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The KGB, the Computer, and Me.

DragonFartOutLoud · 87.3K views · 2013-11-02 · 56:58

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Overview

A WGBH/NOVA re-enactment of Clifford Stoll's hunt for KGB-linked hacker Markus Hess, based on his book The Cuckoo's Egg. It starts from a 75-cent accounting discrepancy at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

On Hacker News

Mentioned alongside The Cuckoo's Egg as the screen version of an early computer-security detective story.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2021–2024

Topics

Security & hackingHistory of computingDocumentaries & storytelling
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cuckoo's eggclifford stollkgbhackingnova

What people said

sys32768 · 2024-03 · Recommendation

Definitely read his book The Cuckoo's Egg. Terrific story and prose. Then check out the old Nova documentary about the story: The KGB, The Computer, and Me: [VIDEO]

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ndsipa_pomu · 2023-03 · Recommendation

Haven't seen anyone mention the 1990 documentary: [VIDEO] It's amazing to see how little he's changed.

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cartoonworld · 2021-06 · Recommendation

There was also a television adaptation, "The KGB, the Computer, and Me" produced by PBS Nova in like 1992, starring Clifford Stoll as Cliff Stoll! Here is a bootlegged youtube link--it's the best I've got. [VIDEO] A legend!

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Sources

Video by DragonFartOutLoud, played through YouTube.

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

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