Reddit Reddit reviews The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage

We found 12 Reddit comments about The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage
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12 Reddit comments about The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage:

u/everettmarm · 19 pointsr/sysadmin

the cuckoo's egg by cliff stoll -- http://www.amazon.com/Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-Computer-Espionage/dp/0743411463

takedown by john markoff and tsutomu shimomura -- http://www.amazon.com/Takedown-Pursuit-Americas-Computer-Outlaw/dp/0786889136

nonfiction, actually--early-computer-age stuff about chasing down hackers in the dot-matrix days. I enjoyed these when I was younger.

u/InvisibleManiac · 18 pointsr/shutupandtakemymoney

Interestingly, this site has been run for a good long time by Cliff Stoll, author of the Cuckoo's Egg. If you're a geek, YSK at least who this guy is. He's not a pioneer or anything, but he did do a solid bit of detective work, and ended up with a decent story out of it. If you're interested in old school security, computer forensics, or the NSA at the dawn of the internet, you ought to check his book out. A little overly dramatized, but hey, it's a decent read.

Amazon Blurb
>Cliff Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab when a 75-cent accounting error alerted him to the presence of an unauthorized user on his system. The hacker's code name was "Hunter" -- a mystery invader hiding inside a twisting electronic labyrinth, breaking into U.S. computer systems and stealing sensitive military and security information. Stoll began a one-man hunt of his own, spying on the spy -- and plunged into an incredible international probe that finally gained the attention of top U.S. counterintelligence agents. The Cuckoo's Egg is his wild and suspenseful true story -- a year of deception, broken codes, satellites, missile bases, and the ultimate sting operation -- and how one ingenious American trapped a spy ring paid in cash and cocaine, and reporting to the KGB.

Amazon Link

EDIT: I don't know the guy or anything, I just liked his book.

u/qiwi · 10 pointsr/reddit.com

Note that kleinbottle.com is run by Cliff Stoll -- the guy of the Cuckoo's Nest fame, probably the most exciting book involving real-life computer hacking:

http://www.amazon.com/Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-Computer-Espionage/dp/0743411463

Also, an amusing except from the "positions offered" page:

PENTIUM PROCESSOR. Must know all pentium processes, including preprocessing, postprocessing, and past-pluperfect processing. Ideal candidate pent up at the Pentagon, penthouse, or penitentiary. Pays pennies. Penurious benefits include Pension, Pencil. Pentel, Pentax, and Pentaflex. Write to [email protected]

(did Stanislaw Lem write that job advert?)

u/tiktaalink · 9 pointsr/netsec

I'm just a netsec tourist, but I've found that SANS is a good resource. You can watch trending issues with good analysis at isc.sans.edu

I would also recommend The Cuckoo's Egg It's not very relevant technically to what you will be doing, but it's worth the read because it is a fascinating story, and you might garner some hints in terms of methodology.

u/JoshuaLyman · 5 pointsr/IAmA

That guy's (Cliff Stoll) a riot. Here's a .PDF link and here's an Amazon link.

I was at a security conference that he spoke at right after the book came out. He was the keynote speaker. I was with him and the organizer right before he was supposed to go on. Apparently he didn't know what 500 people sitting in front of a big stage looked like and once he saw it was refusing to go on. Organizer cajoles him into following through. There's a monster screen up (like most of the size of the entire stage opening) projecting his presentation from the back. He starts the presentation but noone can see him. Then you see this giant shadow on his presentation - he's presenting from behind the screen. The fantastic thing is he's got this Sideshow Bob hairdo so imagine the shadow. Anyway, he gets more comfortable as the presentation goes on and is kind of circling the screen sometimes behind sometimes in front on stage for the rest of the~~ stage~~ presentation.

Actually a brilliant guy and great presentation.

Edit: formatting.

u/_McAngryPants_ · 4 pointsr/sysadmin

And for a little history, read The Cuckoo's Egg

u/wdr1 · 2 pointsr/programming

Clifford Stole wrote a pretty good book, but, man, a visionary he ain't.

u/rakeswell · 1 pointr/books

Certainly!

The Cuckoo's Egg is a classic and describes a true story written by one of the "hackers" involved. It involves international espionage, the US military, the FBI, and the NSA.

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/AskReddit

The Cuckoo's Egg is pretty amazing. It's basically about a network admin tracking down a hacker when the internet was much younger. I know nothing about hacking, but it was never confusing because he explains everything. The story is rather gripping.

u/generic_handle · 1 pointr/Bacon

A picture of a Klein bottle with the famous Cliff Stoll in the background. Stoll now makes these things and sells 'em off kleinbottle.com.

If you like international spying, crime, and hacking, the man went for a pretty amazing real-life adventure and wrote a book about it (which is a fun, lighthearted read).

Stoll also has a nice description of the mathematical significance of Klein bottles.

u/rokbe · 1 pointr/books

You may enjoy the cuckoo's egg.

It's a true story about a man finding a 75 cent accounting discrepancy and tracing it all the way back to the KGB. Reads like a thriller and besides Cliff Stoll is pretty funny.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-Espionage/dp/0743411463