Shimomura was a teen physics prodigy in Physics and Computers and has now ended up as one of the world's leading experts on computer security.
He's also a ski-bum so he's not all that bad :-)
This book details the story of what happened when the "world's most wanted hacker", Kevin Mitnick, payed an uninvited visit to Shimomura's computer and then taunted him about afterwards. He lived to regret it.
Shimomura is a curious mix of characteristics. The arrogance and show-off nature of his character are offset by his very real achievements, some natural goofy charm (especially the relentless California slang) and in the end this reader was left with admiration for his skills, jealousy of his career and a certain sense of relief that I never got into computer-cracking in the first place.
Unix fans will delight in the Unearthed Arcana displayed by Shimomura and I suspect one or two victims of computer crime may have scribbled down the odd technical note when reading his descriptions of the cyber-forensic investigation he performed on his violated computer.
There is even a certain amount of philosophy which adds depth but is not too pretentious. Shimomura names his computers but makes it clear that that is simply pragmatic, they are not his friends and he prefers people to computers. He also thinks people should not share a room with the moving parts (disk drives, fans etc) and so banishes the boxes to the cupboard and allows only the keyboard and monitor into his presence. As I sit in the white noise hell of my office I sometimes wish my elders and betters felt this way.
The story has some amusing twists and turns but is not as satisfying a story as The Cuckoo's Egg. On the other hand it is bang up-to-date and the book is accompanied by it's own web site.
I enjoyed the book and it's recommended reading for anyone interested in computer crime.
Books : The Cuckoo's Egg | Takedown | Hackers
Last updated February 17 1999