The Cuckoos Egg, Cliff Stoll
The Cuckoos Egg, Cliff Stoll
3 Rating(s)
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The Cuckoo's Egg
Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage

Author: Cliff Stoll

Narrator: Will Damron

Unabridged: 12 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/31/2020


Synopsis

Before the Internet became widely known as a global tool for terrorists, one perceptive US citizen recognized its ominous potential. Armed with clear evidence of computer espionage, he began a highly personal quest to expose a hidden network of spies that threatened national security. But would the authorities back him up? Cliff Stoll's dramatic firsthand account is "a computer-age detective story, instantly fascinating [and] astonishingly gripping"—Smithsonian.

Cliff Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab when a seventy-five cent accounting error alerted him to the presence of an unauthorized user on his system. The hacker's code name was "Hunter"—a mysterious invader who managed to break into US computer systems and steal sensitive military and security information. Stoll began a one-man hunt of his own: spying on the spy. It was a dangerous game of deception, broken codes, satellites, and missile bases—a one-man sting operation that finally gained the attention of the CIA . . . and ultimately trapped an international spy ring fueled by cash, cocaine, and the KGB.

About Cliff Stoll

Cliff Stoll, an MSNBC commentator, a lecturer, and a Berkeley astronomer, is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Cuckoo's Egg, Silicon Snake Oil, and High-Tech Heretic: Reflections of a Computer Contrarian. He lives with his family in the San Francisco Bay Area.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brian Rosenblat on September 09, 2012

I really enjoyed this book. Loved the references to Berkeley, the hacker chase, but most interestingly, it takes you back to an earlier time in computing (in 1989)- which I thought was a fascinating reminder of what things were like. For example, I love the explanation of 'electronic mail.' At this......more

Goodreads review by Hannah on February 17, 2025

I read this in 1994. I'd met my first boyfriend who worked as a database administrator. I had just started working as an IT consultant (really had NO clue what that meant until I actually got on the job - only got this job because of a college alumna who took pity on me). I graduated with a double l......more

Goodreads review by Nick on March 19, 2008

I read this book first around sixth grade and again last month. It was wicked good the first time and so-so the second time. I think as I've gotten older and wiser and more discerning, and as technology has progressed, this book hasn't aged well. Here's the synop: Cliff Stoll is an astrophysicist who......more

Goodreads review by Otis on December 09, 2016

Super fun book - the story of a sysadmin chasing a hacker during the early internet, but it reads almost like a thriller - fun and fast. I think I learned more about the early internet from this book than anything I've ever read before. I had heard of the words Arpanet and Milnet, but really didn't......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on January 02, 2014

Interesting book, especially since I worked at MITRE at the time, and had first-hand knowledge of the method the hacker used to go through the systems. Also met him at a security conference -- he gave a nice presentation.......more