Eclectic Astronomer - A Chat With Cliff Stoll

Br. Guy Consolmagno chats with Cliff Stoll - astronomer, teacher and author of the book The Cuckoo’s Egg, which tells the story of how he tracked down a group of German hackers working for the Soviet KGB in 1986. Cliff is also a long-time buddy of Br. Guy.

Co-Hosts:
Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ: Director of Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.
Bob Trembley: Factotum for the Vatican Observatory Foundation.

Guest:
Cliff Stoll is an astronomer, author, and teacher known for tracking down a group of German hackers working for the Soviet KGB in 1986.

As a systems administrator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, while working on the development of the Keck Telescope, Stoll pursued a 75-cent accounting hiccup, ultimately uncovering a major security breach. His book, The Cuckoo’s Egg, details this investigation and became a bestseller.

The 1990 PBS NOVA video: The KGB, The Computer and Me – The Cuckoo’s Egg Story is available on a couple channels on YouTube – it’s hilarious!

Stoll’s work significantly contributed to early cybersecurity awareness.

Stoll is also known for creating and selling glass Klein bottles

Vatican Observatory website: https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/

Intro music: IrreduciblebyComaStudio
Finale music:  Cinematic Documentary by Lexin_Music