by Tom Grace
‘Shit! What the hell is he doing in my computer?’ Moynes was furious as he scrambled through his network files looking for the hacker. ‘He’s locked me out of the logs. I am not a happy camper!’
The laptop screen went blank and Grin slumped back in his chair, disappointed. ‘He’s off the network.’
‘I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pissed! In five seconds, I’m going to have an office full of angry users, topped off by a short-fused boss who’s going to wonder why I brought the whole network down.’
Grin understood his friend’s anger—the situation was a lot like finding a burglar in one’s home. ‘Carl, it had to be done.We’ve got a dangerous player out there who’s running fast and loose through our network. That’s bad business for all of us, and I’m sure your boss will understand. We’ll back you up all the way.’
‘I’d hope so, since I have no proof that any of this happened.’ Moynes sounded a little calmer, but not much.
‘Actually, you do have proof. The laptop we’re using recorded most of this hack, including your heroic system shutdown.’
‘Grin, I feel like I just threw myself on a grenade.’ Moynes’s anger seemed to be dissipating, but his mood was still foul. ‘Speaking of grenades, my boss is coming down the corridor, and she doesn’t look happy. Gotta go, guys.’
‘Call if you need us, Carl.’
‘Thanks, Grin.’
Moynes’s line went dead and Grin switched the humming speaker off. ‘Well, that was fun.What do we do for an encore?’
Kilkenny pulled the optical-disk cartridge from the laptop’s external drive. ‘I think it’s time we reported this incident. It may not seem like much, but we’ve just witnessed a crime.’
Later that afternoon, Nolan and Grin sat in Sean Kilkenny’s office with two agents from the FBI’s Detroit office. The agents took their statements and toured the computer lab. Despite the fact that computer crime was a serious offense, it didn’t always get the same treatment from the law-enforcement community as bank robbery and drug trafficking. The FBI agents were polite but non-committal until Nolan replayed the intruder’s penetration of Chrysler’s computer network.
‘Do you have any questions?’ Nolan asked as the computer screen went blank.
‘Can we have a copy of that disk?’ Special Agent Ullrich replied. ‘I’m sure our computer lab techs would love to watch this guy in action.’
‘Already done, Agent Ullrich,’ Grin said as he handed over a duplicate diskette.
Ullrich slipped the diskette into her briefcase with her notes. ‘Thank you.’
‘I appreciate your coming out here,’ Sean told the agents, ‘but what should we do about this situation?’
‘There’s not much that can be done, sir,’ Ullrich replied.Her answer wasn’t a dismissal of their complaint, simply a matter of fact. ‘Our only hope is to catch this individual in the act. Special Agent Harbke and I are experienced in dealing with these types of criminals, and, believe me, it takes time to build a case against them.’
‘Most of our successful prosecutions are the result of turning a hacker against his own ring,’ added Harbke. ‘Unless there is some physical evidence of the crime, we’re stuck. Your disk is a start, but it doesn’t mean a thing until we can tie it to somebody. I think you handled this situation correctly. This hacker is using the university’s network to cover his tracks. Since he doesn’t know you spotted him, odds are he’ll be back.What I’m going to suggest to my superiors is that we obtain the necessary warrants to trace your network lines during one of these intrusions.’
‘I don’t think that you’ll have any problem with MARC or the university with regard to the line taps, Agent Harbke,’ Sean assured her.
‘We usually don’t in situations like this.’ Harbke smiled. She knew from experience that high-profile victims of this type of crime were normally very helpful. ‘In the meantime, please keep monitoring the network for any further intrusions. The more information we have about this hacker’s methods, the better chance we have of catching him. Thank you for your time today, gentlemen. I’ll contact you as soon as we get the warrants.’
After escorting the FBI agents out, Sean Kilkenny returned to the lab with Grin and his son. ‘When I got up this morning, I had no idea that I would spend the better part of my afternoon with the FBI. I still can’t believe that somebody just waltzed through our network so easily. If this hacker is behind the anomalous signal you’ve been chasing for the past month, I don’t even want to think about what he’s gotten away with already.’
‘At least we’re onto him, Dad.’
‘Actually, we’d still be in the dark if you and Kelsey weren’t studying every little burp that processor of hers makes,’ Grin admitted frankly. ‘If it was just little old me in here, I very much doubt I would have spotted this guy. Our hacker’s got a real nice touch.’
‘Grin’s right—we were lucky to have discovered this guy at all. Whoever it is doesn’t know that we’re onto him yet, and that’s the only advantage we have right now.’
Sean moved to the next item on his mental list of concerns. ‘Is Kelsey’s processor secure from tampering by this hacker?’
Nolan thought about his father’s question for a minute, going over in his head the optical processor’s linkages to the MARC network. ‘The processor itself is well insulated from the network, so this guy can’t get a direct feed into it, but all of our project data is stored on the mainframe. Good thing Grin is religious about backing up the system. I don’t know what I fear more, though—having this guy steal our work or vandalizing it.’
‘So much for a victimless crime.’ Sean sighed. ‘Boys, I want you to cooperate with the FBI fully on this matter. Stopping this hacker is now your number-one priority. We are an information-based concern, so we can’t afford to have some criminal punching holes in our security. Do what it takes to nail this person.’
28
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
April 15
Traffic was never clear and easy in downtown Chicago, but Moy drove as quickly as Lake Shore Drive allowed and pulled into the parking garage beneath the twin black towers overlooking Lake Michigan.
Following a disturbing call from his wife, Phillip Moy had canceled the rest of his afternoon appointments and left for the day. Cynthia Moy had sounded frantic over the phone, pleading with him to come home immediately. Although she couldn’t explain what had happened, Moy knew his wife wasn’t one to raise an alarm unnecessarily.
As he entered his condominium, Moy was met by his wife, who wore an expression of deep concern. She was normally a pleasant, happy soul possessed of great inner strength. When she looked this way, he knew to expect bad news. Moy embraced his wife, sensing her concern. ‘Cynthia, what’s wrong?’
Her voice was a quiet, dull whisper. ‘Your father has come to visit, and he has brought a guest.’
Moy’s wife had always gotten along well with her father-in-law. The aging physicist often joked that if they ever divorced, he would keep Cynthia. Inside the living room, which faced Lake Michigan, was Moy’s father and a man he didn’t recognize. The elder Moy sat on the couch, deep in thought, as the visitor turned from the window to face him.
‘Good afternoon. I’m Phillip Moy.’
Kang Fa smiled and introduced himself under his current alias. ‘My name is Deng Cho-Nam. I have come from Hong Kong with news of your uncle, Moy Huian.’
The mention of his uncle’s name stunned Moy momentarily as memories of a man he hadn’t seen since he was a small boy flashed across his mind. He now understood his wife’s distress. Moy Huian had served over four decades in a Chinese reeducation camp, a surrogate prisoner for Phillip Moy’s father. The hairs on the back of Moy’s neck bristled.
‘What is the purpose of your visit, Mr Deng?’ Moy asked with cool suspicion.
Kang unbuttoned his double-breasted blazer and sat in a black leather chair. Moy sat opposite him on the couch, next to his father, who looked unusually old t
onight.
‘I am here for humanitarian purposes.’ Kang spoke like a diplomat. ‘I’ve brought word from Guangdong Province regarding Moy Huian. The Chinese government is preparing to release certain political prisoners to appease the West. I have well-placed contacts in Beijing that can ensure Moy Huian’s name is on the list of those to be released.’
‘Here is a letter from my brother,’ his father said, offering several pages of Chinese characters with a black-and-white photograph; it was the first direct communication they’d received from Huian in over forty years.
Moy scanned the letter, which told briefly of the years following his father’s escape to Hong Kong. Moy Huian had stayed behind with his parents, who were too old and sick to make the journey to the West with their eldest son.Two months after his father’s defection,Moy’s grandparents had died and Moy Huian was imprisoned. For the past forty years, Moy’s father had carried the guilt of abandoning his family and leaving his brother to face the punishment for his defection.
The letter showed no sign of censorship, and the characters told of Huian’s longing to see his brother again. The photograph showed a man who had aged well beyond his years while imprisoned.
Moy was still skeptical. He had heard of con men selling promises to the families of those trapped in China, men who would disappear once the required bribes and fees had been paid by the family.
‘Father, are you certain that this letter is from Huian?’
‘This is my brother.’ Moy’s father pointed to the photograph. ‘The handwriting in the letter is his, and he refers to things that only he and I would know.’
Moy accepted his father’s confirmation and turned back to Kang. ‘What is your interest in this matter?’
Kang looked directly into Moy’s eyes and spoke sincerely. ‘I enjoy helping people.’
Moy’s eyes narrowed slightly as he took his measure of the man. ‘Thank you for bringing my father some measure of happiness in his old age. I do hope that it is not a false happiness.’
Kang picked up on the wariness in Moy’s voice, a distrust that was understandable. ‘It is no false hope,’ he replied confidently. ‘My contacts inside the PRC can get your uncle out, but the price will be very high.’
‘Let us talk in private.’ Moy motioned toward a pair of French doors off the living room. ‘I wouldn’t want my father to think that I would haggle over his brother’s freedom.’
Moy’s study was furnished in an eclectic mixture of traditional Oriental furnishings and artwork combined with pieces from the Arts and Crafts movement. Strangely enough, the chairs by Charles Rennie Mackintosh worked quite well with the sixth-century urn.Moy’s wife brought in tea before returning to the living room.
Both men studied each other for a few moments and Moy found Deng’s expression unreadable. The man appeared totally unconcerned about the deal he was brokering.
‘You come here tonight in a position of strength. If you truly have the ability to extract my uncle from the PRC, please tell me how this feat will be accomplished and what it will cost me.’
Kang took a long sip from his teacup, swirling the brew lightly in his mouth before quietly swallowing. He wiped his mouth clean with his napkin in an effort calculated to intensify Moy’s anxiety. ‘My fee is nominal, a mere one hundred thousand dollars for arranging this exchange. The people who control your uncle’s fate require something more.’
‘Bribes for the officials, I presume,’ Moy replied.
‘In most cases, that would be true. But not in this case.’ Kang set his teacup down on the side table and leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees and drawing closer to Moy. ‘You know as well as I that the Chinese are a patient people who remember disturbing events for a long time. Beijing still remembers the sting of your father’s defection, and they do not forgive such actions quickly or easily. Moy Huian has served as a surrogate in your father’s place. To win his freedom, I must deal with the Chinese security apparatus directly. They have agreed to your uncle’s release, conditionally.’
The last word hung in the air like a sword waiting to fall. ‘And what are their conditions?’
‘What your father stole from them, they were able to replace many years ago. There is nothing that he could now offer that has any interest to them. Beijing wants you to provide them with something of equal value to the knowledge they lost when your father defected; they want information.Your company developed the ciphering system currently in use by the American government. They want the keys to break this system.’
Moy felt his blood pressure rise twenty points in a single heartbeat. His father had been branded a traitor for following his conscience and defecting. Now he was being asked to betray the country that had welcomed his family, the country that he’d called home for most of his life, to repay the crime of his father’s defection. Phillip Moy fought back the urge to remove this man bodily from his home for making such a request. He had no doubt that Deng Cho-Nam worked with PRC Intelligence to prey on the guilt of Chinese émigrés who’d left family members behind.
Moy maintained a calm, receptive expression in spite of the troubling and violent emotions that boiled within him. ‘Your contacts in Beijing are correct; I did develop the ciphering system now in use by the American government. Unfortunately, I no longer have access to the specific details of that project.’ Moy was bluffing, hoping that Deng would counter with a cash offer. ‘It is common practice for all materials relating to a highly classified government project to be turned over once the project is complete.’
Kang topped off his teacup and eased back in his chair. ‘That may be a common practice for most government projects, but not in this case. The hardware, engineering data, and the ciphering programs are maintained on a special-projects computer housed at your Chicago facility. Access to this computer is strictly limited, but the information can be retrieved on your personal authority.The ciphers are the price of your uncle’s release; anything less would be unacceptable to my clients.’
Everything this man had said was true. The thought of an informer inside his company, a spy supplying the PRC with classified information, caused Moy’s anger to swell even further. Moy fought hard to keep his head clear of emotion.
‘Assuming that you are correct and I still have access to the ciphering information, how could I turn it over to you? I am subject to the same security measures as my employees. I can’t simply make a copy of the files and walk out of my office with them.’
‘I am surprised at you.’ A thin smile curled on Kang’s face, the look of a cat toying with its prey. ‘Is this not the information age? There is no need for you to risk yourself in this exchange. All that my clients require is the exact date and time of your next data transfer to the government. That information, and the access codes to your computer, will allow them to retrieve what they desire. Once they have the ciphers, your uncle will be turned over to you.’
The smile then disappeared and Kang changed his expression to one of deadly earnest. ‘There are two other points that I must make very clear to you. First, if you do not accept these terms, your uncle will be killed. Second, if the Chinese are unable to break the American codes with the information from your computer, they will assume that you have betrayed them. For that betrayal, your family will be killed. You see, the factor that determines whether a piece of information is priceless or worthless is time. Beijing must have the time to make use of the cipher information; otherwise, this effort is futile. Once the American government discovers that their codes have been broken, they will immediately alter their method of encryption. For you and your family’s sake, that event must be pushed as far into the future as possible. Do as I have instructed and you have nothing to fear.’
Nothing but a lifetime of looking over my shoulder, waiting for the next time your clients in Beijing want something from me, Moy thought. As in many difficult negotiations, Moy’s poker face held. Deng was equally calm and unreadable.
‘Since
you leave me with no alternative, I accept your conditions.’ Moy looked Deng directly in the eyes. ‘But I do have one condition of my own.’
The thin, knowing smile returned. ‘You wish to meet with your uncle before the exchange is made.’
‘Yes,’ Moy replied with a nod.
‘This request was anticipated. Prior to your next data transfer with the American government, you will contact me with the date and the access codes. In return, I will instruct you where to go, to meet your uncle, on the day of the exchange. You will both be held until the cipher information is acquired. If my clients are not successful in acquiring the information they desire, you both will be killed. When you call, give yourself plenty of time; you will be meeting your uncle outside this country.’
‘Not in the PRC, I hope?’ Moy asked.
‘No, for you to travel there would rouse the suspicions of the American government.’ Kang deliberately took a sip of his tea, leaving Moy waiting uncomfortably. ‘You will meet your uncle in a country that shares unrestricted travel with the United States. At that time, you will also bring a cashier’s check in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars,my fee for brokering this transaction.When U.S. Immigration asks how your uncle obtained an exit visa from the PRC, you can explain that you greased a few palms. I am certain that you will have no trouble getting Moy Huian admitted into the United States on humanitarian grounds.’
Kang reached into the breast pocket of his blazer and pulled out a business card, which he handed to Moy. ‘The phone number on the back is where you can reach me. We will not meet again until the day of the exchange. Follow these instructions fully and we will have no problems. Are you clear on the conditions of this transaction, Mr Moy?’
‘I understand you perfectly,’ Moy said, thinking to himself, you son of a bitch.
Kang stood up and straightened his double-breasted blazer. ‘Then let us inform the others of the good news. Moy Huian will soon be reunited with his family.’