by Leo James
The Sungai Buloh Prison guards were ruthless and never listened, so Mark kept as low a profile as possible, following any instructions obediently, with no complaints. International rule prevented the torture of foreign prisoners, but he heard it happening, often without reason. Malaysian guards and fellow prisoners tortured foreigners out of sight, inside their cells. Special forces beat and kicked prisoners, wounding randomly and maliciously without warning. Mark saw four or five guards beating a foreigner because he had a rape case against him. He thought he would be next. Just a matter of time. He was sure he would be a target because he was gay.
Malaysian criminals dominated, ruling the whole block including cell allotment and food distribution. Malaysian guards took bribes from prisoners in return for drugs such as heroin, ice and other narcotics.
Mark was struggling physically and mentally, not sure how much longer he could cope.
######
Steve, Mai and Adam arrived at the IT shop. Adam parked just outside the entrance.
'Can I help you, sir?' The assistant looked about fifteen, with child-size hands and a soft complexion.
'Yes, I want to buy computer equipment,' Steve said. 'Hmm, let's start with two Linux boxes. The highest spec you have, please. Two large monitors, two keyboards, and a quality printer.'
'We pre-build Linux systems to a high specification for memory, processor, graphics and storage. Here are the monitors we have today, and I recommend this printer.' The assistant pointed to the components.
'We'll take two monitors, two Linux specification and this printer.' Steve pointed them out. 'Do you take Maybank prepaid cards?' He handed over the card.
'Yes, sir. They are Visa so OK, sir.' The assistant said.
‘Do you give discount? We buy many things,’ Mai said.
Steve was impressed, and even more impressed when they were given a ten percent discount.
The assistant ushered his colleagues, who emerged from every crevice of the shop, to help gather the kit. The packaged items were then brought out and loaded into the car. They struggled to fit the kit into the car. Adam guided the assistants to put the boxes in the boot and on the back seat. Steve placed a monitor on his lap.
######
They arrived back at the hotel and parked in one of the prime spots out front. Adam gave the concierge fifty ringgit and asked him to keep a keen watch on the car.
'We may as well set one of my Linux systems up in the room.' Steve carried a monitor, keyboard and Linux box into the hotel, and up to his room. They unpacked the kit.
'So, what are you going to do next?’ Adam asked.
'I'll buy the hacking tools online and download them. It will cost us over ten thousand ringgit. David wouldn’t approve as the tools are banned. But it's the only way I can quickly find the information. Otherwise it would take weeks, or even months to find anything.' Could have done with Mark.
'The idea is to use the hacking tool to run a deep dive transaction log to trace specifics of every transaction and every movement. I'll drill down with a live probe to everything, encrypted and de-encrypted. I'll use an audit tool to follow the money to get the evidence. The hacking tool does all this. Make sense?' Steve smiled at Adam.
Adam gave a nervous smile. 'Are you going to be able to break into the Q7 system?'
'I should get into the Seguro system OK. Once in, the fun starts. I will then jump onto the onion router as an administrator and drill down from there.'
'Great,' Adam said.
'Using the Wi-Fi in this hotel is risky for the payment and downloading the hacking tools, but I need to crack on. We'll need to use the fibre broadband at the apartment for the actual hacking.'
'I see,' Adam said, 'We should be able to move into the apartment tomorrow. They will confirm with me later today.'
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Tuesday 19th May
THE FOLLOWING DAY THEY checked out of the hotel and moved into the apartment. Although overlooking the sea, and positioned further along the main road, Steve was happy that they were far enough away from the hotel. He looked out of the window. 'Great view.'
'Adam has found a nice place.’ Mai smiled.
'The owner is a friend,' Adam said, 'He is happy to receive the rent money in cash and will keep our location secret. And two minutes' walk from Starbucks.’
‘Great!' Steve exclaimed.
Mai helped Adam to connect all the cables under instruction from Steve. Once they had set-up the computers and got online, they had lunch in the flat, before Steve started the investigation process.
‘I’m rusty, but I've downloaded the hacking tools and we’re ready to go,’ Steve said.
Adam asked Steve, ’Is the Wi-Fi working well?’
'Yes, it's not too bad. Not as fast as the UK. I'm setting up the systems, so we can hide our location and our IP address.'
'Great. How will you get into the system?' Adam asked.
'What I'm planning on doing is to make a dummy payment request to the Seguro system on the Q7 network. This is a legitimate request by our system, the firewall should let it through,’ Steve explained.
He started the second Linux computer.’ I'll be able to trace specifics of every transaction, every movement and deep dive into the log. I'll set myself up with administrator rights which means, with luck and good use of the hacking tools, I'll be able to move around the Q7 onion router.'
'Can we do this without getting spotted?' Adam asked.
'I hope so. I'll use a fixed line VPN or public Wi-Fi deep packet inspection to find anything of interest. It delves into the data to find the information we want to analyse further, even if encrypted. That's how the big cloud services track child pornography on their encrypted platforms and tip off the authorities.'
Adam went out for a short walk. Steve focused on the job in hand. Mai spent time observing Steve’s progress.
He remained in the same position for a few hours before he stood up, placed his hands at the base of his spine and stretched. ‘Mai, I'm making good progress.'
When Adam returned he asked Steve, ’Did you get to the Seguro solution?'
'Yes, I've set myself up as an administrator, so I have root privileges. I'm capturing the audit log and system log which looks fine to auditors. Live probe to everything on the Seguro system, encrypted and de-encrypted. The plan is to get trails of transaction origins and terminations. I'll focus on getting details of bank accounts, credit cards and bitcoin flow and using this information to look for laundering payments. Follow the money to find the evidence.'
'Can I help?' Adam asked.
'Lots of data crunching required at the moment. I'll then use the penetration tools to hack into the Q7 network server across their onion router. You can help soon.'
After another few hours of probing and number crunching, Steve was struggling to find any information other than standard transactions.
I hope we can find something. We need to nail the bastards.
Adam and Mai had gone to bed. Tiredness was creeping up on Steve; he hoped he had made no mistakes.
I know you wouldn’t approve of me using the hacking tool David. But I have to use it.
If only Mark and David were here! I need you both!
Exhausted, he retired to bed.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Wednesday 20th May
STEVE WOKE AFTER A restless night of cold sweats and stomach ache. Mai was already up, studying one of the manuals that accompanied the computers.
Steve made them both a coffee. ‘You enjoying reading that? It’s a bit boring.’
‘No, I like to learn as much as possible. Glen was teaching me about PC and Windows.’
‘This is Linux. A different kind of Microsoft… How is your reading? I don’t mean to be offensive.’
‘No, I learn English at school and when I train to be a nurse. I try to learn when in Malaysia,’ Mai said.
‘That’s great… Are you feeling OK?’ Steve asked.
‘I get sick eve
ry morning. You hear? But I am OK,’ Mai said.
‘Do you need anything?’ Steve added.
‘No. You OK Steve? You sweat and look pale,’ Mai said.
‘I’m struggling. Insomnia, cold sweats, stomach ache, muscle pains - you name it.’
’You have fever?’ Mai asked.
‘To be honest, the doctor prescribed me Valium. I left my pills in Kuala Lumpur.’
‘Valium?’
‘Yes, it’s a muscle-relaxant drug to relieve stress,’ Steve explained.
‘Valium?’ Mai shook her head.
Steve opened a browser on one of the computers and looked-up Valium. ‘It’s call Xanax in Asia.’
‘Ah, yes, Xanax. Cold turkey is bad.’
‘Yes.’ Steve nodded.
‘I know. You can buy CBD oil to help,’ Mai said.
‘CBD oil?’
‘Yes. It is drops. Put in mouth. Helps. Very good.’
‘Oh that would be wonderful,’ Steve felt some hope.
‘It is cannabis, but will help.’
‘I’ll try anything,’ Steve said.
‘OK. I get for you today.’
‘Thank you. You could really help by supplying coffee at regular intervals,’ Steve said.
Mai nodded.
Adam entered the room looking as though he had not slept.
After a short time, Mai and Adam decided to go to the local shopping mall to buy food and drink.
Steve returned to the task, changed a few settings and tried an alternative approach to get onto the Q7 network.
On their return Mai said, ‘We have shopping. She followed Adam into the kitchen to put the food and drink away.
‘Also I have sandwiches,’ Adam said.
'Oh, thanks,’ Steve smiled.
'I hope you do not mind but these are from Starbucks,’ Adam said.
'I love Starbucks,’ Steve mocked, 'When in Rome and all that.' Steve carried on with his investigations whilst he sipped his coffee and ate his sandwich. Steve felt a burst of adrenaline. 'Boy, are we on to something.'
Mai picked up her glass of water from the coffee table and pulled up a seat next to Steve. Adam sat on a chair next to Steve.
'OK, I've jumped onto the onion router at Q7.' Steve focused on his computer screen. 'Lots of proxies. Powerful hardware including FTP servers containing content available to buy. It’s logging their addresses and it’s configured at the deep web level of the internet which supports more advanced sites containing stuff to buy. It looks like stolen identities.' Steve made notes.
'I do not understand. Stolen identities?' Mai said.
‘Yes. For sale. It's easy. David was spot on with his findings. Q7 is a marketplace for secure undercover transactions including stolen or created credit cards. Oh my God. David was right,' Steve jotted down more notes. 'Q7 is the trusted network controlling these dealings. They appear to be using a special proxy, TOR browser, encrypted USB/flash devices to store files, a special password manager programme and VPN to hide their identity. They prefer payment using bitcoins because it's an anonymous way of paying for goods or services. Well, I should say that bitcoin can be tracked but they use the TOR network to conceal the owners. We need to dig much further.'
######
Later that evening, Adam had fallen asleep on the chair and Mai had gone to bed… Steve exclaimed loudly, 'Got it. It's here. It's all here!'
'What, what?' Adam jumped up startled.
'They are selling illegal drugs and guns. Wow. Are you listening up there David?' Steve pointed towards the sky. 'Can't believe what we've found.'
'Can we get the evidence without getting caught?' Adam asked anxiously.
'Yes, I jumped onto the other servers across the network and nobody spotted me. However, if they do a system or user log check they will find something odd, so we need to be careful. The penetration tool is flaky so I'm having to use live probes, which could alert them.'
'Can you download the information and then analyse it offline?' Adam asked.
'No. I think we need to do more. Mai, wake up! We have news,’ Steve shouted and stretched back in the chair.
Mai came into the lounge, blurry eyed and sat beside Adam. 'What have you found?'
'This is a complete onion router illegal marketplace.'
'Marketplace? You mean buying and selling?' Mai was trying to understand.
Steve displayed a list on one of the monitors. 'Let's go through the sites.' He clicked on the first item and the other monitor displayed the results. 'Right, the first one I found is a hidden site for stolen identities and forged signatures.' He pointed to the second screen. 'Includes stolen or fraudulently created credit cards and prepaid cards. It's a dream. You can buy credit cards with thousands of dollars' credit limit on them for a pittance paid in bitcoins. It's crazy!'
'Is this where the Maybank prepaid cards came from?' Adam asked.
Steve clicked on another item in the list and the other screen changed its display. 'Yep. The irony, eh? That's big business. I found a site which sells illegal drugs including LSD, Heroin, Cocaine, Ecstasy and Meth. Delivered to your bloody door. It's frightening.'
'How does it work?' Adam asked.
Steve stretched his aching back again. 'The buyer changes money into bitcoins, held by Q7 until goods are received, the buyer pays for the stuff, and the seller delivers the goods. Q7 pays the seller in bitcoins and the seller exchanges the bitcoins for money. Easy and you know the best of it, Q7 gets a cut of everything. So Q7 are not selling actual goods, they are the eBay of the dark world.'
'Wow, and your system is helping to complete the payments and give them their commission,' Adam said.
'Same for all stuff for sale. You can buy machine guns and there's also an arms trafficking exchange.' He listed the site options. ‘There's bad stuff here. I found a site for trafficking humans, children and slaves. Even a paedophile exchange and hard-core child pornography. Sickening!’
'I am worried. Would Prem Jothi know this?' Mai asked nervously.
'He must know,' Steve replied, 'That's why he is trying to get rid of us Seguro directors and Glen – we know too much. There's big money involved.'
'And Prem makes money from this?' Mai sounded shocked.
'Yes, vast amounts. You can even buy counterfeit money. Look! Crazy! It goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, you can buy banned movies and chemical explosives, even hire assassins and buy content relating to assassinations. Bloody hell, I can buy untraceable machine guns, children and slaves. There's even stolen art and computers, forged signatures, porn, fireworks and other illegal products delivered to your bloody door. Unbelievable!’
'How do they do this? ' Adam shook his head in disbelief.
Steve puffed out his chest. 'It's an onion router using software that acts as a security socket proxy. Their proxy server makes it very difficult to crack the encryption. Every user has to go through this.'
Adam nodded.
'The encrypted proxy is using the public key of each selected node. Look here, by bouncing from one relay to the next, every layer of encryption lifted off for the next relay. Until it reaches an exit node and the unencrypted request can then travel to its destination.'
'I do not understand, but it must be smart,' Mai said.
'This onion router looks weird to a newcomer; most savvy internet users find this tool an easy way to get access to the dark net. The privacy solutions mask your internet identity by encrypting your data and bouncing your access through a myriad of worldwide IP addresses,’ Steve explained.
Adam exploded. ‘How could Prem allow this to happen and make his money in this awful way?’
Steve and Mai tried to calm him down.
'What's the plan with all the data? Will we catch all traces of the transactions?' Adam asked.
'Yes, as soon as I have gained access to all areas of the network, I'll pull back the data images, so we can record the transactions and follow the transaction trace logs. I can print them off for hard evidenc
e to a hard drive?’
Adam retired to bed that night, looking totally drained and full of anxiety. He did not sleep.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Thursday 21st May
THE CBD OIL HAD helped Steve to work throughout the night although he nodded off a few times.
He felt the tiredness in every sinew of his body, his brain begged for sleep; sleep overcame him a few times in fitful phases until black coffee and adrenaline kicked in once more, keeping him awake, urging him on until the task was done.
'Bloody hell! This is big.' Steve shouted.
Adam rushed into the room. ’What is it?' He asked hazily.
Mai woke up too and got out of bed to see what was happening.
Adrenaline pumped, Steve explained. 'They're holding mercenary contracts, hidden wikis, and a hidden video archive for paedophile exchanges.'
'Paedophile videos' Adam looked disgusted and quizzical.
'Yes, I've found a lower level location used by black market dealers to sell hard-core child pornography. Men and women sexually molesting babies. Content from assassinations and illegal game hunting. And below that chemical testing on humans and decentralised terrorism orders.'
Adam looked horrified.
Steve continued, ‘Looks like you can trace the buyers and the sellers and follow the transactions?' Steve was very focused. 'Lots more work to do. These companies and individuals leave a transaction trail including laundering to offshore bank accounts.'
‘I hear about Kongsi getting paid from prostitution and they hide money. The women talk about this,’ Mai said.
‘Yes, and I think they are doing this on a very big scale. This is huge!’ Steve said, ‘We need to be very careful. We need to act now.’
'Well done Steve,’ Adam said.
Mai nodded.
######
'Detective Inspector Power?' Steve said.
'Yes, hello Mr Roussos. What can I do for you?’ she said.
'I'm still in Malaysia. When we last spoke, at the British Embassy, I said that I believed a businessman, Prem Jothi, the master of a Triad gang, was responsible for the deaths of two of my colleagues and that he had also tried to murder me. You wanted more evidence. Well, I’ve gathered more evidence. I want to share it, so it helps to bring these guys to justice.'