Hacking Cybercrime

Introduction I’ve always been fascinated with computers. I know that might not seem like a big deal here in 2021, but I originated in a different century. A different millennium, as a matter of fact. So even though my memories stretch well back into the 1970s, I always had at least a vague notion that such machines existed. I’ve always loved science fiction, too, so my imagination grew up in a world where computers were part of daily life. Star Trek caught my attention during its initial syndication run all through my childhood, for example, and I first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey in the mid 1970s as well. Between those two early introductions, I impatiently awaited our current wide selection of talking devices. And I understood right from the start that computers (especially the ones that talk) could be a force for good as well as for…not so good. I acquired my first version of the magical machine in the first few years of the 1980s, when I asked for and received a TRS-80 computer for Christmas. Now those were heady days. Consider the vast potential of 16 kilobytes of RAM, not to mention speedy and reliable cassette tape storage! I laugh about that now, with a watch on my wrist with vastly more memory and computing power, but I was enchanted with my little TRS-80. It was incredibly limited, sure. The important thing was I understood the potential. The promise of what was to come. Storing and sorting things. Modifying the way the teeny little programs I typed in worked as much as I could. Knowing that was just the beginning, even though none of us could have imagined how quickly things would change, especially in the 1990s and into the new century. Taking a programming class using Apple II computers pulled me in deeper, and my first experience using a Macintosh way back in the late 1980s felt like a brand new world. The simple—but critical—advance of seeing what I was doing on the monitor rather than having to extrapolate was incredible. When it comes to the stories in this collection, that experience with Macs becomes an even brighter signpost along my journey to professional and storytelling nerd. In the late 1980s, we had a computer lab in college full of Mac Plus computers. The little rectangular ones with the monitor built in and a separate keyboard. I of course got a job working in the lab as soon as I possibly could, and proceeded to teach myself everything about the computers and the hardware. But then, a good friend of mine named Jason A. Adams whispered an invaluable bit of information into my ear. He revealed (dramatic pause) The Administrator Password. His reason at the time was I’d planned to work summer shifts in the lab, and he and the other admins would be away. College students in summer classes and high school kids participating in summer programs would need help, and yes, they needed to be supervised. Looking back, I suspect he had other reasons to give me that coveted password, which my job didn’t really qualify for, and I technically didn’t need. Especially since we’re still together all these many years later. The other thing it did was awaken my inner hacker, or at the very least, my inner “I wonder what I can do with this information?” personality. I spent that entire summer, when I wasn’t wrangling high school kids or helping panicked college kids, learning every single thing I possible could about that old AppleTalk network. It didn’t escape my attention that I knew things no one else in the lab did, including the professors. And I could do things almost none of my co-workers had even thought of by the time fall classes rolled around that year. My enthusiasm for knowing how computers and networks functioned continued on into the 1990s, and that showed in the jobs I pursued over the years. From random support jobs with learning opportunities, to a classroom teaching gig that had me studying constantly, to a phone support job handling questions about dozens of applications, to my own days as a network administrator, by then using Windows systems as much as Macs. That last job in particular had a satisfying dose of being The One Who Knew Things. Who could fix things, and make things work better. And yes, I and my fellow IT colleagues often knew more than the end users would have ever imagined. Their hard drives and email habits were visible, if you were brave enough to pay attention. Some of those things I wish I could scrub out of my memory to this day. It was all those years in the cubicle farms that brought former hacker Dana Sanderson to life in my head. And I’ll freely admit I have a wonderful time writing about her exploits from outside the IT trenches. She first appeared when she was still firmly entrenched in an office job, leaning all she could, hoping for the promotion or change that would get her out of there. Her setting in Atlanta is no accident, since Jason and I spent a decade in that wonderful city, both of us honing our computer skills for what turned out to be our eventual escape. In The Sound of Murder, Dana has her own experience with discovering more than she ever imagined about a co-worker. And uncovering a secret that gets far more serious than photos and videos no one should be looking at on the job. That first story also introduced me to Dana’s fabulous best friend Andre Telkin. Andre helps her solve her first case partly because he has a skill she doesn’t. A vital skill that arguably crosses into a superpower when it comes to discovering and solving the crime. Andre returns to Dana’s world frequently because he’s just so much fun to write. He livens up her world considerably, and he’s one of those fantastic characters who does the same for me as a writer. When I started the second story in this collection, The Fabulous Feats of Billy, I didn’t know Dana was going to show up at first. I hadn’t considered her as a series character. After all, why would anyone write a series of short stories rather than novels or novellas? Yes, I do know how silly that is now. As you can tell by the number of short story series I have going on. The near-future timeline established in The Sound of Murder fit the story I wanted to tell in The Fabulous Feats of Billy even better. As the stories continue, I appreciate the freedom and imagination that choice allows more and more. For Glory Lane and the Humid Holiday, Dana heads south to Miami, and the otherworldly setting of a tropical late December. Her teammate on this missing person case is a tough and smart Miami cop who recognizes the advantages of having a brilliant nerd by her side. The Internet of Things is another of my fascinations, especially looking back at my early exposure to the HAL-9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. That theme of how things are connected—for better or worse—is front and center in Melting Point. The final tale in this collection returns to the IT office space, specifically the unique and strange atmosphere of a big server room. They’re cold, and noisy, and often have a bit of a dungeon-like aspect. Not the sort of place you’d expect to find a cat, and certainly not where you’d expect to discover what this cat drags in. The fun thing about a short story series is how quickly it can grow. In this case, there are already more Dana stories written, and she has an important role in my novella DNA Never Lies. And I just finished the first story where Andre is the main character, and after having so much fun while writing, I can promise more of those are on the way. Just to give you a fun hint, turns out his stories are going to cross over with Terminalia, another short story series of mine. I hope you enjoy getting to know Dana and Andre as much as I enjoy writing with them. For more tales of mystery, head over to www.KariKilgore.com/Mystery. If you enjoy stories from near-future all the way into science fiction, check out www.KariKilgore.com/ScienceFiction. You can also visit www.KariKilgore.com to learn more about me and find other short stories, along with novellas, novels, and more collections. If you want to keep up with what I’m doing next, get free stories, read exclusive content not available anywhere else, and see adorable pet photos, check out www.ConfidentialAdventureClub.com. Hope to see you there! And last but certainly not least, thank you for your support of me and my writing. It means the world to me and keeps me coming back to tell the next tale.