'The Iranians closed it down and basically they said America should stop shouting about Iran because their tongue will cut their throat. 'The biggest cyber attack ever took place during the pandemic on the US health system. 'But what I am really fascinated about is this whole conflict that is constantly going on between the big powers - United States, China and Iran, and Russia. I only came away with about £50, so not a huge amount. McNab, now 63, speaking by phone with a 'no-caller ID' from his home in New York City last week, said he has been interested in tech developments since being trained to deploy electronic counter-measures as an infantry soldier in the 1980s.īut he does not count himself as a computer expert, saya ing: 'Maybe about four years ago I did a bit of Bitcoin, you know playing about with how it all works. He left the SAS in 1993, the year Bravo Two Zero came out, and has since published more than 30 books.

He became an author with his best-selling account of Brave Two Zero, a failed operation during the 1991 Gulf War that saw him taken prisoner and brutally tortured. 'Normally you have a guy who will break down the doors and a guy who will use a laptop to get the information, but he is both.' McNab was a wayward teenager himself after being brought up by adoptive parents in Peckham, south London.Īs a baby he had been left in a hospital doorway in a Harrods carrier bag.Īfter turning to petty crime and a spell in borstal, he was saved by joining the Army where he learnt to read.Īs a member of 22 SAS he was at the centre of covert global operations for nine years and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and Military Medal. 'But also when he is there, he has the technical ability to manipulate the internet, so this is a perfect combination. 'He knows how to get into somewhere, to get what he needs and get out without anybody knowing he's been there. 'Nathan Pike is hopefully a bit different to just being a tech geek, in that he can do both worlds, so he can do the physical stuff of breaking in, which he learned to do as a kid. McNab, not his real name, says about retiring Nick Stone in Down To The Wire last November: 'If we had run it in chronological order I think he'd be about 180, so it felt like a natural progression to get to the point of, you know what, I've had enough of this. The former SAS action man turned author, who never allows the whole of his face to be photographed or filmed to protect him from enemies made during undercover operations in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, says he is proud of his new creation and eager to gauge reader's reactions. So starts an adventure which also takes in Rwanda, Morocco and Dubai.

Zero day andy mcnab