Billionaire Assassin

Chương 9: Hacker

Rosie Hart smirked at Aurora. She immediately went into defense mode, ready to fight the girl opposite. Rosie's statement implicitly confirms to Aurora that she is a danger to Aurora.

Aurora looked at Rosie and said, "What's your purpose in coming here?"

"Do not be stressed. I only came here to recruit you.” Rosie Hart raised an eyebrow at Aurora Ward.

Then, Rosie Hart glanced over at the following table, and three or four boys went to Aurora Ward's side in an instant. Rosie Hart smiled: “Don't worry about Jasmine Hill. The police will bring her home safely, and you will follow me."

Aurora Ward intends to reject Rosie Hart's offer. Suddenly, Rosie Hart pulled open the lap of her shirt, revealing the gun inside, and then looked at Aurora Ward: "I just finished drinking beer. When you get drunk, you don't know what you will do yourself."

Aurora Ward agreed, following Rosie Hart. She and two others drove Aurora Ward to an apartment far from central New York. Everyone got out of the car and went to a room inside the apartment.

She saw layers of computers and people inside. The room was fifty square meters. An office wall is used as a table.

It is always full of mathematical symbols. The problems written there are not complicated. First-year students can understand, but sometimes the solution affects the safety of hundreds of millions of Internet users.

Exposed computer cases, and that's what Aurora Ward has been craving for a long time.

A person who saw Aurora Ward smiled and patted the case next to him: "Having it in hand, going down to the fourth, fifth, or sixth floor of the deep web is child's play."

Rosie Hart shouted: "Stop talking nonsense, Casey Owen."

Rosie Hart glared at him. Immediately he shrank like a slug in a shell. Aurora rolled her eyes again. Lots of transparent 32-inch screens on the shelves.

Mechanical keyboards and mice filled with keys, the clicking sound of mechanical keyboards has a massive attraction for Aurora Ward. She seems to be addicted to it.

Rosie Hart pulled Aurora closer to her, gently pressing her to sit down. Rosie said: "It's not as beautiful here as at home, is it? The total amount you get is enough for you to buy dozens of systems like this.”

"Not so. I only use laptops.” Aurora Ward answered honestly.

“And what do you spend the money you get from big corporations?” Rosie Hart stared at Aurora Ward. But Aurora Ward just kept silent.

“I'm trying to recruit you. Anything you did before will be erased. Do you understand what I mean?" Rosie Hart smiled and spoke softly in a very honest voice.

Aurora Ward hesitated for a long time, then said, “I transferred the money to the account of the orphanage where I grew up.”

"See it? I know for sure that you are not a bad person. It's just that your approach isn't right. Now, you have two options, Aurora Ward. Become a member of this extended family, the CIA's Cybersecurity Investigations Team. Two, you're free, you can do whatever you want, but I can't guarantee your life when the Corporations track down your whereabouts." Rosie Hart looked at Aurora Ward and was convinced with an expectant look.

"But how do you know I'm a hacker?" Aurora Ward still has some doubts about Rosie Hart.

“It's me.” Where does Teddie Berry come from? Extremely comfortable clothes with a look that is also very different from everyday life.

Aurora Ward exclaimed in horror: "Teddie Berry?"

“Don't be surprised. I am also a member of the International Cyber ​​Security Investigation Team.” Teddie smiled at Aurora Ward.

After formal exchanges and Rosie Hart and Teddie Berry getting Aurora Ward's nod of approval, Rosie Hart instructed the team to prepare a separate room for Aurora Ward. Starting today, Aurora Ward will be living and working at the International Cyber ​​Security Investigation Team.

Everything came so fast and sudden that Aurora could not accept it easily. Rosie Hart and Teddie Berry lead Aurora Ward into a closed room with Casey Owen. After everyone settled down, Rosie Hart began to speak.

“Four days ago, there was a Wanna Know ransomware attack on a vast scale in over 200 countries and territories, including our US. This attack has caused many users' files to be locked. And, of course, it's not just about personal computers.

If the victim wants to have the right to unlock, the victim must pay the hackers more than five hundred US dollars worth of bitcoins. After seventy-two hours from the first day of the attack, this will be doubled to one thousand US dollars price of bitcoin, and after seven days, the files can be locked forever.

Currently, we know of their four bitcoin accounts. So far, more than thousands of individuals and organizations have paid. The maximum income has reached five million US dollars. It's really easy to make money.

This attack affected a wide range of organizations, from governments to corporations. Other targets in at least different countries stretching from West to East were also reported to have been hit at about the same time.

From the fields of health and education to even national defense, emergency handling centers of significant countries, FBI, CIA... tens of millions of computers have reported being infected with this malicious code.

It's all due to delays in security updates that leave some users and organizations vulnerable."

A series of red dots on the screen appeared to fill the World map. The numbers jumped continuously and kept increasing.

Aurora rolled her eyes at Rosie Hart. Aurora said: "I know this, but does it have anything to do with me?"

Teddie Berry and Rosie Hart looked at each other and sighed. Then, Teddie Berry said: "Not only is it unrelated, but this Wanna Know malware when analyzed, cited a link to my computer's IP."

“Does that mean you both suspect I spread this malicious code?” Aurora Ward rolled her eyes at Rosie Hart and Teddie Berry and asked.

Teddie Berry and Rosie Hart still looked at each other meaningfully. Casey Owen hastened to say: "She alone is not strong enough to handle these things."

“If so, who could it be?” Rosie Hart caresses her temples.

“Thunder Electronics Corporation.” Aurora Ward suddenly spoke up.

“Thunder Electronics Corporation??? What are you saying?" Teddie Berry looked at Aurora Ward in panic and asked. Rosie Hart also turned his attention towards her.

Aurora Ward said: "Actually, I just hacked into the account of Thunder Electronics Corporation. If the person who wants to access my IP can only be from Thunder Electronics Corporation."

Teddie Berry immediately shouted: "Aurora Ward said this. I just remembered. The Wanna Know cyberattack tool released by an anonymous hacker group and other tools appears to have been leaked from Safety AI. Guess what… this company is part of the US National Security Agency. And most importantly, Safety AI has been a strategic partner with Thunder Electronics Corporation for a long time. Is it all too coincidental?”

Casey Owen looked at Teddie Berry. A bit puzzled: "But Thunder Electronics Corporation was also one of the victims of this attack."

“Re-read the report of lost text files that Thunder Electronics Corporation reported to me.” Rosie Hart immediately turned her eyes to Casey Owen, she urged repeatedly.

Casey Owen fumbled, scrolling on the tablet, his eyes starting to panic, eyes wide, wide.

Casey Owen's voice faltered: "Oh my god!!! Thunder Electronics Corporation reports all the archives of the project's computer safety protection protocol with Safety AI. Isn't this legally self-destructive if it's what they do?"

Teddie Berry also began to speak: “We can see Russia and some Eastern European countries as the most affected areas. However, in Midland, there is no trace of this malicious code. This territory is the private territory of Thunder Electronics Corporation."

The group was amazed as they pieced together the data. Aurora Ward began to speak: "As of now, there is almost no way to decrypt files that Wanna Know has encrypted. But when it infects a new computer, Wanna Know will contact a remote web address and only begin encrypting files if it realizes that the web address is inaccessible.

But if it can connect, Wanna Know will self-destruct. A technologist discovers this unregistered web address and buys it for less than fifty US dollars. The attack is temporarily prevented right here in America.

But it is still spreading horribly in other countries. Soon after, variants of this damn virus were re-coded and quickly spread again with the latest version.

And guess what, who is this tech expert? Thunder Electronics Corporation.”

Rosie Hart, Teddie Berry, and Casey Owen looked at Aurora Ward in unison. Casey Owen patted Aurora Ward's shoulder: "Are you Whitehat or Blackhat?"

Rosie Hart snapped at Casey Owen: “Does that even matter? She's Gray Hat!"

Teddie Berry said: “You should go get some rest first. We'll have plenty of time to talk. Your belongings will be brought here shortly. And now, Casey Owen will guide you. Rosie Hart and I will have to meet with our superiors.”

Teddie Berry tapped Aurora Ward on the shoulder. Casey Owen ushered her out of the room with Rosie Hart's loving reassurance gaze.