The Cuckoo's Egg cover art

The Cuckoo's Egg

Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Cuckoo's Egg

By: Cliff Stoll
Narrated by: Will Damron
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Before the internet became widely known as a global tool for terrorists, one perceptive US citizen recognized its ominous potential. Armed with clear evidence of computer espionage, he began a highly personal quest to expose a hidden network of spies that threatened national security. But would the authorities back him up? Cliff Stoll's dramatic firsthand account is "a computer-age detective story, instantly fascinating [and] astonishingly gripping" - Smithsonian.

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 mysterious invader who managed to break into US computer systems and steal sensitive military and security information. Stoll began a one-man hunt of his own: spying on the spy. It was a dangerous game of deception, broken codes, satellites, and missile bases - a one-man sting operation that finally gained the attention of the CIA...and ultimately trapped an international spy ring fueled by cash, cocaine, and the KGB.

©1989 Clifford Stoll (P)2020 Tantor Espionage Freedom & Security Politics & Government Security & Encryption True Crime War & Crisis Exciting Thought-Provoking Inspiring Computer Security

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Cult of the Dead Cow cover art
Countdown to Zero Day cover art
Ghost in the Wires cover art
The Ransomware Hunting Team cover art
The Lazarus Heist cover art
The Art of Deception cover art
How I Rob Banks cover art
The Art of Invisibility cover art
If It's Smart, It's Vulnerable cover art
Social Engineering, Second Edition cover art
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution cover art
Cyber Wars cover art
Crime Dot Com cover art
GCHQ cover art
The Hacker and the State cover art
Where Wizards Stay Up Late cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
Not a lot has changed since the book was written. The three letter agencies still don't disclose bugs they find useful, and systems are not secure by design.

If you enjoyed Andy Weir's novels, then you will enjoy this non fiction story even more.

If you take a drink every time the word "bailiwick" is mentioned, make sure you have plenty of drink available, because it's going to be a wild party.

Fascinating, scary, frustrating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story was amazing in several regards. That computer hacking and laws surrounding it were still new, which prevented any national security organisations from investing in the problem.

It was up to a student and his pure curiosity to catch this hacker. As the problem keeps getting deeper, you see Cliff's world as a student expand into networking across multiple organisations. Each entity refuses to give any pointers and help, resolving everything to secrecy. Every discovery Cliff makes on this hacker uncovers something more sinister the organisations were unprepared for. The personal investment and systematic problems create an interesting read for the reader.

Well paced and fascinating story. I felt invested in it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was an excellent story that was told beautifully, the author and narrator put you right there, highly recommend.

I loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Awesome, couldn't stop listening to it. Would recommend if you are into technology and technology related things.

Very detailed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The book has a gripping story. the computer and cyber security parts are explained in an eloquent way. The delivery by the narrator is excellent

Intriguing book with excellent dlivery

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really really really enjoyed this. Very interesting getting first hand information and insight as to what c compromised system looks like from a sysadmin point of view. Great listen

Fantastic Listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Simply brilliant. I couldn’t stop listening. This book is engrossing and fascinating. Without doubt one of the best listens I’ve ever had.

Best listen in many a year. What a story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read the book many years ago, not long after it was published, and the story is still pertinent today. Cliff (along with Martha) pioneered many of the strategies for tracking and identifying intruders that are still used today. Far from being a dry account of deeds conducted over telephone lines and through computer screens, Cliff brings the story to life with a mix of humour, his struggles to get the security agencies interested, and an insight into how tracking the perpetrator affected his personal life.

Will Dramon is perfect as the narrator - the story and his narration made me wish I had a longer commute. My next audiobook has a lot to live up to.

Still as pertinent today as it was when it was written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this account. The fact that it happened decades ago in no way minimises its impact. It is let down a bit by the author's somewhat confusing stance on his own political leanings. He is basically a left-wing student type having difficulties with his realisation that most FBI, NSA and CIA personnel with whom he deals are basically decent people with no personal axes to grind. His relationship with girlfriend Martha is also at times nauseatingly sickly-sweet; they like to make quilts together and this gets several needless mentions - this guy is just too good to be true. He clearly wishes to be seen as an innocent abroad in a big bad world, and this too is irritating. These things apart, I found it a good listen.

Great story but iffy presentation at times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In my yuf, i played with the machines and saw the the days Cliff details what a trip down memory lane, fascinating.
But sadly the same parasites from the same country (but with a different name today) still meddle with elections and electricity grids.

Ah the old days of pdp11’s

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews