The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy through the Maze of Computer Espionage

Cliff Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab when a 75-cent accounting error alerted him to the presence of an unauthorized user on his system. The hacker's code name was "Hunter" -- a mystery invader hiding inside a twisting electronic labyrinth, breaking into U.S. computer systems and stealing sensitive military and security information. Stoll began a one-man hunt of his own, spying on the spy -- and plunged into an incredible international probe that finally gained the attention of top U.S. counterintelligence agents. The Cuckoo's Egg is his wild and suspenseful true story -- a year of deception, broken codes, satellites, missile bases, and the ultimate sting operation -- and how one ingenious American trapped a spy ring paid in cash and cocaine, and reporting to the KGB.

About the Author :
When, to the delight of the baffled FBI, CIA, and NSA, Cliff Stoll nailed his spy, he wound up on the front page of The New York Times. The story, broken in 1989, quickly gathered headlines across the nation and Stoll became a genuine, if somewhat unlikely, American hero. An astronomer by training and a computer expert by accident, Cliff Stoll has become a leading authority on computer security, an issue recognized everywhere as among the most important security problems of our times. He has given talks for the FBI, CIA, and NSA, and has appeared before the U.S. Senate. Stoll is an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Review :
Tom Clancy A spy story for the '90s -- and it's all true. Cosmopolitan Nothing short of fascinating...Even if you don't know a byte from a bagel, The Cuckoo's Egg will grip you on page one and hold you as ferociously as the best mystery...It's the intensely human, often funny voice of the man on the trail that makes this book so wonderful. New York Newsday Stoll is the electronic equivalent of Indiana Jones...Grab the book. Chicago Tribune 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. The Philadelphia Inquirer Stoll's is the ever-appealing story of the little man bucking the system...great fun to read...lively and thoroughly absorbing. The New York Times Book Review As exciting as any action novel...A gripping spy thriller. The Seattle Times Fascinating...a nonfiction account that reads like a le Carré spy novel.