The Hidden Corporation

A Data Management Security Novel

By: David Schlesinger

Narrated by: Bobby Hundley

Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

If you wonder why good companies lose lots of personal information, and are not sure if your company is immune from this disaster, this insightful book shines a bright light on the hidden processes in most companies where data governance and information security are usually absent. These gaps are often the root cause of sensitive data loss.

Follow cybersecurity specialist Nancy MacBaron who fights in the corporate trenches against criminal hackers intent on stealing her company's sensitive information, yet discovers hidden data security gaps in her corporation while investigating a data theft.

The world's first data security business novel is an accessible way to illuminate hidden data dangers while explaining some of the cybersecurity challenges of today.

Called into her boss's office early one morning, Nancy MacBaron is given dual assignments: one, to help locate the person who is holding their data for ransom, and two, investigate how their information management process allowed such a huge amount of sensitive information to be stolen. Amidst the rivalry among departments, and the pressure of financial disaster for the company, Nancy begins a journey of discovery that shows her a landscape of data process activity that nobody is coordinating or even really aware exists.

Nancy confers with a number of people, some helpful, some resentful of outsiders, all adding more pieces to the puzzle. Amidst the new ideas, old work habits, and personal conflicts Nancy begins to recognize hidden and ungoverned gaps within the corporation along with following clues to find the criminal before the company's data is auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Follow Nancy as she gathers different perspectives from developers, data architects, managers, attorneys, cybersecurity specialists, data governance groups, law enforcement, and members of her own family to formulate a method to protect sensitive information that coordinates the expertise of many business groups to eliminate gaps in The Hidden Corporation.

©2011 David Schlesinger (P)2016 Technics Publications

Amateurishly written and performed

Imagine how an information security professional might write fiction and you've pretty much nailed this book. It reads alternately like a CISSP study guide and bad Internet fan fiction.

The "heroine" of the book (who is supposed to be an accomplished CISSP and security professional) often seems perplexed by concepts she would have had to know simply to pass the CISSP exam. While the text does contain a great deal of good factual information, I feel like it's lost on the target audience (current and aspiring CISSPs.)

The performance of the voice artist is worse. He presents caricatures of various nationalities when trying to use distinct voices for each character.

I would recommend this book to those InfoSec professionals who have just begun prep work for the CISSP exam and who can disregard the bad voice acting and 11th grade writing style.