Rating: 
Summary: Cukoo for Coco Puffs
Review: A novel by the acclaimed Cliff Stoll who hacked the hackers because of a 75 cent error in a computer log. Cliff Stoll was an astronomer at Berkley who single handedly took down the hacker known as "Hunter" and discovered the hacker's link to industrial espionage.
Rating: 
Summary: interesting
Review: A fascinating computer whodunit, even though it felt a little bit out-of-date when I read it (a few months ago). What I found interesting was the way the basic ideas of good security conflicted with computer culture, which explains a lot of the problems we have with hackers today.
Rating:
Summary: Real Research
Review: "When you're doing real research, you never know what it'll cost, how much time it'll take, or what you'll find." So advised physicist Luis Alvarez, Nobel Laureate, in response to Clifford Stoll's lament about lack of support for solving a seemingly insignificant problem - a missing 75 cents in thousands of dollars of computer billings at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL). Dr. Alvarez might have added that life has a wry sense of humor. Dr. Stoll, astronomer looking at the vast reaches of space, ran out of grant money and was transferred to the computer center in the basement of LBL. He was given the momentous task of tracking down a missing 75 cents in the department's computer billings. How trivial can you get? But Dr. Stoll tracked that missing sum, oblivious to the time it would take, the money it would cost, or where it would lead. And in so doing, he probably made a far bigger name for himself than if he had continued his astronomical studies uninterrupted for the rest of his life. By now, many people know that Clifford Stoll caught a hacker breaking into computer systems, that networks of computers are intimidating entities, and that good and evil lurk even in scientific settings. Larger issues may not stand out so well, though, such as the nature of research . . . real research. Oh sure, we spend billions of dollars on research, but most of it is safe research: we know what it will cost (the amount of the grant), how long it will take (till the end of the grant), and what we will find (enough material that can be arranged in some boilerplate format to satisfy peers we have managed to befriend). Real research is not safe research, so is not practiced by most researchers. For a condensed view of real research, read pages 86 and 87 of the hardback edition. For an extended explication, read the whole book. Be aware, however, false trails abound as to what is required to do real research. Growing long hair, riding bicycles, and raising your own vegetables are not requirements. Leftist politics, listening to the Grateful Dead, and being at Berkeley are also not requirements. No, the requirements are those stated succinctly by Luis Alvarez. All else is tinsel. Finally, I thank Clifford Stoll for taking such meticulous notes. Without them, he probably would not have solved his "case," but more importantly, he couldn't have written "The Cuckoo's Egg."
Rating:
Summary: Now it's time for the Hunter to become the hunted!
Review: This was the second computer security book I read and it was like adding flame to a fire because it increased my curiosity and prompted me to want to know more about it, so I ended up reading Cyberpunk by Katie Hafner and John Markoff to get a more inside look. If you start reading it then you'll probably finish it the same day. It talks a scientist that stumbles on a mistake in the accounting part of his job as a scientist at Lawrence Berkely Lab and he makes the mistake into a chase through cyberspace. In the book the author takes on the role as a modern day Sherlock Holmes and in the end he realizes that it was only elementary. Dealing with the CCC (Chaos Computer Club), Hunter (the main hacker), and the different networks will really make you think and keep you on your toes. Read it and see for yourself just how intense the experience will be. I advise you to get some sleep before you start because you probably won't be getting any anytime soon.
Rating: 
Summary: I good read.
Review: Cliff Stoll's account of what happened when he began monitoring the activities of someone who had broken into his computer system is enlightening and entertaining. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in computer security or online culture.
Rating:
Summary: Addictive!
Review: I won't repeat all the accolades everyone's said below, but if you've read the book (and understood the technical stuff) it's interesting to dig up a copy of the Com-ACM article (mentioned in the book) and read it.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best book ever on computers security!
Review: Don't start to read it if you have something important to do. You won't be able to put it down until you read all! Cliff rulez!!!
Rating:
Summary: a very engaging book
Review: The author provides a non-fiction story every bit engaging as a Nevil Shute novel. I also appreciated his communication of the idea that networks, computers, their users, and their administrators constitute an ethereal "community". As Stoll suggests, lets not flatter these idiots by referring to them as "hackers" (or even "crackers"): let's call them "scoundrels", "louses", "skunks", "varmints", and "eggsuckers".
Rating:
Summary: Provides an excellent introduction to the networking
Review: This book is great.. My brain ain't tuned towards the computer side... And this book helped me understand many concepts of networking which I have been experiencing difficulties in grasping.. Apart from that, it is a great read.. highly exciting and extremely difficult to put down..
Rating:
Summary: This one I didn't stop reading half-way through!
Review: Wow this book is really cool. Normally I'm not much of a reader only when i have to but this book I sat down and literally could not put it down. I am a slow reader but I was up for one day and one night and read it completely in one sit. Coming from a lazy 13 year old like myself thats pretty good. I also like the cookie recipe.
| 
