was probably thinking of his options. I got the impression that Alex decided to end a work arrangement he had with Fred. But Fred was not on board with that – and it sounded to me like he was in a very good position to make the other man’s life very difficult.
Finally, Alex appeared to arrive at the same conclusion. I heard his voice, sounding as if coming through clenched teeth, with definite malice in it:
“OK, you win. Looks like I can’t get out of this as long as you are around. Damn you!”
I heard a door open again, and the footsteps stomp down the hall and into the main gallery space.
Fred knocked and looked into the office a short while later, asking:
“How is it going?”
“Great! Your site is back up, I put a defense in place.”
“Oh, that’s excellent!”
“The attacker might shift the traffic pattern, though. I need to do a couple more things to protect against similar attacks.”
This was true – when the original malicious traffic stopped working, the attackers would often switch attack patterns. I did not think Linda Raven would do it – the software she (or someone working for her) was using so far was freely available and simple; and I guessed she wasn’t aware of many other cyber-attack tools. However, I decided to put the blocks in place for several of the more common attack patterns, just in case. And my engagement with Nordqvist Fine Art was for a week – our standard minimum consulting terms – and I was done with the basics in only about an hour; so I thought I could help make things more secure for them, even if they had only a small website most hackers won’t be interested in.
As I was doing that, my brain was running through the conversation I just heard. It seemed that my firm’s client was engaged in some unsavory dealings. I had heard him threaten an associate with exposure and ruin. That made me instinctively dislike him – since the conversation smacked of coercion and blackmail, and left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought that anyone drawing Fred Nordqvist's personal ire might be in trouble – and I could understand why someone might decide to DoS his website, an act on some level similar to throwing rocks, over and over and over again, at the person your dislike.
I was done shortly before 3 pm. All in all, the job only took a couple of hours. The consulting report still remained, but I decided I had enough of the gallery for the day and that I’d do the paperwork Friday. For the time being, I could move on to more-interesting and pleasant matters.
As I was packing up my laptop, Fred knocked on the door again.
“Hi there!”
“Hi.”
“All done for the day?”
“Yes, pretty much. Your site is up, and there are defenses in place against the common attack patterns and the publicly-available DoS tools. I will put together the report and send it to you tomorrow.”
“Great, thank you so much! This upcoming opening is very important to us, and we want people to be able to find our website. You’ve practically saved my business!” He spread his hands to indicate the gallery around us and smiled an oily smile. “I want to show you my gratitude. How about grabbing some drinks? Or an early dinner?” He winked at me.
The conversation that I overhead still on my mind, I was not comfortable with being in close proximity to him and his nefarious transactions.
“No, thank you. I already have plans”.
“Oh, that’s a pity. Please allow me to at least walk you to your car.”
I mumbled something about it being several blocks away and up the hill, but he waved away my excuse and said he’d enjoy the walk.
In the main gallery space, a couple of paintings were already on the wall, and I glanced at them on the way out. They were landscapes, very pleasant, depicting woody or maritime, with sailboats and cliffs, scenes. There was no sign of Alex, or the woman I heard laughing, or anyone else. Fred locked the gallery door and
Finally, Alex appeared to arrive at the same conclusion. I heard his voice, sounding as if coming through clenched teeth, with definite malice in it:
“OK, you win. Looks like I can’t get out of this as long as you are around. Damn you!”
I heard a door open again, and the footsteps stomp down the hall and into the main gallery space.
Fred knocked and looked into the office a short while later, asking:
“How is it going?”
“Great! Your site is back up, I put a defense in place.”
“Oh, that’s excellent!”
“The attacker might shift the traffic pattern, though. I need to do a couple more things to protect against similar attacks.”
This was true – when the original malicious traffic stopped working, the attackers would often switch attack patterns. I did not think Linda Raven would do it – the software she (or someone working for her) was using so far was freely available and simple; and I guessed she wasn’t aware of many other cyber-attack tools. However, I decided to put the blocks in place for several of the more common attack patterns, just in case. And my engagement with Nordqvist Fine Art was for a week – our standard minimum consulting terms – and I was done with the basics in only about an hour; so I thought I could help make things more secure for them, even if they had only a small website most hackers won’t be interested in.
As I was doing that, my brain was running through the conversation I just heard. It seemed that my firm’s client was engaged in some unsavory dealings. I had heard him threaten an associate with exposure and ruin. That made me instinctively dislike him – since the conversation smacked of coercion and blackmail, and left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought that anyone drawing Fred Nordqvist's personal ire might be in trouble – and I could understand why someone might decide to DoS his website, an act on some level similar to throwing rocks, over and over and over again, at the person your dislike.
I was done shortly before 3 pm. All in all, the job only took a couple of hours. The consulting report still remained, but I decided I had enough of the gallery for the day and that I’d do the paperwork Friday. For the time being, I could move on to more-interesting and pleasant matters.
As I was packing up my laptop, Fred knocked on the door again.
“Hi there!”
“Hi.”
“All done for the day?”
“Yes, pretty much. Your site is up, and there are defenses in place against the common attack patterns and the publicly-available DoS tools. I will put together the report and send it to you tomorrow.”
“Great, thank you so much! This upcoming opening is very important to us, and we want people to be able to find our website. You’ve practically saved my business!” He spread his hands to indicate the gallery around us and smiled an oily smile. “I want to show you my gratitude. How about grabbing some drinks? Or an early dinner?” He winked at me.
The conversation that I overhead still on my mind, I was not comfortable with being in close proximity to him and his nefarious transactions.
“No, thank you. I already have plans”.
“Oh, that’s a pity. Please allow me to at least walk you to your car.”
I mumbled something about it being several blocks away and up the hill, but he waved away my excuse and said he’d enjoy the walk.
In the main gallery space, a couple of paintings were already on the wall, and I glanced at them on the way out. They were landscapes, very pleasant, depicting woody or maritime, with sailboats and cliffs, scenes. There was no sign of Alex, or the woman I heard laughing, or anyone else. Fred locked the gallery door and
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