Short Story
Viktoria’s secret
Nick Samuel, head of HR at Topfoods plc, looked nervously around the room at the other company directors. The topic of cybersecurity was on the agenda, and he knew — because the IT consultant he’d hired, Viktoria Orlova, had told him — that the company’s IT security was pathetic. But would the chairman, Jerome Jones, be willing to spend the money necessary to fix it?
***
“Topfoods is like a glasshouse with a monkey holding a machine gun inside it,” Viktoria had warned him a couple of weeks earlier. “Any hacker could blow Topfoods to pieces in a couple of minutes.”
Viktoria’s tendency to speak her mind did not make her a lot of friends. Her dark-blue eyes had a cool, analytical look that gave people the impression she was scanning them for character defects.
“What could a hacker do to us?” Nick had asked. Viktoria sighed. “How to explain cybersecurity to people who couldn’t tell the difference between a phishing attack and an SQL injection attack,” she wondered.
“They could remove money from your bank accounts. Mess up your logistics. Publish embarrassing emails from your CEO.”
“Why would anyone do something like that?” asked Nick.
“For fun! And let’s face it, your chairman — what do you call him, JJ, right? — he’s a bit of a joke, isn’t he? Cyber-punks love taking down egoistical CEOS.”
“But how much would it cost us to secure our systems?” asked Nick, ignoring Viktoria’s view of JJ.
“You need better firewalls, email encryption software, an operating system upgrade, regular network scans, longer passwords and cybersecurity training for everybody. To fix everything and get you properly protected, two per cent of last year’s turnover is a good estimate. After that, about one per cent of turnover every year.”
“I’m not sure we could get that much approved,” he said. Viktoria shrugged her shoulders.
“Whatever. It’s not my company, Nick. I’m just your cyber cleaning lady.” She paused to wipe the screen of her computer with disinfectant, rather theatrically. “This, in case you didn’t know, is not how you deal with computer viruses.”
“All right,” said Nick. “I understand. Perhaps we can find a way to convince JJ and the directors. But you’ll need to help me…”
***
After Nick had finished explaining the problems and how much it would cost to fix them, the other board members exchanged doubtful looks.
JJ leaned back in his chair and said, “Nick, have you lost your mind? Your consultant Veronica ‘Orlova-the-place’ has just given you a shopping list of services she wants you to buy!”
“Viktoria, not Veronica, JJ,” said Nick, ignoring the laughter from the rest of the board. “I thought you might feel that way, so we decided to do a little demonstration.”
Viktoria walked in, sat down next to Nick and connected her laptop to a large screen on the wall.
“Last week, I hired an ethical hacker friend of mine to attack Topfoods in three places,” she told them. “He’s going to show you what he can do to your company. First of all, let’s see what’s happening to your money.”
“TOPFOODS IS LIKE A GLASSHOUSE WITH A MONKEY HOLDING A MACHINE GUN INSIDE IT”
“There’s nothing wrong with the accounts,” said Eileen, the company accountant, defensively. “I’d have noticed.”
“Oh, what’s happening here?” said Viktoria. The screen showed one of the company’s bank accounts. “I think a bank transfer is about to start.”
“Can’t happen,” said Eileen. “Only I can authorize a…” she stopped as the figures on the bank account suddenly started to move downwards.
“Oops,” said Viktoria. “Looks like £150,000 has just gone for a walk. I wonder where? You had better see if you can find it, Eileen!”
Eileen made a small noise and rushed off.
“Now,” continued Viktoria, “what about this?” The screen changed to show a map of the UK with red dots moving across it.
“Here are Topfoods’ lorries taking shipments all over the country,” she said. “Now, this one,” a circle appeared around one of the dots, “is taking Christmas puddings to London. Destination: Harrods in Knightsbridge. Right, Ted?”
“Yes,” answered the head of logistics nervously. “How do you know that?”
Viktoria ignored him. “Oh, dear,” she said. “It looks like it’s changed its mind.” The dot started moving in the opposite direction. “Interesting! Your driver has just received a new address — he’s delivering them to me instead. Yummy!”
“Please,” begged Ted. “Please stop it! That’s our first major order for Harrods.”
“Sorry, Ted. It’s the hacker, not me. Try giving your driver a call. Now, Mr Jones, let’s see what a hacker could find on your computer…”
“How’s she doing this?” JJ whispered to Nick.
“It's not Viktoria, JJ,” Nick replied. “Last week, you clicked on a link that said you’d won a cruise. The link took you to a website set up by our hacker that installed a keylogger on your computer to track your keystrokes. The hacker now knows all your passwords.”
“Ah!” said Viktoria. The screen showed JJ’S computer desktop with all its folders.
“Let’s see: ‘Strategy’, ‘Performance Reviews’. But what’s inside this little sub-folder with pictures?”
There was a sudden movement under the table, and the screen went blank.
“Right,” said a red-faced JJ as he stood up, holding a cable in his hand. “You two. In my office. Now!”
***
“It’s a pity you’re leaving us,” said Nick to Viktoria later as she was signing a very detailed nondisclosure agreement. “I was hoping you’d join us full-time. Somebody has to implement all those changes JJ has just agreed to.”
“I prefer being freelance,” she replied. “But I’ll tell my hacker friend to contact you about the job.” “Thanks. Anyway, I liked working with you.”
“Me, too. But, you know, …whatever.”
She shook his hand, then looked him in the face. “I have to tell you something,” she said. “When you first hired me, I wanted to find out what sort of person you were, so I hacked into your laptop.”
Nick felt his face going red.
“Don’t worry; I can keep your secret,” she said. Nick’s face went even redder.
“But I just wanted to say: I think you write very good poetry. You should try and get it published someday.” Then she left.
THERE WAS A SUDDEN MOVEMENT UNDER THE TABLE, AND THE SCREEN WENT BLANK