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The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage Paperback – January 1, 2005

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,845 ratings

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In this white-knuckled true story that is “as exciting as any action novel” (The New York Times Book Review), an astronomer-turned-cyber-detective begins a personal quest to expose a hidden network of spies that threatens national security and leads all the way to the KGB.

When Cliff Stoll followed the trail of a 75-cent accounting error at his workplace, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, it led him to the presence of an unauthorized user on the system. Suddenly, Stoll found himself crossing paths with a hacker named “Hunter” who had managed to break into sensitive United States networks and steal vital information.

Stoll made the dangerous decision to begin a one-man hunt of his own: spying on the spy. It was a high-stakes game of deception, broken codes, satellites, and missile bases, one that eventually gained the attention of the CIA. What started as simply observing soon became a game of cat and mouse that ultimately reached all the way to the KGB.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fascinating...a nonfiction account that reads like a le Carré novel."
--
The Seattle Times

"Stoll's is the ever-appealing story of the little man bucking the system...great fun to read...lively and thoroughly absorbing."
--
The Philadelphia Inquirer

"The Cuckoo's Egg is 'reader friendly,' even for those who have only the vaguest familiarity with computers...a true spy thriller....The hunt is gripping."
--
Chicago Tribune

"As exciting as any action novel....A gripping spy thriller."
--
The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

An astronomer by training and a computer expert by accident, Cliff Stoll became a leading authority on computer security and the internet. He has given talks for the FBI, CIA, and NSA, and has appeared before the US Senate. He lives in Oakland, California.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pocket Books (January 1, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 399 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1416507787
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1416507789
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 1.2 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,845 ratings

About the author

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Clifford Stoll
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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
2,845 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book enjoyable, easy to read, and fun in its spy-chasing characteristics. They also say the storyline is interesting, eye-opening, and captures a weird time during the early internet years. Readers praise the writing style as well-written and hard to put down. They find the content interesting and relevant for cyber security and hacking today. Additionally, customers describe the book as extremely interesting and fantastic. Opinions are mixed on complexity and relevance, with some finding it peppered with enough details and observations to make it engaging, while others say it's un sophisticated.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

192 customers mention "Readability"192 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable, easy to understand, and fun in its spy-chasing characteristics. They say it enhances their knowledge and appreciation for the operating system. Readers also mention that the book is hard to put down.

"...detailed in the book enhances our knowledge and enriches our appreciation for the operating system, as wells as stamping it with technical..." Read more

"A great read. If you're a Unix sysadmin, like myself, you will recognize and emphathize with a lot of the concepts...." Read more

"...can be infected by espionage, viruses or worms to read this highly entertaining and groundbreaking story of a man on the pioneering edge of computer..." Read more

"...An amazing read." Read more

126 customers mention "Storyline"123 positive3 negative

Customers find the storyline interesting, eye-opening, and a Sherlock Holmes romp. They also describe the book as an amazing walk down memory lane, quirky, and well-written. Readers also say it's a great piece of computer history and well worth the read.

"...age and with just the right experience for this to be an amazing walk down memory lane...." Read more

"...who was on the trail of the mysterious hacker, and he tells the story quite well...." Read more

"Very realistic wonderfully true modern mystery. I heard the author speak at the City of Berkeley Main Public Library...." Read more

"...Being a true story makes this very engaging, but those are not into computers and hackingmay find it a bit dry...." Read more

71 customers mention "Writing style"66 positive5 negative

Customers find the writing style intriguing, well-written, and hard to put down. They also appreciate the excellent descriptions and detailed explanations that do not feel overdone or drawn out. Customers also mention that the book stays true to reality.

"...I like that the author includes relevant details from his personal life to help put the suspense in context and make it more real and engaging...." Read more

"...He was as energetic and bold as this book." Read more

"...terms, but as others have pointed out the book itself reads like a spy novel of sorts, and there's also quite a bit of humor thrown in, so it's..." Read more

"...I enjoyed the book, and read it pretty quickly - in just a few days...." Read more

43 customers mention "Content"43 positive0 negative

Customers find the book interesting, essential reading for anyone in cybersecurity. They also say it's a great history book about how things worked before the age of the Internet. Readers also mention that the book inspires them to do their job better and helps them understand the importance of strong passwords.

"...of the government's response to the situation is interesting and informative...." Read more

"This is an absolutely riveting true account of computer hacking in the early days (mid 80s) when PCs had not yet become widely used in peoples homes..." Read more

"...He mixes in some human interest elements and tells a good story...." Read more

"I have read this book four times. It is so intriguing and informative, yet written in a way that is a combination of detailed information and..." Read more

14 customers mention "Immersiveness"14 positive0 negative

Customers find the book extremely interesting, riveting, and exciting. They also say it keeps them solidly engaged.

"...the depiction of the government's response to the situation is interesting and informative...." Read more

"...informative, yet written in a way that is a combination of detailed information and entertainment...." Read more

"...Great book; fascinating times - sort of the Wild West days of computer networking." Read more

"...It slows down a bit in the final 1/3rd but is still fascinating. One of the best straight non-fiction books I've ever read." Read more

15 customers mention "Complexity"9 positive6 negative

Customers are mixed about the complexity of the book. Some mention that it's peppered with enough details and observations to make it engaging, and accessible to non-technical people. However, others say that the writing style is un sophisticated, computers have gotten more complex, and even harder to secure. They also say that poor systems administrators still exist.

"...The book was written in a way that makes it accessible to non-technical people, but still interesting to those of us who are technical...." Read more

"The problems that Cliff talk about still exist today. Computers have gotten more complex and even harder to secure...." Read more

"...that he speaks about in very easy to understand terms, and uses a lot of good analogies...." Read more

"Good read hard to put it down. Ends up all the bureaucracy is BS Just to show you how all departments work against each other." Read more

14 customers mention "Relevance"5 positive9 negative

Customers are mixed about the relevance of the book. Some mention that it's still relevant today, and has aged very well. They also appreciate the fresh and modern ideas and techniques. However, some customers feel that the tech is dated but the message is still valid.

"...It is a great starting point although methods are dated. An engaging page turner...." Read more

"...It aged very well." Read more

"...Much of the tech is dated but the message is just as valid." Read more

"...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." Read more

10 customers mention "Repetitiveness"0 positive10 negative

Customers find the book repetitive and dull at times.

"...I have to take off one star for the somewhat repetitive nature of Cliff's investigation...." Read more

"...This made some chapters boring to read, or I just felt boring since I wanted to know what would happen with the hacker..." Read more

"...My only issue is that it was a bit repetitive and could probably have benefitted from reduction of about 20 pages." Read more

"...I would give the book 5 stars, but I felt that some parts were very repetitive, but I understand that it is repetive since the activity that the..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2023
I am just the right age and with just the right experience for this to be an amazing walk down memory lane. I like that the author includes relevant details from his personal life to help put the suspense in context and make it more real and engaging.

The delivery of the voice actor on the audio book is great and made a 2-day car trip go by much faster!
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2018
The Cuckoo's Egg revolves around the true adventures of an astronomer, Cliff Stoll, turned UNIX system administrator, from the moment of his discovery of a security breach on his networked computers, how he tracked the intruder's activities, and how the intruder was finally brought to justice. For those of us familiar with Unix system administration, especially security-related work, many of the commands and techniques detailed in the book enhances our knowledge and enriches our appreciation for the operating system, as wells as stamping it with technical authenticity.

Although the story is somewhat dated, starting in the late 80’s, there are still many lessons to be learned from it today. Continually reviewing audit logs is critical to the security of any system and without doing that, the protagonist would not have found the intrusion and been able to track the duplicitous activities of the hacker. Cliff also wrote many scripts and developed some innovative methods to secure and keep track of the intrusion continuously. Although he worked hard at his job, he was also good at communicating and reaching out to many other folks within his organization at Lawrence Berkeley Labs, as well as many others beyond, including commercial, military, federal, and international agencies. Lastly, he was meticulous in his documentation, which helped to solve the case and ultimately provided proof of everything he did to people that he needed help from.

Cliff Stoll is a good writer with a somewhat eccentric point of view. I enjoyed his humor as well as the humorous situations he gets into. This is probably the first documented case of an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) on a multi-organizational scale. I had a very hard time putting this book down and highly recommend it as an important history lesson to all within the computer security or information technology (IT) field.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2002
Truth is often stranger than fiction, though it isn't always as interesting. THE CUCKOO'S EGG is the exception, giving us a tale just as exciting as any best-selling, fictional thriller and yet is entirely factual. Who would have guessed that such an exhilarating adventure could be totally enclosed in the not-entirely-sexy world of computer networks and security?
THE CUCKOO'S EGG is a fascinating story that began with a minor discrepancy on a small computer network in Berkeley and ended in an international sting operation. Cliff Stoll was the astronomer-turned-programmer who was on the trail of the mysterious hacker, and he tells the story quite well. This is a suspense filled tale of tracking this burglar to his lair, of frustrating red herrings and of maddening bureaucracy that stands in the scientist's way.
There are one or two places that don't flow quite as smoothly as they would have had the author been a professional writer and not an astronomer/computer-engineer. He also tends to be a bit repetitive in his discussions and his repeating of his philosophies. But, as I mentioned, this is from a scientist, not an English major, and his style does have a charm of its own. It helps the story feel more like something that's happening to just an average kind of guy, which is a great aid to heightening tension, and also helps carry the computer-illiterate reader. Despite having to convey some relatively difficult concepts, Stoll does an excellent job at explaining networks, operating systems, programming logic and other computer activities with a minimum of confusion. And while the average reader is gaining insight into the world of computer, the advanced, 21st Century computer operator may find something to feel nostalgic about in this story of late-80's computer networks.
I can easily recommend this book to anyone regardless of his or her prior knowledge of computers. While on the surface this is a story about breaking into electronic equipment, the appealing aspects of the story lie in the mystery itself, not necessarily in the tools of the trade. What this all boils down to is a good old-fashioned game of cops-and-robbers, when computer networks and Internet security were still only in their infancy.
4 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024
This account of early-days Internet forensics was fascinating, and explained for me why password hygiene is so important. If that sounds too geeky for you, then do you like a good detective mystery? It works well that way, too.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2023
Back in the days before PCs and when most computers were IBM Mainframes, a series of new companies started creating evolutionary machines that were able to challenge the mainframe and today their great great grandchildren sit on your desk or are in your pocket. The internet was very new and mostly was used by the government and universities. The second largest computer company after IBM was Digital Equipment Corporation and their VAX machine made profound changes to our industry. It also became one of the first examples of criminals using the primitive interned to break into these VAX machines which contained a lot of government secret data

The book is an engrossing detective story about how these criminals were tracked down and stopped. Anyone who enjoys a “techno thriller” will enjoy the book. Those in the business will find that hacking is nothing new. This should be required reading for all cybersecurity students and practitioners.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Diego
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Mexico on October 8, 2022
A great book that tells a real story of the beginning of cyber security forensics
Shubham Chauhan
5.0 out of 5 stars Great condition of the used book
Reviewed in India on June 4, 2023
The media could not be loaded.
 If not for the yellowish tint on the pages i would've confused it for new.
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Shubham Chauhan
5.0 out of 5 stars Great condition of the used book
Reviewed in India on June 4, 2023
If not for the yellowish tint on the pages i would've confused it for new.
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Purple People Eater
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2022
If you've never heard of Cliff Stoll then you should check him out, he's an incredibly interesting bloke.

Aside from that, this book is his account of discovering and tracking down a hacker who'd gotten into a university mainframe, it's properly old school with terminals, modems and dot matrix printers but it's a heck of a story and worth the investment of your time.

Bonus, the 2nd hand copy I got came with a folded up newspaper article from the original reports of the case!
2 people found this helpful
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Dirk W.
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolles Buch, macht Spaß zu lesen
Reviewed in Germany on March 30, 2020
Tolles Buch, macht Spaß zu lesen. Als IT'ler empfinde ich es als sehr angenehm, dass hier keine übertriebenen Hacks passieren, sondern eine reale Geschichte spannend aber unaufgeregt wiedergegeben wird. Mir hat der Blick in die Vergangenheit des Internets und gerade auch die kleine Einsicht in die astronomische Forschung, in der ja viele Ideen der Computergeschichte ihren Anfang hatten, gut gefallen.
Ivy
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in Australia on October 30, 2019
Fantastic book, even though after all these years, what is told in this book is a good basis for infoSEC today.

Well worth a read.