Frank dived behind a broken block wall. “Get down!” he snapped. Jeff sank beside him. When Didi opened fire the second time, Frank again fired three times. On the roof Didi took one shot through his right eye, the back of his head popping open as the bullet passed through. He collapsed across the low wall of the roof, half of his body hanging over the side.
Just then, Cafu arrived. He looked at Didi an instant, then, cautiously, into the street. He could see nothing.
At almost the same instant Paulinho reached the street from below and, careless of his safety, ran out so he could clearly see. In the distance he made out running figures beneath the dim yellow streetlights. He raised the weapon to his shoulder and fired, knowing he’d need luck.
Frank, hearing the fire, spun, letting Jeff race past him, crouched, then fired in two bursts of three at the flash points he saw.
Paulinho saw the discharge, heard two shots whip by him so closely, he thought his hair was trimmed. He pitched off the road, then from greater safety peeked back down the street. The men were gone.
DAY NINE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
NYSE IPO SOFTWARE CRITICIZED
Toptical IPO May Be at Risk, Critics Charge
By Dietrich Helm
September 18
The New York Stock Exchange is aggressively seeking to manage tomorrow’s Toptical initial public offering. It has promised a seamless trading day in what some experts believe will be the most expensive IPO in history. Toptical management was vigorously courted by other exchanges but in the end went with the granddaddy of them all, in large part because they want to avoid the troubles that have plagued recent offerings.
Now some critics claim the NYSE is risking its reputation by employing a new program expressly designed for tomorrow’s big day. Insiders report they have as yet to run a single test without significant problems. “They’re not ready,” one knowledgeable insider reported. “They’ve had nearly a year to get this right, and it still doesn’t work as intended.”
The new program is expressly designed to handle new issues related to high-frequency trading. HFTs are expected to dominate the first hours of the IPO, accounting for as much as 80 percent of the action. Highly sophisticated and very aggressive algos will be unleashed on the Exchange in a focused effort that experts say it has never previously experienced. Amid allegations that HFTs are able to manipulate the price of stock to their advantage the program is intended to prevent such efforts and safeguard the trading for the public at large.
“There is tremendous interest in Toptical stock and we want everyone to have an equal opportunity to take part,” Paul Feldman, NYSE trading spokesman, said in a statement released Friday. He describes the new program as “the most sophisticated ever employed in a public offering.”
Last week’s revelations that malware was discovered within the trading software of the Exchange has shaken confidence. Though the market has largely rebounded from its 1,156 drop on Friday, questions linger. “The NYSE cannot afford to bungle this,” Jason Lim, a respected stock market analyst, said yesterday. “I’m extremely concerned if they do. If the Toptical IPO turns into a disaster, major players are this time prepared to abandon the field and that includes the stock market altogether. They’ll migrate into alternative trading vehicles for future trading. We could potentially see a collapse of confidence that will have worldwide and lasting consequences. No one can anticipate how destructive it could be but I’ve moved out of the market altogether until I see how this plays out. I’m not alone.”
Feldman makes light of such criticism, commenting that doomsayers can always be found.
The competition to handle IPOs has never been keener and by delivering a seamless day Wednesday, the NYSE expects to solidify its position as the most reliable exchange for major players.
The market opens at 9:30 tomorrow as usual with the Toptical IPO scheduled for half an hour later. By midmorning tomorrow, we’ll know if their gamble on a new software program was a wise move, or the disaster some critics fear.
TAGS: TOPTICAL, NYSE EURONEXT, IPO, TRADING PLATFORM
Cyber Security News
63
TRADING PLATFORMS IT SECURITY
WALL STREET
NEW YORK CITY
9:11 A.M.
Daryl had wanted to get back into the building earlier, but most workers arrived at this hour, and she needed a crush for her makeshift card to work. She had no idea what would happen to her if she was caught, but she knew that without her help, Jeff and Frank were in very serious trouble. When a cluster of young women went to the open doors, she joined them, swiping her sterile card as she passed the distracted guard. Then she was in the elevator and on her way to the seventeenth floor.
She was a familiar face to some now and received a reassuring nod from several workers as she returned to the out-of-the-way workstation she’d selected. She hoped no one was assigned to it today. She’d brought a few things with her and placed them about: a pad of pastel-colored sticky notes, two pencils, a black pen, and a picture frame she’d picked up in a drugstore, the photograph of two smiling boys looking back at her. The space was hers now, until someone showed up and demanded to know what the hell she was doing.
Once settled, she returned to analyzing the logs, since they remained the key to what she needed to discover. With tweaks to the anomaly filters, what she uncovered over the next two hours were clear patterns, which she was confident were the work of those uploading malware but none of it constituted the kind of proof she needed and none led directly back to Campos. She also saw how busy the Exchange had been executing multiple uploads through the jump servers, which she believed were related to the next day’s IPO. This activity, she concluded, was the new software being deployed and updated.
But there were also clusters of uploads she was just as certain were modifications or expansions of the rogue code. They came from some of the suspect sources she’d identified from examining the logs. Campos, she was convinced, was behind them. If she’d had any doubts something big was coming related to Toptical, she set them aside. There was a storm brewing and it would strike when the stock market opened the next morning.
She decided to risk coffee while she gathered her thoughts. Taking a break was natural and the recognition she received gave her confidence. As she stepped into the break room she saw the light-haired man Richard holding a cup of coffee as he fingered creamer into it. He looked up at her, and his pale eyes were suddenly alive. “Well, hi, Miss SSG. How are you this fine morning?”
“Very good. How’s the coffee?”
“Average, I’d say, but around here that’s pretty good.”
She extended her hand. “I’m Kelly Vogle. You’re Richard, right?”
He eyed her evenly for a second, then said, “Good memory. I am indeed Richard. Nice to meet you, Kelly. How long are you going to be with us?”
“I’m not sure. A few hours now and then, I think. It’s really more a media cover-your-ass thing, you know?”
“Oh yeah. Not the first time. If you’re still around later, let’s have lunch.”
Daryl paused, then said, “Let’s do that.” She poured coffee as Iyers left the room. Now, why did I do that? she thought. He’d told her that he was an infrastructure specialist. She could learn a lot from him over lunch. Working on this only from logs could take more time than she had.
Anyway, she thought, he’s cute.
64
POUSADA VERDE NOVA
RUA MANUEL DE PAIVA
SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL
10:34 A.M.
Jeff had been surprised he could sleep at all. When they’d arrived back at the hotel, it was nearly two in the morning. Frank had taken them the long way, ducking into alleys, hiding in darkened yards behind walls, watching, doubling back, making absolutely certain they’d not been followed. At first, there’d been sirens as police responded to the gunshots, but they’d never seen a police car, nor any suspicious vehicle on the prowl for th
em.
When they’d entered the room, Jeff said, “Why’d you call it off just before all the shooting happened?” There’d been no chance to ask sooner, and he knew it could wait.
“I got a message telling us we were in the wrong place.”
“Daryl?”
“Who else? Let’s talk about it tomorrow. I’m bushed and still have work to do.”
Frank had made two phone calls, taken a shower, then gone to bed. Jeff followed him with a shower, finding Frank already fast asleep as he stepped out of the bathroom. In bed he had trouble sleeping, the night scenes of the firefight running through his mind again and again. He’d never fired his weapon, never even thought about it, nor had he been frightened. There’d been no time.
But now, in bed, alone in the dark quiet, he realized how close a call it had been. Those had been automatic weapons fired at them. The shooters had been near enough for him to hear the bullets ricochet off the cobblestone and block walls, to see the sparks when a bullet struck something metallic. A gnawing anxiety replaced the adrenaline of the firefight and their flight, and it was this that Jeff struggled to suppress. As he thought about it, grateful neither of them had been struck, he slid into a restless slumber of flashing gunfire and distorted images.
* * *
Frank let him sleep, but when Jeff awoke, he said, “Join me on the patio for a late breakfast, okay?”
It was a lovely late morning outside. The hotel was just far enough removed from busy streets to be relatively quiet. Birds sang in the overgrown courtyard trees. Two couples sat at other tables, tourists most likely, Jeff decided.
The breakfast was a buffet, and he loaded up his plate, emphasizing the ripe fruit and fresh bread. The coffee was strong and bracing, just what he needed. He sat and ate while Frank chatted as if nothing had happened the night before.
“What about that message?” Jeff finally asked, when it was clear he needed to bring the subject up.
“Daryl said it was a trap. Get out. So that’s what we did. If it hadn’t been for that damn cat, they’d never have known we were there.”
“How’d she know?”
“She sent a message later. She’s identified the inside man as a guy named Marc Campos. She got access to his cell phone and traced his calls and e-mails to a company in Rio named Grupo Técnico. That’s our target.”
“Rio? How far away is that?”
“About a five-hour drive. Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered. Just eat up.”
As Jeff was finishing they were joined by two nondescript men. Frank stood up with a broad grin. It was like old times for the three of them, lots of hugging and back pounding. The trimmer man of the pair turned to Jeff and introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Jeff,” the man said.
Frank laughed. “No, he’s Jeff.”
“Oh. Hi,” the trim man repeated, “I’m Carl. This is Oscar.”
Oscar shook his hand; then the two men joined them, passing on breakfast. “We had a bite earlier.”
From what Jeff had seen on the streets he would have taken the pair to be natives. Neither was over six feet tall. Carl was a spare man, looking very much like an accountant to Jeff, or a librarian. He wore glasses and had a retreating hairline. Oscar was only slightly bigger and, though he seemed in decent shape, had the same look—that of a man who spent a lot of time indoors. He had a thick head of dark hair just turning gray at the temples. Neither man was young any longer but neither looked especially old. There was a vagueness about them that made it difficult to pin them down in his mind.
“So how do you three know each other?” Jeff said. “Or can’t I ask?”
“Oh, you can ask,” Oscar said. “You’ll even get an answer, but why go there?”
“We know each other from the old days, Jeff,” Frank said. “I’m lucky they’re here.”
“It seems…”
“What?” Frank asked.
“I don’t know, too much of a coincidence.”
“See?” Frank said to the others. “I told you.”
The men laughed, then lapsed into small talk that only they understood. They rarely finished a sentence, yet the other two knew what was being said. It was clearly a reunion.
“Listen,” Frank said a bit later. “I need to talk with Jeff here. Why don’t you bring the car around and we’ll load up in, say, fifteen minutes. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”
“No problem,” Carl said as the pair stood up and left.
* * *
Back in the room, Jeff said, “Frank, I need to know who your two friends are.”
“Actually, Jeff, you don’t. The less you know, the better for all concerned. I know them, I trust them. Each of them has gone to considerable trouble to help us.”
“I’m serious. You’re going to have to tell me.”
“You can stay here.”
“I wish I could, but if we get access to Grupo Técnico’s computers, it’ll take both of us. I can’t stay out of it so this concerns me as much as you. Anyway, I’ve already been shot at. And I take it Carl and Oscar aren’t computer geeks?”
“No-o. Their specialties lie in other areas.”
Jeff sat on a chair, leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, and said, “Tell me.”
Frank was seated on the bed. “Jeff…”
“I’m serious. I won’t go into this blind. You wouldn’t in my place. Now, who are they?”
Frank sighed. “You’ve got a point there. I just wish you’d let this stay ‘need to know.’ That way if things go wrong, you aren’t in a position to hurt anyone.” Jeff said nothing. Frank continued, “You don’t need their real names. I’ve worked with each of them singly more than once. Very dicey situations each time, none of that Mission: Impossible crap they put in movies but dicey enough for the real world. They’re steady professionals, absolutely reliable. We worked as a three-man team on my last assignment before I gave up fieldwork. It lasted for six weeks, and when it was over, each of us spent some time in a hospital.”
“They’re Company?”
“Were, are. We didn’t discuss it. In their field, it’s not important as you never really leave. Anyway, Oscar’s working out of Rio now. Officially, he’s doing security with an oil company. I’m sure he’s doing Company work as well. It’s none of my business. He was in Curitiba when I called.”
“Why’s he here?”
Frank looked at Jeff in surprise. “He’s here because I told him I needed him here. I contacted him last night. He just got in. Jeff, I’ve been out of this line for a long time. I’m soft and I’m slow. You saw how things are. We need help.”
“You had me fooled last night.”
“That? That was nothing. Instinct. And we were very lucky.”
Jeff considered that, then said, “And Carl?”
“Carl’s from São Paulo. He’s definitely still with the Company; he runs some kind of front business here. I don’t know what he’s doing exactly but knowing him, it’s interesting.”
“They seem pretty nondescript.”
“They’re supposed to. They’ve spent decades getting that look down. Jeff, you need to trust me in this. I’ve already told you too much. But understand this: forget their looks. These guys are the best at what they do.”
“You think we need them?”
“Oh yes. I absolutely think we do.”
65
HARVEY’S DELI
CEDAR STREET
NEW YORK CITY
12:32 P.M.
Richard Iyers sat down and smiled across the table at Daryl. She was, without question, the loveliest woman he’d ever seen in person. He couldn’t believe his luck.
The restaurant was crowded but the manager knew Iyers as a regular and had shown him to a corner spot, as quiet as was possible this time of day in Manhattan. They ordered, then Iyers made small talk, mentioning a bit of his origins in Upstate New York, bouncing the conversation back to Daryl from time to time. She found him an attractive man with his ready smile a
nd dancing eyes, hinting a bit at a mischievous nature that held a certain appeal. Since Jeff he was the first man she’d so much as given a second look, but she intended to do nothing about it. This was work, and she was operating under a false name. She turned the conversation away from their personal stories.
“Are you involved in this new IPO program?” she asked to get it started.
Iyers drew back a bit, giving a cockeyed smile that said he knew she’d just changed the subject. “Not directly. I monitored it when it was initially uploaded and have followed up on each update but my only concern is to confirm it doesn’t affect the trading platform in general. Not worried are you?”
Daryl shrugged. “All I know is what I read. There seems to be some skeptics.”
Iyers nodded. “I understand. The Exchange is an enormous operation. You know that. But we have so many checks, it’s amazing we’re able to respond to changing needs at all. I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt.”
“The New York Times thinks otherwise.”
“Those guys. What do they know? I knew the snitch who told them that stupid bot story. He’s an ass. He’s just trying to get even.”
“Still, it was malware that found its way in.”
“It was a harmless bot and never went past the public-facing servers. I wouldn’t be surprised if the snake didn’t insert it himself when he suspected he was getting laid off. That’s really the only way anything can get past our security. In my experience, it’s always the human factor. Our digital security is all but impenetrable.”
Their food arrived, and for a few minutes they said little. Daryl enjoyed good New York deli and wished she could focus more on her pastrami on rye. She looked around the noisy room. Why was it that nowhere else she’d ever been captured this mood? It was uniquely New York. It made San Francisco seem almost quaint. She looked back at Richard. How to go about this?
But before she could speak, Iyers said, “Kelly, I’ve really enjoyed this and I’m quite serious when I say I’d like to see more of you. But you should know that about six months ago I was one of two from the infrastructure team to attend a joint meeting with SSG. You’ll never guess who I sat next to. Yes, Kelly Vogle.” He smiled. “So who are you? FBI? SEC? Private?” His smile spread into a grin that said he didn’t care which.
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