Hacker 2/HACKER2.mdf/cud/cud444b.txt

Text File | 1995-01-03 | 8KB | 140 lines

Date: 24 Aug 92 23:27:31 EDT
From: Gordon Meyer <[e-mail]>
Subject: File 2--The Egg, Over Easy

The Egg, Over Easy.
Gordon R. Meyer, CuD co-moderator

It's Thursday, August 20, 1992 and I'm watching the President of the
U.S. address his loyal minions.  "Fall of communism...I did that,"
"The reunification of Germany...did that too," "Kuwait is free..thanks
to me," "Events in our country?...blame Congress. It's not my fault".
The telephone suddenly rings...though semi-catatonic I know, just
know, it's the Thought Police.  Shit, what will I tell them?  I was
listening to the President...honest!  You must have me confused with
someone else.  My palms are sweating.  The phone is still ringing.  I
pick it up...

"Guten abend" I say, in my best German accent, hoping it will throw
them off the track.  "Hey Gordon" Jim says without hesitation.  "Jim!
It's you!" Thank God.  I breath easier knowing that it's only Jim
Thomas, co-founder and Keeper-Of-CuD on the line.  I guess I only
thought it was 1984.

Or maybe not.  Before I know it Jim is asking me to write a review of
'The Cuckoo's Egg' for the next issue of CuD.  I check my watch...it's
still ticking.  A quick glance at the calendar on the wall...'1992'.
Hmmmm.  Maybe Jim  is still in his own RNC-induced trance.  "Didn't we
review Cliff's book about..oh...two and half years ago?," I ask
quietly, trying not to wake him too abruptly.  "Yeah."  (It's a full
sentence for Jim, trust me, he can say a lot in  one word.)  Admitting
my confusion, I ask him to explain. "There has been a lot of water
under the bridge since Cliff's book, it'd be good to take another look
at it and see what it has to offer now.  Besides," he added, "we
already have retrospectives from lots of other folks." "Nothing like
good old fashioned peer pressure" I mumble, trying to sound
enthusiastic.  I ask him when he needs the article, knowing the answer
won't be as far in the future as I'd like, say eight or nine months
from now.  "Wednesday latest, tuesday if you can."  Great, so I've got
around five days to find, then re-read, then review the book. How will
I convince him it can't be done?  I start to voice my objections,
starting with "I don't have time to read...," when he cuts me off
before I can finish. "So don't read it again, just review it." Huh?
No, wait, oddly enough it starts to make some sense.  Or least more
sense than what I could hear coming from the television in the other
room.  We discuss the idea a bit more and hang up with me promising to
send the article by wednesday, and Jim making me say "By wednesday the
24th of August 1992 anno Domini, cross my heart and hope to die."
Sheesh, what a slave driver...

I'm determined *not* to refer to my copy of The Cuckoo's Egg (The Egg)
for this exercise.  I really do know where it is though, I can see it
on the shelf about ten feet away as I write this, but I'm not going to
cheat and look at it.  I don't need to.  Well, except to see how the
hell to spell "Cuckoo," but that doesn't count. There's no need for me
to tell you what the book says, you know that...or at least you
should.  If you don't know then you haven't read it.  Do so.  Now.
End of review.  (And if you choose to ignore this advice, and not read
it, I swear to God you will regret it because the very first
non-computer person you meet, who finds out about your interest in
security/hackers, will regale you with an enthusiastic 20-minute
summation of 'that one hacker  book'.  So either read it, or never
_ever_ admit you haven't. Trust me.)

Let's look at The Cuckoo's Egg not as a book, but as a landmark...A
cultural/historical icon that escaped from cyberspace into the 'real'
world.  The Egg, for the most part, was the first to introduce to
mainstream (i.e., Non-cyberspace) society the concepts, magic,
implications, and yes, possible dangers, of the networked world.  The
Egg uses popular and familiar "Hollywood" elements (espionage,
government agents, goofy liberal scientists) , and melds them with the
unfamiliar and obtuse (networks, Unix). Classical elements,
fascinating story...It'll sell a zillion copies!  And it did. The Egg
has been in paperback, on Nova, in Congressional hearings, featured on
the Wily Hacker Trading Cards, retold in JPL Comics, selected as a
Book-of-the-Month Club Alternate Selection, and the ultimate in
mainstream acceptance and recognition...condensed for Readers Digest.

No, The Egg is certainly not just a book.  I want to liken it to
_Hell's Angels_ by Hunter S. Thompson.  But I'm not old enough to do
so with any credibility. Thompson introduced people to the outlaw
motorcycle gangs, and showed their lifestyle and organization in a way
that outsiders had never before seen.  We share with HST as he learns
about the Angels, and we wince when gets beat-up at the end.  In The
Egg, we mock Cliff's obsession with the teeny tiny accounting error
that leads to the discovery of The Intruder.  Then, after enticing us
with a Brownie Recipe, he gets us caught up in the chase until we
cheer when the Bundepost gets a trace on the hacker's line. _Hell's
Angels_ is every bit as much as a 'must read' to be able to converse
about motorcycle outlaw gangs, as The Egg is to talk about the
problems of computer security.  Only more so, as I don't think Readers
Digest has ever heard of Hunter Thompson.  (Note to Jim: Don't worry,
I've deleted the discussion of the phallic symbolism of pistols and
yo-yo's.)

The Egg is also important as it documents an era when the FBI, SS,
CIA, Telco Security, and everyone else would laugh off hackers and/or
espionage.  Those days have ended.  In fact, the pendulum has swung so
far in the other direction that Stoll's experience with the laise-
faire authorities seems quaint. For researchers, The Egg marks
somewhat of a transition between Esquire's Cap'n Crunch article, Bill
Landreth's confessional book, and the ill-directed Operation Sun
Devil.

To my knowledge we've never really heard about the 'national defense'
impact any of the information Stoll's hacker may have passed on to the
Soviets.  This is regrettable as The Egg has almost certainly had an
effect on concern about computer espionage.  It would be interesting
to know how this 'classic case' (and oft cited) harmed, or failed to
harm, our "National Security."   Regardless of the affect, it's a
reasonable assumption that Stoll's work has been used as justification
for more than one corporate security program sales pitch.  The Egg is
destined to be a part of Bibliography's and "suggested reading" lists
for many years.

Finally The Egg has also given us its author, Cliff Stoll.  If it
wasn't for his book, and his willingness to share it with the world
(quite literally, I understand, though haven't confirmed, that it has
been translated into many languages) Stoll might well be known only to
his fellow Astronomers. That would be a shame, for although I don't
always agree with Stoll's suggested solutions or characterizations of
the Computer Underground, I think the computer security community
would be a bit more boring without him.

So there you have it, The Cuckoo's Egg thus far.  I'll be interested
in seeing how the book holds up over the next two or three years.  I
predict it will do just fine, joining the ranks of _Hackers_ and _Soul
of a New Machine_, as dog-eared after dog-eared copy gets passed
from one computer enthusiast to another.

Postscript:  For those who just can't get enough of the saga of the
egg, a book published in Germany, _Hacker for Moscow_, tells the tale
as seen from the other side of the terminal.  If you were hungry for
more information about the German/East German connection, and you want
a more detailed description of the actual methods used to gain access,
as only the intruder himself can give, check it out.  Unfortunately,
as far as I know, it hasn't been translated into english...outside of
Langley, VA of course.

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