Cliff Stoll, in "The Cuckoo's Egg", begins an investigation that ends up changing the intelligence community. His extensive testing and experiments reveals not only an unauthorized access, but also the flaws of computer security. He studies methods, data paths, and the signals through an electronic maze that eventually leads him to the "Hunter". Stoll's diligence and thoroughness in his work is mesmerizing. I enjoyed the part where he accounts for six-second-time delay between data transmission and reception, and the way he finds the three missing seconds.
I think this book talks about very important issues on computer security. The author has successfully warned us on rapid development of computer softwares and their vulnerabilities. We need to test security issues on any software before we embrace it. This will help reduce the chances of inconsistencies and likelihood of software hacking. Hacking, and especially internet security is a major issue these days. This reading makes us aware of some potential problems that are related to internet security.
In the end, the author gives some of the best arguments as to why unauthorized access to computers is a serious crime. As a scientist, he understands how all benefit from the free flow of information and mutual trust.
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