Rating: 
Summary: Holds up well over time
Review: Despite the events of this book having taken place 15 years ago, it still holds up well even now. 15 years in computer time is a millenium, but many of the basic ideas and concepts still remain. A great read...you won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic read
Review: While the technology in the book is dated, it serves on one level as a history of computers and the predecessor of today's Internet. It is also timeless as the issues dealt with are as prevelant if not more so today. This book has everything from mystique and suspense of who the hacker is and who he attacks and how to the investigators including one government agent named T.J. who apparently needs little more than a zip code to get mail. This book is highly recommended to anyone interested in computers, the Internet, readers of spy thrillers and mysteries. Probably the only thing missing is a murder. Still the best hacking book I have seen.
Rating: 
Summary: Good tech book
Review: Berkeley astronomer tracks a German spy through a maze of computer espionage. Interesting information about computer technology and security, but the suspense of the chase was not all that good.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and educational
Review: When I first read this book, I was not yet a system admin, but it was *very* entertaining. Later, it proved to be educational when the system I was administering came under attack. Stoll's tenacity and detective work inspired me to persevere, even when my boss didn't believe that our system had been compromised and I was forced to do my detective work on my own time. I caught my hackers and I have Cliff Stoll to thank for the education and inspiration.
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Summary: Best choice for first book on Internet Security
Review: "The Cuckoo's Egg" is one of my tests for evaluating someone's security awareness. If they think this is a trivial book, I know that they have a narrow concept of information security.There are two good reasons to read this book. First, it is entertaining and engaging, recounted autobiographically by a gifted storyteller. Second, it is a classic case history of detection, intrusion response, traceback, and prosecution. This book is one of the first documented reports-and a highly-detailed one-of hackers who use the Internet to jump from computer to computer. Although the events took place in the mid-1980s, almost 10 years before consumer use of the Internet, the Internet's predecessor, ARPANet, existed, and was already a hacker's playground (at the time, I was managing a user support office that provided support to the users of one of the Pentagon DEC machines that was compromised). Surprisingly little has changed since then, and hackers still use telnet to guess weak passwords, hack into systems, exploit weaknesses to gain root, and then rummage through e-mail looking for clues that can help them crack other systems. One of the most important lessons of this book is that discrepancies usually have a cause. It was through the investigation of a trivial system accounting error that Stoll first became aware that a member of his digital flock was harboring a wolf. Although not a computer expert by training, PHd astronomers (people who make their living by counting stars) are undoubtedly highly patient, stubborn and methodical-personality traits that were crucial to the author's success in the long weary months it took to finally track down the attack to its source. On the way, Stoll created what is possibly the first publicly documented use of a 'honey pot' to lure his attacker back to his site so that he could both record his activities and allow the network authorities to trace him back to his European origin. Although a variety of James Bond-like high tech attacks have been developed over the years since this volume was first published, the fact is that passwords are still the most commonly used form of information system authentication, and they are no stronger today than they were 15 years ago. This book provides a great understanding of how attackers take advantage of weak passwords and unused accounts. All system administrators and security professionals need a total grasp of these concepts in order to understand how the systems they are responsible for are at risk of very simple attack. Today, interest in Intrusion Detection Systems continues to grow. Many of the attacks are much more sophisticated than those that are documented by Stoll. But the basic paradigm of cops and robbers, an endless cycle of spy vs. spy, continues today, just as it did in the mid-80s, before 'THE Internet' was recognized as such. I certainly do not want to discourage general readers-my relatively non-technical wife recently picked up my copy and finished it inside of a couple of days-but I do urge all burgeoning security experts to get a copy of this book early in their career, read it, and understand the many lessons that it contains. In spite of being written by an academic, this is a fun book, with a breezy casual style. It is in no way a dry and dull scholarly tome. And that is a positive to me, because most people are more motivated to complete a text when they don't actually dread picking it up. No matter how accurate the information in a text book, if the reader falls asleep or tunes out, they won't acquire the knowledge within it. Because "Egg" is such an easy book to read, it is an ideal introduction to security ideas including: attack process and hacking, intrusion detection, computer forensics, infowar, hacker motivation, electronic surveillance and traceback, auditing, social engineering, password usage, cross-border issues, prosecution of cybercrime, and the relationship with law enforcement. It is such a gentle introduction to these concepts that you don't even realize that you are gaining a significant education. In spite of this being over 10 years old (my copy has already started turning yellow), it is still a highly-relevant book today. If you are interested in a career in Information Security, but do not appreciate what this book has to teach on the subject, I strongly recommend that you reevaluate your choice of profession. You might not like Stoll's flip style, but if you cannot see that this non-specialist wrote 'the book' on intrusion response, then you need to seriously consider that you might also be missing some important Infosec concepts and understandings.
Rating:
Summary: Facinating reflections on multiple dimensions
Review: When I started reading this book, I could not put it down. Certainly my involvement in computer and network technologie made this book immediately interesting. However, I was intrigued by the more general conflicts that the auther was able to bring up. Firstly his ambivalence between wanting to stop the purpetrators and his distrust in the goverment and their agencies. Secondly the discussion of openess of networks to ease the access for everybody and the urge to protect information. This thought can still be followed today in the modern internet and the open source movement. And furthermore the reflection that may be done realting those issue to society in its entirety. I have rarely read a facinating book.
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Summary: Excellent Book - Cliff Rules!
Review: I first heard of Cliff's story from the PBS special "The KGB, The Computer, and ME". I was only around 12 when I saw this, but I was hooked on this story. I bought the book shortly after and have read it MANY times during my career. This book really turned me on to the world of computers and opened my eyes on how vulnerable our networks are. He really goes into great detail and has some great stories of how this hacker effected his life as an astronomer who got stuck with an atypical job... tracking down a hacker. I gave this book to my step-dad, who knows nothing about computers, and he said he was never lost since Cliff gave great examples. Anyway, I have two copies and it's a must for any library. I also like the new cover and this will soon be another addition to my library. Thanks Cliff.... Sam Alexander salexander@clearsource.net
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Summary: Feels like I read a movie. "Unputdownable" !!!
Review: When I parted with a meagre $2 at Goodwill for a hardback version of this book, little did I expect that I'd sit through two nights and nearly half a working day ploughing through it like it was some spy novel. Hmm, maybe it was one. Through this book, Cliff Stoll has so eloquently brought out the harsh realities he faced as a crusader for computer security during a time when it was hardly understood. Sprinkled with characteristic humor, the book is pretty much a compendium of notes from his trusty logbook that recorded every event over a period of nearly a year during which he detected, profiled, tracked, traced, and ultimately almost single-handedly helped capture an international cracker funded by the KGB. This book reads almost like a novel thanks to his ability to mingle technical details and human interaction rendering it highly readable by a lay-person while satisfying the nerderatti. As a side note after having read this fabulous book, I felt a tinge of personal frustration, and sympathy towards Cliff considering that his unbending determination and perseverance hardly ever paid off in terms of acknowledgement of his efforts from the "three-letter organizations". It is to his credit that he is altruistic to the point of overlooking the frustrating attitudes of the organizations he helped. This is a great read and worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: Cliff Stoll wrote a wonderful mistery book which happens to be real and a great motivation to learn the tools of his (ours?) trade: operating systems, protocols, editors ... There is the exact mixture of people, thrill and science, each one enhancing the others. This is a very uncommon talent. I wonder what would be a technical book written by Stoll, provided he didn't change style! I tell you this: whenever I get saturated of computer stuff (argh! new languages every semester...) I turn back to Stoll. All my sense of wonder is recovered. This is perhaps the perfect book for one who just started to use a computer, and takes it for just a fancy typewriter: she will respect and love her "third half" of the brain. I read Cuckoo's Egg about ten times!
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Summary: Berkeley anarchist goes DoD
Review: Coming from a programming world for the DoD, but having had the Cliff Stoll mindset as a teenager, I, too, evolved to appreciate the work of the DoD. Cliff melds Berkeley academia with cloak-and-dagger black world US agencies in the pursuit of capturing a hacker. The story-telling is superb and Cliff's dedication in enlisting the assitance of communications experts and sysadmins is a tribute to his resourcefulness. I loved this story because Cliff is so down-to-earth in his exploits. This story really shows what can be done on a shoe-string with ingenuity and a good boss. Kudos to the DOE for hanging in there when the three-character agenicies chanted "not my balliwick" like the Dali Lama chants a mantra. Thank goodness someone stepped up to the plate and solved very intriguing computer break-in problems. I think the best part of Cliff's book was the philosophy that we should fight to protect an open and collaborative internet, maintain trust, and maintain privacy of data. Buy this book - I guarantee you won't put it down.
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