The Cuckoo's Egg - a real hacker hunt from the early internet

I was surprised by how much of a page turner this was.

What makes it so exciting is that it’s a real story, an actual attempt to detect and trace a hacker during the early days of the internet. No thriller writer had to invent anything here, it all happened.

Along the way, the story takes you through some basic computer security principles in an easy to follow way. Concepts are introduced slowly, as the author learns of them himself, so you’re never dumped into jargon. You pick things up at the same pace he did while chasing the intruder. The detail that stuck with me is how hands-on it all was: printing everything off and going through the logs on paper.

To be clear about what you’re getting: the concepts mostly don’t still apply to modern computing. If you’re after a practical security handbook, this isn’t it. But as a window into the history of the early internet, it’s very interesting, and for me that historical computing angle was a big part of the appeal.

Who’s it for? Anyone into true crime or computer security, though I’d say it’s really one for people interested in computers. I’m not a true crime reader myself and this still hooked me. Easy 5/5 from me.