Emma must have picked up the change in my expression.Code signing.Adding an encoded signature, kind of like a copyright.Ensured the work was genuine and hadn’t been tampered with.Coders, developers, and ethical hackers signed their work, just like any other writer-slash-composer.The black hats prided themselves on their anonymity, but analyze their work often enough, and their style, as unique as any signature, could be described, cataloged, and used as a tool to expose them.Sure there were others who tried to duplicate original works, but there was always something ‘off’ about the duplicate, forgery, if you will, that set it apart from the original.And the cyberspooks, a kind of artist in their own right, were excellent at identifying and cataloging those patterns.Once the pattern was identified, it was only a matter of time before the cyberspooks matched the style to a username.No one could hide forever, but you had to give them credit, even respect, for trying.
“You know…” She licked the sugar from her muffin off her fingers, and my mind went places it had no business going right then, especially under the current circumstances.Must ignore temptation.“… like jewel thieves and the methods they use regularly.If you’ve watched the true crime shows, the serial killers always leave some repeating clue.In a lot of cases, that’s how cops catch them.”
The pieces were falling into place, but I wanted to see where Emma was going with this.“I understand that, but we haven’t found the ghostware, and we haven’t locked down the credentials yet.”
“True.”She waggled her eyebrows.“For now.I need some stuff from you.”
“Anything.Fire away.”
The wagging eyebrows and evil grin immediately gave way to business Emma.“Can you think of anyone who might have a grudge against you or anyone else in the IT department?And just because you might be thinking of someone but the circumstance would be unlikely, don’t discount them.I also want the names of anyone who left FI and the reason or reasons why.Exit interviews, discipline documentation, whatever.Even if they started here and x amount of time later decided FI just wasn’t a good fit.”
“I’m ahead of you.I asked Ben to find the names of everyone who’s left the technology department foranyreason since day one.He sent the list to HR last night.”
“Is that going to be a long list?”
“Not really.We’ve got excellent retention stats, remember?”
“I do.And Asher, I want their entire employment records including the findings on their background checks.Everything.”
“In process if not already done.”
“We need to meet with John and the guy from Legal, the one who wrote my contract, Nick Costanza.Is there any chance you can make that happen today?”
“Mind if I ask why?”
Emma turned in her chair to face me.“I’m going with my gut.Legit creds.What’s weird is that we can’t identify them, as in who they belong to…yet…but that will probably happen today.We also traced to a local ISP.My gut says this is definitely an inside job and the perp is a current employee.”
“I agree with everything you’ve said.We’re going to have to turn this over to the feds and soon.Once we’re outside the FI firewalls and in the wild, we’ll hit roadblocks only the feds can get past.”
Emma twirled a pencil through her fingers.“Yep.If we put together as much information as we can gatherbeforewe go to the feds, that gives them a leg up.It also makes the cyber insurance guys happier.Shows we’re not sitting on our butts wringing our hands.They like that.”
As we were talking, I kept having this prickly feeling that something was right on the edge of my memory, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.A little like walking into a room but forgetting why you were there.Not surprising in a way because, at the same time, I was trying to remember everyone who’d left my department.Our turnover was extremely low.Maybe six people in the ten years since John started FI.
“Hey, Asher, are you with me?”
Blink.Blink.“Sorry.I didn’t mean to check out on you.There’s something in the back of my mind that’s bugging me, and I…”
Emma tilted her head.“And you…” she prompted.
There it was.But was it even plausible?Maybe.My first impression of Emma was that she was extremely shy, even an introvert.But was she shy, or was she keeping her head down to get ahead.What was it like for her at Tri-O-Tech?She’d alluded to differences between FI and Tri-O-Tech, but she’d used pretty general language.She’d also told me about the stigma of being Roger Palmer’s daughter and the assumptions and insinuations that came with it.I’d seen some pretty underhanded stuff women had to deal with in undergrad and postgrad.Even today, women still had to deal with the ‘boys will be boys’ attitudes.
Which brought me to the here and now.
“Hey, Asher…” Emma reached across the space between us and tapped my knee.“What’s going on?”
Yeah, it was plausible, even probable, but I wouldn’t know unless I asked.I turned my chair so I could face Emma full-on.She’d leaned back, watching me, her brow furrowed, expression confused.
“You asked me about disgruntled former employees and current employees that might have grudges…”
“Yes.We—you, Ben, Will, Tim, me—are going to turn over all the stones to see what’s underneath.Did you come up with something else we should consider?”
If we were going to examine the probable, then the improbable was something we had to consider even if for no other reason than to explicitly rule it out.
“I have to ask you the same question: Is there anyone you’ve worked with in the past and/or currently who might have even the slightest grudge against you?”
The changes in her expression were subtle.If an observer didn’t know her well, they would’ve missed the surprise, disbelief, cynicism, disbelief again, then full-on skepticism.And with that, Emma raising the emotional walls and armor.
The slightest squint, tilt of her head, first right then left, and pursed lips.“Me?You really are grabbing at straws.But for an instant, let’s say that’s a real possibility.Why would whoever they are come at me through a company that, until the last not quite a month, I’ve never been associated with?”She turned away and focused on her monitor, then lowered her head into her raised hands.
