6 ms·

The Cuckoo's Egg, by Cliff Stoll.

zavulon 8y ago
This. Cliff Stoll is better known for his other book, where he got a bunch of predictions about the internet wrong, but Cuckoo’s Nest is a lot better read. Based on a true story, how a few cent $ difference led him to discover a massive hack going on, and how he was chasing the hacker.
preya2k 8y ago
Second this. Fantastic book about true events. If you like the story, there is also a movie which covers the same events as the book. The movie is called "23" and is available in German and English.
- superice 8y ago
  I know the movie as 'The KGB, the computer, and me': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcKxaq1FTac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcKxaq1FTac
  - asragab 8y ago
    Thanks for this, just started watching it now!
- e12e 8y ago
  Oh wow, didn't realize there was a book behind "23". BTW, there's a terrible American film with the same name - one wants: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0126765/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0126765/ not this here rubbish: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0481369/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0481369/ (hm, really it was with Jim Carrie? Maybe there's yet another terrible version. Or maybe this was just that bad).
hestefisk 8y ago
Second this.
0x445442 8y ago
Fantastic book!
tyu100 8y ago
The OG of true crime hacking books.
edanm 8y ago
Indeed a great book. And (tiny spoiler-alert): a small easter-egg (though not intended as such) for people on HN: the founders of HN/YC show up in the book, admittedly in a very minor capacity. Btw, I recently discovered that Cliff Stoll is one of the awesome guys who appears on the Numberphile YouTube channel, so if you watch that, know that it's him :)
- JshWright 8y ago
  Including this one posted this morning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GYYerlQWs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GYYerlQWs Any time the subject of Cliff Stoll comes up, I always comment that someday I want to be as excited about _something_ as Cliff Stoll is about _everything_.
  - burning_hamster 8y ago
    His TED talk is probably my all time favourite. https://www.ted.com/talks/clifford_stoll_on_everything https://www.ted.com/talks/clifford_stoll_on_everything
aptwebapps 8y ago
My favorite bit was jangling his keys to induce noise in the line to delay the hacker long enough for a trace.
krueger71 8y ago
Yep, this one is a great read!

This. Cliff Stoll is better known for his other book, where he got a bunch of predictions about the internet wrong, but Cuckoo’s Nest is a lot better read. Based on a true story, how a few cent $ difference led him to discover a massive hack going on, and how he was chasing the hacker.

preya2k 8y ago

Second this. Fantastic book about true events. If you like the story, there is also a movie which covers the same events as the book. The movie is called "23" and is available in German and English.

superice 8y ago
I know the movie as 'The KGB, the computer, and me': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcKxaq1FTac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcKxaq1FTac
- asragab 8y ago
  Thanks for this, just started watching it now!
e12e 8y ago
Oh wow, didn't realize there was a book behind "23". BTW, there's a terrible American film with the same name - one wants: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0126765/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0126765/ not this here rubbish: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0481369/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0481369/ (hm, really it was with Jim Carrie? Maybe there's yet another terrible version. Or maybe this was just that bad).

hestefisk 8y ago

Second this.

0x445442 8y ago

Fantastic book!

tyu100 8y ago

The OG of true crime hacking books.

edanm 8y ago

Indeed a great book. And (tiny spoiler-alert): a small easter-egg (though not intended as such) for people on HN: the founders of HN/YC show up in the book, admittedly in a very minor capacity. Btw, I recently discovered that Cliff Stoll is one of the awesome guys who appears on the Numberphile YouTube channel, so if you watch that, know that it's him :)

JshWright 8y ago
Including this one posted this morning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GYYerlQWs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GYYerlQWs Any time the subject of Cliff Stoll comes up, I always comment that someday I want to be as excited about _something_ as Cliff Stoll is about _everything_.
- burning_hamster 8y ago
  His TED talk is probably my all time favourite. https://www.ted.com/talks/clifford_stoll_on_everything https://www.ted.com/talks/clifford_stoll_on_everything

aptwebapps 8y ago

My favorite bit was jangling his keys to induce noise in the line to delay the hacker long enough for a trace.

krueger71 8y ago

Yep, this one is a great read!