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

(Reviewed by Judi Clark APR 30, 1998)

Maybe you think I have a funny idea about adventure, but I think thiscounts just as much as climbing a mountain or sinking a boat.  Mr. Stoll is an astrophysicist turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, but becomes a one-man security force tracking down a computer cracker when he discovers a 75 cent accounting error.  This is in the earlier years of computer security, but very informative and reads like a thriller. The Cuckoo's Egg is well written and is considered a classic.  Mr. Stoll is also the same person who was doing "thoughts" at the end of The Site TV magazine which used to be on MSNBC.  After seeing him on The Site, I could see why he had just the right personality to go after this cracker!

• Amazon readers' rating: from 149 reviews

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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)

• The Cuckoo's Egg:Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage (1989)
• Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway (1996)
• High Tech Heretic: Reflections of a Computer Contrarian (1999)

 

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Book Marks:

• Official Clifford Stoll Web site, really
• High Tech Today's interview with Clifford Stoll
• Edge. org on Clifford Stoll, the Skeptic
• Dr. Dobb's review of The Cuckoo's Egg
• Cosmopolitan review of Cuckoo's Egg (in 1989)
• Comments on Silicon Snake Oil
• Education World interview about High Tech Heretic

 

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About the Author:

Clifford Stoll holds a Ph.D in Astronomy from the University of Arizona. However, after his experience at Berkeley Lab, he is well known for his thoughts on networked computers and the Internet. He lives in Oakland, California and is a stay at home Dad of two children.