3 HN users recommended this documentary3 months2024–2025score 3
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Recommended as a documentary telling the early hacking and spy-hunting story, with the original people involved.
A 57-minute account of Clifford Stoll's tracking of a KGB-linked hacker through Lawrence Berkeley Lab computers in 1986, the story of The Cuckoo's Egg. It covers the FBI and Chaos Computer Club involvement.
“It's quite amazing to see the original people involved recreating events just a few years after they took place” (HN, 2024)
Here here. I love Cliff and have my own Acme Klein bottle, a wedding present from my wife. I read the book ages ago of course, but I just discovered the NOVA documentary last week. It's quite amazing to see the original people involved recreating events just a few years after they took place (docu was released in 1990). So... I can't believe Cliff's wife agreed to do a shower scene as part of a recreation for the documentary... Just sayin. [this video]
Documentary recreating the KGB hacker case with the original people
His NOVA episode on the same subject is worth a watch as well [this video] I think most younger readers will be familiar through his videos on the Numberphile YouTube channel.
Clifford Stoll's NOVA episode on the Cuckoo's Egg story
If you like this then you will probably like "The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage", a 1989 book by Clifford Stoll. Also available as audiobook, and a documentary ("The KGB, The computer and Me"). [this video]
Documentary adaptation of Stoll's Cuckoo's Egg spy-hunting story
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