Hacked or Hardened?: The New Reality for Business Owners

By Peter Hish

Most cybersecurity books are written by consultants for technical staff. This one is different.

Peter Hish runs cyber fraud investigations for a major Southern California sheriff's department. For twenty-seven years he has sat across the table from business owners who lost everything, watched executives stare at locked screens and empty bank accounts, and listened to them say the same thing: "We thought we were covered." They were not.

Hacked or Hardened? is the playbook he wishes they had read before the breach. Written for small and medium business owners, executives, and boards who do not need to learn how to configure a firewall but do need to know what decisions to make and where the liability actually falls.

In twelve focused chapters, Hish translates active cases into leadership priorities. Threat landscape. Human factor. AI governance. Compliance. Incident response. Insurance. Each chapter opens with a real incident, ends with a decision the reader has to make, and closes the loop with what it cost the business that did not make it.

Cybersecurity is not an IT problem. It is a leadership responsibility.

Second edition, fully revised for 2026. Adds two new chapters on AI governance and cyber insurance. Updates every chapter for the current threat environment.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GZ7771LB
• ISBN13: 9798258550071
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 124 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"