All I really need to know I learned from Cliff Stoll

Ok, so there is a lot more to learn that what I learned from Cliff Stoll, the author of The Cuckoo's Egg, but I did learn a lot of things while I was reading his book. Some of it is computer stuff and some is life stuff. There are a lot of personal insights that I gathered from the book so I am going to cover a few.

Paradigm Shifts Happen
In the beginning of The Cuckoo's Egg Cliff is a self proclaimed right wing, peace loving, long haired, uncommitted, secret government agency hating, bachelor of Berkeley California. As he tracked a hacker for over a year many of his paradigms began to shift. He saw that this hacker was evading privacy and trying to access sensitive information. Additionally the hacker could have easily destroyed the work of many people. Cliff would have originally thought of him as a harmless prankster, but he realized that this guy was breaking the trust that all these networks were built upon. He was exploiting the faith of the users.

When he first got in contact with the FBI, CIA, NSA and other government or military organizations he could hardly believe that he was fraternizing with those "spooks." But as he met and interacted with them he realized they were just people too. They had the same interests, skills, hobbies and hopes that he had. They were just like him, decent people trying to do the right thing.

On a more personal note, we saw the transformation from somewhat uncommitted boyfriend to committed happy husband. As I read Cliffs stories and saw how his ideas changed I realized that sometimes paradigm shifts happen. Maybe you begin to realize that you are not as liberal or conservative as you thought, your idea of commitment is not what it used to be, or maybe "those people" are not who you thought they were. This is also dependent on how much you are willing to learn. Are you open minded enough to accept things that are different than you believe?

Keeping a Record is Important
Throughout the pursuit of his hacker Cliff took extensive notes. Everything that the hacker typed was recorded. Every call cliff made was written down. He was meticulous. Finally, when he asked someone why his case was so important he was told that his was the first account that was so well documented. Additionally he was able to reconstruct all that happened during the chase. This was due to the fact that he kept great records.

This has made me realize how important it is to keep good records. There are a lot of experiences in my life that I don't want forgotten when I die (or even a few years down the road). Thus it is so important that I keep a detailed journal of the important things that happen in my life so that I, as well as others, can remember significant events of my life. This reminds me of a time I was reading my dad's journal and he wrote the following: "Today I had the most incredible experience of my life and I will never forget it." That was it. I asked him what the experience was and he couldn't remember.

You Are More Than You Think You Are
Cliff Stoll is first and foremost an astronomer. He often stated that throughout the book. But he was put in a situation where he had to track a computer hacker. His specialty was not computers, operating systems, networks or security. No, it was stars, galaxies, telescopes and other celestial things. But he found himself tracking this spy throughout systems and networks, staying a step ahead of the attacker, doing things that he never thought he would have to do. Doing much more than an astronomer should be able to do. But that is just life. Sometimes we are put in positions that require more than we think we have or can give. We each have experiences that are atypical for us but our abilities and skill sets are such that we may be the only one who can resolve the issues. Sometimes we are more than we think we are.

Information Needs to be Stored, Organized, Shared and Available
While tracking the hacker Cliff discovered some interesting and easily exposable computer security exploits. Many times he would share them with the authorities and would be shocked by the response that they knew about the problem, it was a common issue, and they had noted it. Why wasn't this information publicly available, why don't other people know about this? Then they could try to protect themselves.

There is so much information that could help people. So many people are falling in to the same old traps, doing the same dumb things that people before them did, all because of ignorance. Thank goodness for the internet as it is now and the wealth of information that we can gather from it. This needs to continue and improve. Let's continue to index and record information, share it and make it available. Additionally, we need to seek it out. When we do so, we will experience fewer problems because of our ignorance.

So as I reflect on the insights gathered and lessons learned from The Cuckoo's Nest I realize there is a lot to learn from Cliff Stoll. Fortunately for us he was an excellent record keeper an engaging story teller. Reading this book taught me that paradigm shifts happen, record keeping is important, I am more than I think I am and information should be stored, organized, shared and available.