Invasion of Privacy: A Deep Web Thriller #1 (Deep Web Thriller Series) Read Free Page A
Author: Ian Sutherland
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new restaurant concept a few minutes before, was strangely silent. He clasped his hands together.
“Welland, what’s going on?”
“It’s as Chu said.”
“It’s called corporate espionage, Mr Lamont.” Brody said, sitting back down. “And your company is guilty of it right now. The last time I heard about a case like this was in the hotel industry. Hilton settled out of court with Starwood for $85 million.”
Lamont blew his top, spittle flying everywhere. “What the fuck is going on here?”
All the executives silently studied their hands.
“The funny thing about the presentation you’ve just heard from Mr Welland is that I’ve already read about an exceptionally similar concept for a grille-based barbecue restaurant chain. But in the documents I read there was one significant difference. Your number one competitor’s logo was all over them. Would you like to know where I found these documents, Mr Lamont?”
“Go on . . .” said Lamont tightly.
“As I’ve already mentioned, your security defences are so weak I was able to give myself access to each of your email accounts and —”
“You’ve read our private email?” shrieked Fielding.
“Well, yes. Fascinating reading. But the most interesting were the documents I found in Mr Welland’s account.”
“I can explain . . .” pleaded Welland.
As Welland attempted to defend himself under constant barrage from his CEO, Head of Legal and most of the other board members, Brody zoned out and read the email that had popped into his inbox earlier. It was from one of the members of CrackerHack entitled, Favour Required - Will Reciprocate . CrackerHack was an online forum used by computer hackers from all over the world to brag about their exploits and swap ideas, tips and techniques. Brody spent much of his spare time on there. The message was from a member called Crooner42, a username that Brody vaguely recognised from some of the discussion threads. Crooner42 had blasted it out to all of the subscribers to a forum entitled ‘Advanced Pentest Techniques’. In it, Crooner42 explained that he had built an experimental live video-feed based Internet site that was likely to attract unwarranted attention from law agencies around the world. He’d hardened it as best he could, but needed someone deeply skilled to pentest it thoroughly, to ensure it couldn’t be broken into or brought down.
Brody wondered what the ‘experimental’ site was for.
Crooner42 requested that members of the forum declare their interest in carrying out the work. He would then choose from one of the respondents. Brody expected that Crooner42 would select someone based on reviewing his historical activity on the site. Brody knew he would be a strong candidate and, with the Atlas Brands job now pretty much finished, was sorely tempted to offer his services. In return, Crooner42 was bartering a week’s worth of his own coding services. That could always come in handy. It wasn’t a bad trade for what would probably amount to just a few hours of work.
“Do you have proof of this allegation, Mr Taylor?”
Brody looked up. Lamont had asked the question.
“Well, yes of course. Give me a second.”
Brody opened a new browser tab and brought up an email he had drafted earlier. He pressed send.
“I’ve just forwarded you all some emails sent to Mr Welland from a Janis Taplow. I believe she’s a relatively new employee within the marketing organisation. Where did you hire Janis from, Tim?”
Tim Welland replied flatly. He named their number one competitor.
“The email contains the whole launch campaign for their grille restaurant concept, presentations, financial plans, target countries, demographics, everything. And, if you open up the main presentation, you’ll notice that even the concept art is very similar. In fact, the only main difference is the name of the restaurant chain.”
“Got it,” said Lubber, Chu and Fielding in concert, from three
“Welland, what’s going on?”
“It’s as Chu said.”
“It’s called corporate espionage, Mr Lamont.” Brody said, sitting back down. “And your company is guilty of it right now. The last time I heard about a case like this was in the hotel industry. Hilton settled out of court with Starwood for $85 million.”
Lamont blew his top, spittle flying everywhere. “What the fuck is going on here?”
All the executives silently studied their hands.
“The funny thing about the presentation you’ve just heard from Mr Welland is that I’ve already read about an exceptionally similar concept for a grille-based barbecue restaurant chain. But in the documents I read there was one significant difference. Your number one competitor’s logo was all over them. Would you like to know where I found these documents, Mr Lamont?”
“Go on . . .” said Lamont tightly.
“As I’ve already mentioned, your security defences are so weak I was able to give myself access to each of your email accounts and —”
“You’ve read our private email?” shrieked Fielding.
“Well, yes. Fascinating reading. But the most interesting were the documents I found in Mr Welland’s account.”
“I can explain . . .” pleaded Welland.
As Welland attempted to defend himself under constant barrage from his CEO, Head of Legal and most of the other board members, Brody zoned out and read the email that had popped into his inbox earlier. It was from one of the members of CrackerHack entitled, Favour Required - Will Reciprocate . CrackerHack was an online forum used by computer hackers from all over the world to brag about their exploits and swap ideas, tips and techniques. Brody spent much of his spare time on there. The message was from a member called Crooner42, a username that Brody vaguely recognised from some of the discussion threads. Crooner42 had blasted it out to all of the subscribers to a forum entitled ‘Advanced Pentest Techniques’. In it, Crooner42 explained that he had built an experimental live video-feed based Internet site that was likely to attract unwarranted attention from law agencies around the world. He’d hardened it as best he could, but needed someone deeply skilled to pentest it thoroughly, to ensure it couldn’t be broken into or brought down.
Brody wondered what the ‘experimental’ site was for.
Crooner42 requested that members of the forum declare their interest in carrying out the work. He would then choose from one of the respondents. Brody expected that Crooner42 would select someone based on reviewing his historical activity on the site. Brody knew he would be a strong candidate and, with the Atlas Brands job now pretty much finished, was sorely tempted to offer his services. In return, Crooner42 was bartering a week’s worth of his own coding services. That could always come in handy. It wasn’t a bad trade for what would probably amount to just a few hours of work.
“Do you have proof of this allegation, Mr Taylor?”
Brody looked up. Lamont had asked the question.
“Well, yes of course. Give me a second.”
Brody opened a new browser tab and brought up an email he had drafted earlier. He pressed send.
“I’ve just forwarded you all some emails sent to Mr Welland from a Janis Taplow. I believe she’s a relatively new employee within the marketing organisation. Where did you hire Janis from, Tim?”
Tim Welland replied flatly. He named their number one competitor.
“The email contains the whole launch campaign for their grille restaurant concept, presentations, financial plans, target countries, demographics, everything. And, if you open up the main presentation, you’ll notice that even the concept art is very similar. In fact, the only main difference is the name of the restaurant chain.”
“Got it,” said Lubber, Chu and Fielding in concert, from three