PLAY PODCASTS
The 75-Cent Mystery: How a Tiny Error Exposed a Cold War Spy

The 75-Cent Mystery: How a Tiny Error Exposed a Cold War Spy

Everything 80s · Jamie Logie | 1980s Pop Culture and Nostalgia

October 22, 202541m 7s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (dts.podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

In 1986, Clifford Stoll -- originally a Berkley Lab astronomer -- had become the manager of their computer department. One day, he noticed something, a small accounting glitch that seemed insignificant, but would become the first great Cold War hacking story.

One tiny clue led Clifford Stoll on a real-life digital spy chase that included West Germany, the KGB, and the most top-secret, classified information on earth.

In an era of dial-up phone lines and dot matrix printers, computer security wasn't given much priority, but this event would lead to the dawn of modern cybersecurity.