Clifford Stoll's experience with following and catching a hacker was absolutely amazing. What impressed me most about his story is his absolute dedication to tracking the hacker down, and his use of his log book.
Throughout the book, Clifford makes it very clear that he was dedicated, and almost obsessed, with catching the hacker. It put quite a strain on his family life, and even though it was upsetting him, he couldn't let it go. Even though it was extremely difficult, he persevered. What impressed me the most is that his specialty wasn't even in computing, but astronomy. He was able to learn so many things on the fly. It makes me feel foolish that I get frustrated and give up on something if I can't find it on Google. If I could have that kind of dedication to my career, I could really excel. At the same time though, there needs to be a balance, because no career accomplishment is worth having a bad family life.
Another thing that stuck out to me was the importance of Clifford's log book. He was able to keep track of and record almost everything that the hacker was doing. There were multiple times where having this information recorded really saved his bacon, proving to his boss, the FBI, the CIA, and others of what was really going on. It makes me appreciate how important keeping good records will be in the industry, as well as in my daily life. I'm sure there are many situations that arise in the workplace where having kept good records would be beneficial.
2 comments:
I was also impressed by Clifford's dedication. He had no training working against spies, but he did a great job. I'm glad there are people like him in this country that will try to protect others even when it's not easy.
If only all of us had this type of perseverance in putting God first at all times, we would have excelled in all areas of our lives including family and career.
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