The Cuckoo's Egg
A couple weeks ago I finished reading this (true) story related to information security. I found it to be a real page turner, and couldn't put it down...
I finished (binge) reading a book called "The Cucko's Egg" by Cliff
Stoll. He would have preferred to rename it to match his paper "To
Catch The Wily Hacker", aka "Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of
Computer Espionage".
It's a true, very detailed story, based o the detailed logs he kept, due to his habits as a trained scientist (astronomer).
If I were (once again) teaching courses in information security, and it
was a 101 introduction style class, this would definitely be a book I
would recommend they read to start things rolling. If nothing else, it
would at least lay the groundwork for some awareness of what's really
going on out in the (cyber) world that most are blissfully ignorant of.
It would quickly determine if the reader has the mindset and interest
for that world, and where they stand on the spectrum from white hat,
grey hat, or black hat in the information security and espionage world.
If interested in such things, I think most readers won't be able to put
the book down. It's a "whodunnit" page turner for techie and security
geeks.
I have not read a novel that put me into "binge-reading" mode, in I don't know how many years.
It wasn't that very much of it was new to me, in fact it brought back a
LOT of memories from the mid-80's. And I kind of knew (just because of
my background) roughly who did do it, but the detailed, step by step
progression was just addictive.
If anyone is wondering what technology and the (ARPAnet) Internet and
computers were like circa mid-80's and the complete apathetic view of
information security by people, government, NGO's, etc. This would be
the single best introduction I've ever read.
If talking about astrophysics, UNIX, VAX, VMS, software development,
ethernet, networking, information security, and other science and
technology interests you, you definitely may want to check out this
book.
Of course, if you're not into such things. You'll probably be bored out of your gourd.
Cheers for now!