and Ali Sawyer for taking the time to share their case stories and viewpoints. I would also like to thank the entire team at LMG Security who supported me in so many ways along this journey, including Patrick Burns, Andy Carter, Nate Christoffels, Dan Featherman, Madison Iler, Ben Kast, Ross Miewald, Delaney Moore, Shalena Weagraff, and Ashley Zhinin. Finally, thanks to my colleagues at BrightWise and AMC, especially Michelle Barker, Robin Caddell, Emily Caropreso, Pat Jury, Deb Madison-Levi, Wes Mallgren, Matt Oakley, Mike Powers, Corey Skadburg, and Murray Williams.

My friends and family lifted my heart so many times along the way. I am grateful for your love and support. Special thanks to E. Martin Davidoff, Laura Davidoff, Sheila Davidoff, Debra Shoenfeld, Eileen and Norm Shoenfeld, Brian Shoenfeld, Beth Davidoff, Blake Brasher, Kaylie Johnson, Nadia Madden, Shannon O’Brien, Deviant Ollam, Ben Saunders, Sahra Susman, and Jason Wiener. Last but not least, I would like to thank my wonderful boyfriend Tom Pohl, whose steadfast encouragement helped me reach the end of the road.