The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts (3.5 stars)

Left it too long to review this one. I think the premise was good, but I couldn't suspend my disbelief on various occasions. There seemed far too many situations where they should have been caught, and the plausibility of the forest and music communication for very complex concepts was stretched too thin.

Still, it was a fairly enjoyable read.

“In a way, prey are lucky. Running for your life instead of running for your dinner.” A weak smile. “Better motivation, right?”

3.5 stars.

The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll (3 stars)

Great intro for non-techies into the world of computer security and espionage. A lot of the fundamental concepts remain the same, although the technology and the associated risks have changed dramatically from the early 1990s.

Reading this felt too much like work, so I didn't enjoy it much, it also moves pretty slowly. But I would recommend it to others looking for a basic understanding of computer security with some historical and nostalgic interest for nerds.

The computer has become a common denominator that knows no intellectual, political, or bureaucratic bounds; the Sherwin Williams of necessity that covers the world, spanning all points of view.

Diversity, then, works against viruses. If all the systems on the Arpanet ran Berkeley Unix, the virus would have disabled all fifty thousand of them. Instead, it infected only a couple thousand. Biological viruses are just as specialized: we can’t catch the flu from dogs. 

3 stars