The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll

As a cybersecurity enthusiast diving into The Cuckoo’s Egg, I found it to be both a thrilling spy‑novel and a foundational cybersecurity case study. Clifford Stoll’s investigation began with a tiny 75-cent billing anomaly at Lawrence Berkeley Lab in 1986 and led him to uncover a KGB‑backed hacker exploiting weak passwords and system vulnerabilities across military and government networks. What makes the book so valuable is how Stoll invents early versions of key tools like intrusion detection systems, honeypots, and forensic logging, all documented in vivid, non-technical prose . Redditors and security professionals alike praise the book for instilling the investigative mindset essential to threat hunting , while also admiring how its human, down-to-earth narrative, complete with cookie baking and logbooks, brings warmth to technical lessons. Even though the tech like GNU Emacs and modem traces feels dated, its lessons on vigilance, record‑keeping, and proactive defense remain timeless, making it a must-read primer for anyone wanting to understand how cybersecurity began