# This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole Perlroth

2 Hacker News commenters recommended This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole Perlroth and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a well-researched history of the cyberweapons and exploit market from the late 1990s to the early 2010s. One commenter who had not read it disputed a claim the author makes about NSA stockpiling web bugs.

## Why people recommend it

- Detailed history of exploit market (1 comments): "it's about the history of cyberweapons it does a very good job detailing the late 90s to early 2010s exploit market" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46318985))
- Good background on cyberweapons (1 comments): "should probably read some of the published books about them, like "This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47065409))

## What people warn about

- Disputed claim about NSA stockpiling (1 comments): "I haven't read her book, am myself somewhat read in to the background here, and if she's claiming NSA was stockpiling serverside web bugs, I do not believe her." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46319479))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1635578493?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781635578492) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole Perlroth", https://hackerapproved.com/p/this-is-how-they-tell-me-the-world-ends/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).