3:07 P.M. EST
Frank Renkin drew a sharp breath at hearing the news. When he could speak, he said, “Are we certain it was them?”
“Regretfully, yes,” Yates said. “There is no doubt.”
“Any luck?”
“The local police located the van that was used but have absolutely no idea where they were taken. I hold myself responsible for this. I never imagined that something like this could happen.”
“Who would do this? Is it a street crime of some type?”
“In Geneva? In front of UNOG? Hardly. No, I’m afraid we must conclude that it is a result of whatever it is they were investigating. It’s very troubling.”
“How would anyone know who they were? Or that they were at UNOG? Or for that matter, what they were working on? This information has all been tightly held.”
“Yes, it is another reason why I’m so deeply distressed. It suggests we have a leak of some kind. I can’t think of any other scenario that fits. Mr. Aiken was kidnapped within one day of arriving in Geneva. All he did was sleep at his hotel and work at UNOG. Yet someone knew who he was, presumably what he was up to, and was able to snatch him. And Dr. Haugen, who was with him.”
“That all seems a bit of a stretch,” Frank said. “This could be completely unrelated.”
“I believe we must assume my analysis is correct until we learn more. I don’t see any other alternative. It seems to me that whenever we deal with the UN it leaks like a bloody sieve. I hardly know where to start.”
Frank thought a moment, then said, “Maybe our leak isn’t someone, but something.”
There was a pause. “You’re suggesting that our system is penetrated beyond this most recent incident?”
“Not yours, but perhaps UNOG’s.”
Yates seemed to moan. “I hope that isn’t true. I’ll request their IT people get on it.”
“They’ll be in ass-covering mode.” Frank wondered if the Brits used that expression.
“Yes, they most certainly will,” Yates answered, and Frank could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll have to see how much pressure Her Majesty’s government can bring to bear. I’ll inform you of any developments as soon as I learn of them. I know you were friends with them both.”
They worked on the latest version of Project Elephant, publicly known as Stuxnet, Frank wanted to say. Elephant was the most secret project Frank had ever participated in. He and his counterpart in the Israeli Mossad had established the framework for the work and over the years it had gone well. No more than twenty software engineers knew everything and they served primarily as coordinators. Each aspect of Elephant had been parceled out to trusted individuals to write a specific portion of code. The control center was responsible for bringing it all together and arranging its release.
The first version was known in-house as Trunk. Once it was identified it had been given the name Stuxnet by the cyber security world and in the media. Version two of Elephant was known as Ear. It was publicly called Dugu. Now the third variant, Tusk, was out. When identified, Frank suspected it would be known as Stuxnet3, though it might receive an entirely different public name.
Somewhere in Israel, a team of bright boys and girls was projecting Project Elephant into the future, keeping it well ahead of the response curve. More versions were under development, a seemingly endless stream from what Frank could tell. No one knew with certainty where it would all end. For now, Project Elephant was carefully controlled and target specific. But the same system could be used by those less cautious. When that happened, the digital equivalent of an atomic bomb would be unleashed with devastating consequences.
Jeff and Daryl were the brightest. They’d asked no questions though he had no doubt they knew what they were working on. But what they knew paled when compared to how much they could conjecture based on what they’d seen. You have no idea how important getting them back is, Frank thought. But he could say none of this.
Frank disconnected with a sinking heart. “Were,” Yates had said. They were dead already in the Brit’s mind.
Frank gritted his teeth. After a moment he left his office and went in search of Agnes Edinfield. He discovered her in a meeting. What else? Frank thought. Meetings were first and foremost the Company’s cottage industry.
Thirty minutes later, a tired-looking Edinfield emerged from the room, clutching a sheath of papers. She spotted Frank. “The Iranians are causing trouble all over the place,” she said to him. “More evidence they’re funneling weapons and money to Hezbollah. What’s up?”
Frank moved to the side of the hallway out of earshot and said, “Jeff Aiken and Daryl Haugen have been kidnapped in Geneva.”
Edinfield processed the information with a slight frown, then said, “They were still working on the OW bug?”
“Right. They’d traced it to a computer at UNOG. Daryl flew to Geneva and they’ve been working there. I had a video conference with them about it. They told me that they were nearly finished.”
“What did they learn?”
“We believe the signs point to China. The British Foreign Office reports a penetration. The virus uses a bug in OfficeWorks that lets it get into a system when a user opens an infected document. We got lucky because a glitch in the virus caused OfficeWorks to crash, which alerted the Foreign Office IT staff.”
“How about our end?”
“I’m still a day or two away from issuing an in-house alert. We want to really nail this thing first. We’ve reported the OfficeWorks flaw and notified US-CERT, of course.” This was the operational arm of the National Cyber Security Division. Its primary objective was to create a strategic framework to prevent cyber-attacks against the U.S. computer infrastructure. The actual solution to the flaw would come from the company that made OfficeWorks.
Still, countless millions of computers would remain unprotected until the patch fixing the flaw was rolled out, something that could take a week or more. And then many IT staffs would delay applying it until they’d tested it, meaning that it could be a month or two before the door this cyber-attack used was even partially closed.
“Has this thing infected our networks?” Edinfield asked.
“We don’t know yet. About Jeff and Daryl . . .”
Edinfield looked embarrassed for a moment. “I’m sorry. I’m exhausted. That should have been my first question. Have they been located?”
“No. A search is under way.”
“What was it? Some kind of street crime?”
“They were abducted by three men just after leaving the UNOG building. It appears to have been planned.”
Edinfield paused before continuing. “You’re suggesting it has something to do with their work at UNOG.”
“We can’t dismiss the possibility. We’ve reached a time when experts like Daryl and Jeff are no longer immune to physical violence.”
She seemed to recall something just then. “They weren’t working for us, were they?”
“No. The British Foreign office hired them.”
“Could there be a connection back to us?”
Oh yes, Frank thought. “They were working on this thing that potentially involves China, Iran, and the UN report on Iran’s nuclear program. It’s not my area of expertise, but my understanding is that the major powers will take military action if that report says they are about to detonate a nuclear device.”
Frank paused to gather his thoughts, then continued. “As I say, it’s not my area but let’s accept that Iran is about to do just that—that is, detonate an atomic bomb, with all that means to the world. Let’s say they only need just a little bit of time. If they can sabotage this report, delay UNOG issuing it or prevent the UN from speaking with a clear voice, then they’ll buy valuable time.”
“That sounds very speculative.”
“Not so much, actually. The existence of this Trojan and the changes in the UNOG report suggests there’s something to it. Now the team uncovering and tracing the virus has been abducted, right under
the noses of the United Nations.”
Edinfield nodded. “I get your point. One interpretation is that Iran is about ready to explode a nuclear bomb. That’s consistent with the reports I’ve been reading.”
Frank cleared his throat. “There is a bit more you should know. Some months ago, their company—meaning Daryl and Jeff—performed work for Frontline Integrated Systems on Project Tusk. They spent about three months locating zero day vulnerabilities in Android’s wireless services, WiFi, and Bluetooth. This was contract work for the Company. It was segregated so they don’t know what project they were working on but they’ve been around. They know it was for us.”
“How important is the work they did?”
Frank hesitated, then decided to tell her. “Crucial.” He instinctively lowered his voice. “I can’t say the name, Agnes, not without clearance, but think about it. I will say the project directly relates to what we were just talking about.”
“Relax, Frank. I’ve not been briefed but I’ve heard rumors about Stuxnet3; even heard the word Tusk related to it. I get the picture. This is really bad. Really bad. Do you think that is why they were abducted?”
“I have no idea but we have to recognize the possibility.”
“I agree. We need to get them back and safe. I’ll do what I can, Frank. Thank you.”
22
MEYRIN, SWITZERLAND
23, AVENUE DE VAUDAGNE
11:18 P.M. CET
Once Karim left to return the van, Ahmed told Ali to go into the abandoned shop and work area facing the street. “Find a dark place. Be certain you are not observed,” he said. “Any patrolling officer knows this building is unoccupied and if you are seen he will be immediately suspicious. But if a patrol car stops or you see officers on foot, I want to be warned.” Ali nodded, then went into the front room. He was a good man and Ahmed was confident he’d be careful.
He looked back at the prisoners. They appeared calm, sitting on the concrete floor, near the far wall, too frightened to speak from what Ahmed could see. Now he considered exactly what he would do if Ali burst into this backroom with word the police were outside. He’d been taught to plan ahead. Focus on the task at hand but always know what to do next.
Shooting their way clear would be futile and was against orders. He smiled. No, he’d cut the prisoners loose and pretend they were old friends having a visit. The police would not believe it, of course, and the Americans would give a different version but a lawyer could make something of it in court. At the least, it would be better than finding them tied.
With this in mind he took a few minutes to improve their appearance, adjusting clothing, straightening hair. The man said nothing but the woman told him to, as she put it, “Go to hell and keep your hands to yourself!”
Next, Ahmed set the room in order. Afterward he cleaned himself up in the bathroom, then made the room even more presentable. As he worked, Jeff and Daryl exchanged looks of concern and confusion. It seemed an odd time for housekeeping but anything that delayed the next step Jeff considered a positive.
Ahmed took a seat and waited. After a bit there was a gentle rap at the door. He rose and admitted Karim into the room. “Any trouble?”
Karim shook his head. His jacket was wet, and water dripped from his nose. “It’s been raining. It just stopped. I don’t think anyone saw me walking. And I took a long way.”
“Good. Watch the prisoners but say nothing.”
Karim nodded in reply as he crossed his arms and assumed a position by the door.
Based on the messages he’d received, Ahmed knew the man was a computer expert of some kind. He didn’t look like it, not at all, but Ahmed accepted what he’d been told. He was fit, almost like an athlete. He appeared nothing like the computer types Ahmed knew in Prague.
Ahmed had no idea why Hamid cared about the man but he’d been instructed to find out what he was doing in UNOG. In part icular, he wanted to know of any progress he’d made. He’d been given no instructions about what to do with him in time but since his orders had been to kill him if abduction wasn’t possible he didn’t doubt what that would be. They’d not been told to wear masks. Once drained of information, once Hamid was satisfied, the outcome was inevitable.
His instructions had made no mention of a woman. It didn’t matter. He’d taken her because he couldn’t leave a witness behind. He assumed initially that she was someone the man had met in UNOG, perhaps an employee there, but her passport said she was an American and her address was the same as the man’s. A wife? A girlfriend? Perhaps a colleague as well.
Ahmed decided on a direct approach. They didn’t appear to be trained agents and this was the simplest way to find out if they were. He’d not laid a hand on either of them except for what was necessary to take them from the street and to bind them. There was time for violence later.
“Mr. Aiken, what work do you do?” he asked quietly.
“Why don’t you go to hell?” Daryl snapped.
Ahmed smiled. Now there’s a fierce one, he thought, wondering for an instant how he could use that to his advantage. “I was speaking to the gentleman.”
“I know who you were talking to. Turn us loose. Now!”
Ahmed smiled. This was absurd. Is that what American women were like? Ordering men about? Demanding they perform? It explained a great deal if that was the case. “You must be silent or I will be forced to gag you again. It is not pleasant. Movies make it look as if it is nothing but we know otherwise, don’t we?” The idea was to form a bond with them, as strange as that seemed. Given time—though Ahmed doubted they had enough—the captives would become friends, or at least very friendly.
“Don’t tell me what I know and don’t know! You people are criminals and the police are going to catch you, so you might as well turn us loose and get out of here. You haven’t much time. The police are searching for us everywhere right now!” Daryl glared at Ahmed.
“It’s all right,” Jeff said. “There’s no reason not to answer his questions. We have nothing to hide.” Tusk, he thought. I hope they don’t know about our work on Tusk.
Daryl gave Jeff a withering look but said nothing. While she’d had Ahmed’s attention Jeff had searched the floor behind him for something, anything, and came up with what felt like part of a drill bit, or at least a fragment of hard metal. With it he’d begun methodically working on the knots binding his wrists. Now he stopped as the mustached man was looking directly at him. “I’m a computer security technician,” Jeff said. It occurred to him that it might be possible to keep Daryl out of this.
“What are you doing for the United Nations?”
“A computer virus was sent by someone at UNOG to an office in Britain.” Jeff could think of no reason to mention the UK Foreign Office until necessary. “I was locating it and fixing the problems it created.”
Ahmed wrinkled his forward. “Surely, UNOG has people who can do that.”
“It’s a very sophisticated virus and it’s new. I’m a specialist. It took some effort to discover it and determine its properties,” Jeff said.
“Still, it makes no sense to spend so much money. And why would Britain use Americans? They also have people for such work,” Ahmed said. This had to be CIA. He could think of no other answer. Abducting this man, the priority given the assignment, now made sense.
Daryl sighed as if Ahmed were stupid. “It had the potential of causing a great deal of harm. You understand that, don’t you?”
“You do this work as well?” He already suspected as much about the woman.
“Go to hell,” Daryl said.
Ahmed stopped for a moment. This was remarkable. He’d never encountered a woman like this before. He wondered if she were mentally deranged in some way. Either that or she failed to understand what was taking place.
“You found this virus, then?” he said to Jeff. “And fixed the problems?”
“We found it,” Jeff said. “We were nearly finished here and planning to leave soon.”
&nb
sp; Jeff eyed Ahmed. He had no idea how rough this was going to get. These were clearly men capable of greater violence than they’d already demonstrated. He just wondered what it would take to convince the mustached man and didn’t like where that thought took him.
Ahmed nodded. “I see.” He drew a packet from his pocket and lit a cigarette, realizing as he did that he’d made the woman even angrier. Perhaps if I blow smoke in her face she’ll cooperate, he thought.
He stood smoking, wondering what else to ask. The man’s answers were straightforward enough. Finally, he told Karim to watch carefully while he went outside.
In the backyard, rain dripped from the overarching trees. Ahmed pulled an unused cell phone from his pocket and turned it on. When ready, he punched in the number. After several seconds a voice came on, sounding very much like Hamid, but you could never be certain.
“We have him and a woman who I think is a colleague working with him,” Ahmed said in English. The American eavesdropping computers were programmed to focus on Farsi, he’d been taught.
“Problems?”
“No. All is well so far.” He told him what he’d learned.
“So they found it and a fix is under way?”
“That is what he says. I think it is likely the truth.”
“That is unfortunate. We just didn’t move fast enough. All right, so be it. Use whatever means you require to confirm the information. They may be misleading you. Just make certain they are not lying.”
“All right.”
“If there is a change in the story, let me know.”
“What am I to do when finished?”
“It isn’t decided but they will not be released, obviously. He is valuable so take care of him. Do the same with the woman. For now it may be enough to keep them away, especially if they’ve lied to you. There is something more. I am sending you a photograph, a name, and a home address.” He told Ahmed what he wanted done. “For the couple, move to the next stage. Learn what they know of the virus they were working on and who else knows about it. Be certain.”
Trojan Horse Page 14