Chapter 8-1
2020 Words
Gregor brought up Pretzelverse’s intrusion protection dashboard. The numbers seemed off, a larger than normal amount of inbound email was present, and there was an increase in outbound network packets.
“Damn! The stupid users are at it again,” Gregor said.
From the patterns Gregor observed, it appeared an attack was imminent. Some stupid user probably clicked on a phishing link and got malware. Gregor sent a Cyber Advisory warning of the threat to IT and Network Operations. Better to let the grunts handle the details of chasing the malware. Gregor had more pressing issues, like collecting on a payday.
.He retrieved a tablet from his backpack and looked at his own dashboard. His own phishing campaigns had been successful. Usually one user out of thousands clicked on any link. Last week, Gregor netted over one hundred out of ten thousand.
Gregor’s red phone rang, his burner phone reserved for Collective business.
“Code word?”
“Sleeper.”
“Connecting to Jaded Communicator,” dispatch confirmed.
“We need to meet about our next move,” Sasha said.
“Are you in Chechnya this week?”
“I’m at the cottage,” Gregor said.
“Meet on level five in fifteen minutes.”
Gregor was in the quiet study of the cottage. He approached the statue of Plato in the corner. He pulled the index finger on the left hand. The wall opened behind the statue. Gregor carefully stepped through the opening, which revealed a narrow passage.
Gregor pulled out a small flashlight to help navigate the small passageways located behind each room in the cottage. Gregor wasn’t a very large man, so he could easily navigate the passage. He snickered at the thought of giant Viktor trying to navigate these tunnels. He would probably get stuck. About ten minutes later, he entered a large room on level five. Someone was waiting for him at the opposite end of the room.
“Sasha, that you?”
“Aye, come closer. It is difficult to see with just one lamp.”
As Gregor came closer, Sasha appeared to have a large shadow behind him which reminded Gregor of a large, demon-like thing with talons.
“Have a seat. We need to talk about the vote,” Sasha said.
“What about it?”
“I’m crafting a series of texts and will need your help with execution. I’m not a technical man, as you are. I’ve harvested a list of cell phone numbers that I got from your voter registration worm. It took some doing, but I finally got it to work. You need to provide better instructions,” Sasha said.
“I will include a guide for dimwits next time. You have the numbers; what else do you need?”
“An automated way to send a message to all these numbers at the same time, and a way to not include a return number.”
“Easy enough. What is your execution plan?”
“Send texts to young voters reminding them to use the eVote app during election day. Most young people in the United States don’t want to be bothered with going down to vote, so I will leverage the eVote app. Users will download the app from the link that is sent from the text. They will see a voting form similar to the actual ballot in their state, but we will get so much more,” Sasha explained. “The app contains the ability to track, record, and collect any information that we want. We can even limit the uploads for when Wi-Fi is active so their mobile data plans are not exceeded.”
“That’s brilliant!”
“I just need some help in execution. That’s where you come in.”
* * *
Ellen answered the next call that was in her queue. It was the last call before she could go to lunch. She was having a good morning so far and was two calls ahead of her daily quota.
“Telemarketers’ Union, Ellen speaking. How may I assist you?” she answered in an upbeat tone.
“Hello, Honey,” Rick said.
Ellen was speechless.
“What do you want?” Ellen asked. “How did you get past the screening process?”
Ellen felt her face turn hot; she felt flushed when she got angry. Rick had no right to invade her workplace!
“Calm down, Ellie.”
Ellen needed to get Rick off the phone as soon as possible because her boss might be monitoring connections.
“Can I call you tonight?” Rick asked.
“No,” Ellen said as she severed the connection.
* * *
Ellen looked at her small clock radio next to her computer monitor as she took her last call of the day. It was 4:40 p.m. The small display on her phone indicated that her average call time was ten minutes and fifty-two seconds. If this call fell into that range, she would get to leave early. She was five calls ahead of her usual average.
After her standard greeting, her caller identified himself as Chris and claimed to be from the IT department.
“Telemarketers’ Union, Ellen speaking. How may I assist you?”
“Hello, Ellen. My name is Chris, and I"m from the home office.”
“Oh, hi… How can I help you?” For some reason, Ellen immediately felt uneasy about this guy and couldn"t put her finger on it.
“I cannot access the network in the Milford office, and I think I might have messed something up. I was wondering if you could help me test?”
“I"m not the help desk.”
“Okay, but I cannot reach them and was wondering if you could help me out? It will only take a minute or two. I"m new here and have been out of work for a while, and it would really help me out if you could test something.”
“What do you need?”
“Ellen, you are a lifesaver! Pull up a web browser. We have Internet Navigator here; do you have that?”
“We use a new browser called Corus. Are you familiar with that?”
“That’s fine. Next, please go to CMHORG.org. It’s a website for me to check on your connectivity.”
“The site won’t load.”
“I see. Your antivirus may be interfering. Can you shut it off and try again?”
“We can lose our jobs for changing things on the computer,” Ellen said. “And I cannot lose my job.”
“I"m only suggesting that we pause it temporarily; it will reset back to normal at the end of the day when you turn off your system.”
“Okay… How do I do it?”
“It"s easy. Do you see a small yellow shield on the bottom right portion of your screen?”
“Yes.”
“Right-click on that shield; you will see a small menu. Click on the pause option.”
“Okay, that little shield turned red.”
“That’s normal. Could you please try to go to the website again?”
Ellen did. “The screen just turned red. That’s it. I see no text or anything.”
“Hmmm, that is puzzling. I think I might have really messed up your system now. Do you know the number of your local help desk?”
“Don’t you have it?”
“The help desk in the home office is so swamped I cannot get in.”
“Sure, it is 555-3487.”
“Thanks, Ellen. I really appreciate the help.”
Immediately after the call, she wrote down the conversation from memory; she was going to complain to Chuck about the lack of screening on these calls.
Ellen felt drained. Her head was pounding, and she felt like someone used it for drum practice. She locked her desk, quickly gathered her purse, and stopped by Chuck"s office for a discussion about the mysterious caller. Unfortunately, Chuck had left for the day. It looked like his office had been unoccupied for quite some time. She remembered that Rick was supposed to call her this evening. She wanted to be prepared for that. She left the building around five. With any luck, she would be at home before six.
Rick called Ellen several times as she drove home. She didn"t take a lot of calls from her car, so she never equipped her car with hands-free technology. The drive home seemed long and arduous for Ellen. She kept thinking about those damn calls! Ellen glanced at the microwave clock in her kitchen as she put her purse on the couch. It was 6:04 p.m. It had been twenty minutes since Rick"s last call. She would not delay the inevitable any longer. She picked up the phone and dialed Rick.
Rick answered the phone on the first ring.
“It’s about time you picked up your phone,” Rick said.
“I don"t have hands-free phone access in my car,” Ellen said. “And I’m not engaging in unsafe practices for you.”
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than Rick continued.
“I would like to pick up Ralphie this week instead of next because of a business travel conflict. I have a present for him.”
“Ralphie"s birthday isn"t until next month.”
“If we don"t switch, I will miss it.”
“Okay, we can switch weeks this one time, but don"t make it a habit,” Ellen said.
“Great! Thanks, Ellie,” Rick said and hung up.
* * *
Ellen noticed a light in the next room. Nigel and Ralphie were probably looking for some dinner. She felt bad getting home late each night this week.
Nigel was making something in the kitchen, and Ralphie was setting the table! She couldn"t remember when they last ate together as a family.
“Hey, Mom!” Ralphie said as he put down a stack of dishes.
“What"s this?” Ellen asked.
“We’re making dinner for you.”
“You take such good care of us, we thought we would do the same for you,” Nigel said.
Ellen stood in stunned silence.
“Have a seat, Mom.” Ralphie urged her in the direction of the dinner table.
“Smells great! What"s for dinner?” Ellen asked.
“Tuna Surprise,” Nigel said cheerily.
About halfway through dinner, Ellen had to say what was on her mind.
“What"s the special occasion?”
“Nothing special. We thought you could use a break, and with Ralphie going with Dad this weekend, we thought it would be cool if we had dinner as a family.”
It sounded innocent enough, but Ellen knew her son better than that! She was sure he was up to something, but couldn"t figure out what yet.
After dinner, they all watched some television. Ellen couldn"t think of a better evening she had had in a long time.
* * *
Nigel was ready when Ellen called the boys down for breakfast. Nigel had the application for the work permit ready.
“Do you have to work late again tonight?” Nigel asked.
“Yes, Honey, I need to.”
“I’ve decided to get a part-time job to help with things.”
Ellen said nothing. She just stared at Nigel.
“It would be a help. I could buy stuff for Ralphie and me.”
“Yeah!” Ralphie cheered.
“I don"t think it‘s a good idea, Nige,” Ellen said.
“Why not?”
“Because your grades are already suffering with all of the gaming, and I don"t want to add to your delinquency.”
delinquency.“What if I promise to only game on weekends?” Nigel cringed as the words came out.
“That would certainly help your grades, but the answer is still no. I may reconsider if you bring those grades up.”
- Writer
