The book is completely fascinating from multiple perspectives and I suggest anyone who wants to get a feel for the era read it. It's quite enjoyable, as well. The Internet, today, feels very metropolitan in some ways, but then this was something of a wild frontier.
Reading The Cuckoo's Egg gave me a frisson of recognition, as I was similarly torn between the abstract world of physics and the (comparatively) more concrete world of computing, as well as running into people mucking about where they had no business being during a time period when law enforcement had yet to develop a solid framework for responding to those sorts of issues.
I have considered contacting him purely for some hourglass work, or at least tips as to what to look for.
Back when I watched the original NOVA episode, I noticed they showed his UUCP email address. Since I had recorded it on VHS, I paused it so I could write it down. I emailed Cliff, apologetically, but thanking him for the story. I was quite surprised when he replied. Super nice guy, great story well told. It was probably a decade later that I read the book but somehow his narration in the NOVA episode is very personable and real, it just nails the story; and the interview with the actual hacker is great.
I've actually noticed a lot of people in the security field actually came from completely unrelated fields. I have a book on binary exploitation that was authored by someone who was originally a doctor. Some of my hacker friends also studied physics and what not and most became interested by mucking about instead of doing whatever it was they were supposed to be doing. I guess it naturally filters the people who have genuine curiosity and like digging around to understand somethung
Reading The Cuckoo's Egg gave me a frisson of recognition, as I was similarly torn between the abstract world of physics and the (comparatively) more concrete world of computing, as well as running into people mucking about where they had no business being during a time period when law enforcement had yet to develop a solid framework for responding to those sorts of issues.
I have considered contacting him purely for some hourglass work, or at least tips as to what to look for.