Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage

_The Cuckoo's Egg_ has everything most fictional detective novels wish that they had: a personable detective who does not mean to get involved as deeply as he does, federal agencies who cannot seem to take action, and a criminal mastermind who has everybody stumped until he encounters our detective. The best part of this whole book is that it really happened-- a feat that fictional mysteries can never match.

I knew Stoll's work through the more technical article "Stalking the Wily Hacker" and was pleasantly surprised to see how well Stoll was able to translate the technical side into a book-length narrative. IMO, this is significantly better than other more recent books about computer crime and still worth a read today (both for information and entertainment). Highly recommended.

I read this book when it was originally published in the late 1980s. It was the first tale of cyber crime that I read and led me to read many others hacker books. It was one of my favorite true crime books of all time so after almost 25 years I thought I'd read it again. I appreciated it more the second time.

An incredible read even for someone like me who Ian'the technical at all. Intriguing and so well written that it's hard to put down. I can only hope that the government agencies have and reviewed their practices.

This was a fun historical look at tracking down a hacker. The lead character is developed well and it was fascinating to jump through all of the red tape that it took to track someone down. Highly recommend this book.

I actually bought this one for a computer teacher of mine. I've personally read this many times. The author is VERY entertaining. I've seen this guy being interviewed and he acts just the way he writes: wired, can't stop moving.

It is hard to believe Stoll is an astronomer. His writing ability is top notch! This is a gripping tale, even now, approaching 20 years later. It is a real-life cliffhanger (no pun intended)/detective story. He deserves a medal for his efforts in unmasking the hacker. Read this book. You will not be disappointed.

Cliff Stoll is a astrologer at the University of Berkeley but discovered accidentally (by a stupid financial irregularity of 75 cents) an unauthorized user on their computer. From then goes on a cat and mouse game, between Cliff and the hacker.

The commands (telnet, whois ...) in this book were something magical i wanted to know everything about.

At that time I was already crazy and keenly interested in computers and networks but the Internet still was something far away (at least for me). With a little luck I could connect to some BBS (Bulletin Board System) using Gopher and we were suddenly in distant America. Waauw

Cliff Stoll was my childhood idol and I knew then that I really wanted to do something similar!

This book is a great read about a systems' person tracking a intruder in the network. I covers lot of the fundamentals I learned computer security classes as the cat and mouse game ensues. Its technical enough to understand the technology of the era but not bogged down with too much unexplained jargon. Some might consider odd as it also covers details of his personal life also as he narrates the story; but I think puts being a dedicated individual in perspective.

This book is a great read about a systems' person tracking a intruder in the network. I covers lot of the fundamentals I learned computer security classes as the cat and mouse game ensues. Its technical enough to understand the technology of the era but not bogged down with too much unexplained jargon. Some might consider odd as it also covers details of his personal life also as he narrates the story; but I think puts being a dedicated individual in perspective.

I skimmed this way back when it came out. Several instructors at recent security classes have brought it up, and so I bought a paperback copy to read. It is fairly dated - kind of fun to read the references and remember what it was like before everybody had a cell phone, and a laptop and a tablet. When was the last time you saw a payphone on the street? The story of how Cliff ferreted out the intruder is, of course, the main thing - but his daily life and his culture (academia) is intertwined with the story and makes it an even better read. The glimpses into the maddeningly bureaucratic nature of government agencies is also worthwhile. A surprising amount of the technical material is still relevant today: and not just because unix/linux is still alive and kicking. The basic concepts of security and good practices that many of the sysadmins were not doing are the SAME EXACT things that lazy sysadmins are STILL not doing - such is life. A good read.

Fun read for tech geeks, especially if you are interested in chasing hackers. Stoll sprinkles in some personal stories here and there -- some add, some detract from the story. Even though at this point the technology is a bit dated, the story is still relevant and it gives a history of the older VAX/VMS and UNIX flavors.

If you are starting to program, networking, or just want a nonfiction thriller about computer hackers get this book. He does an excellent job of writing this for every level of reader. And even the most advance programers will love how this book gives the historical context of today.

For what amounts to a collection of printouts and a good memory, this book makes an awesome read. Dr. Stoll has an excellent command of the narrative form and dramatic flair. I could not put this book down. It is a must have for anyone even remotely interested in computer security.

Interesting story, poorly told.

Cliff Stoll is an exceptionally bright guy and one of the very first to go to work as a white hat hacker, trying to foil a European hacker using Cliff's systems at Berkeley to break into US military networks. The concept and the actual story are great-- what's not so great is the pacing and the digressions he takes trying to make what would be a very quickly told spy story into a novel. He never quite seems to know why he's shoehorning meaningless vignettes about his personal life and his "hippy" lifestyle into the story. It seems like he was coached by an editor to make himself more human, and that's what he comes up with.

It's an great story but a slog of a read. I kept finding myself wanting to yell at the book "shut up about your quilting and get back to the story!"