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The KGB, the Computer, and Me (Complete)

GBPPR2 · 304.8K views · 2011-01-23 · 56:58

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Overview

The 1990 NOVA documentary follows astronomer Clifford Stoll as he tracks a hacker through military and research computer networks, a story that involved the CIA and KGB. It is based on The Cuckoo's Egg.

On Hacker News

HN lists it among favorite nerdy documentaries and enjoys hearing Stoll tell the story himself.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2016–2019

Topics

Security & hackingHistory of computingPrivacy, surveillance & cybercrime
Search by tags
cliff stollcuckoo's eggkgbnovahacking history

What people said

otakucode · 2019-06 · Recommendation

Oh, yes, that is the documentary I watched. It was really great, getting to hear it from Mr. Stoll's mouth directly. He was much less enthusiastic than he tends to be in Numberphile videos, I imagine that might be down to the director of the film. It is available on YouTube if anyone cares to give it a watch! [VIDEO]

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wmat · 2018-09 · Recommendation

Some of my favourite nerdy documentaries: BBS: The Documentary [LINK] The KGB, the Computer, and Me [VIDEO] 8 Bit Generation: The Commodore Wars [LINK]

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gabrielblack · 2019-01 · Reference

"The book was chronicled in an episode of WGBH’s NOVA entitled “The KGB, the Computer, and Me”, which aired on PBS stations on October 3, 1990" I think it's this one: [VIDEO] Oh,me I'm ROFL: an actor is identical to one of X-Files "Lone Gunmen". When he explains the beeper to his wife I needed the oxygen. It's like "Doctor Who vs hackers" :-)

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Sources

Video by GBPPR2, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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