Chapter 902 The Argument


    "I can make this thing hack-proof. I wrote a batch file that runs all these little programs. They do things


    like erasing your web history, identifying keyloggers, disabling ''Run as Administrator'' vulnerabilities,


    removing malware and adware that your antivirus missed, and give you real-time protection. Rootkits,


    viruses, worms, spyware, adware, trojans—all of that will be a thing of the past. It even detects weird


    it''s all fake. I also got ahold of something called HIPS which does a lot of the heavy lifting."


    "It can catch hacker attacks?" asked Evelyn.


    "Of course. As well as everything else I mentioned. The main problem for a lot of these more traditional


    antivirus programs is that the virus is constantly changing. But heuristic analysis as well as the virtual


    sandbox andwork monitoring takes care of all that. HIPS is a lifesaver."


    "Where did you get that?"


    "I... it doesn''t matter. Grab a shower first. I''ll help you install it." He saw the leery look on her face. "You


    don''t want me to see what''s on yourputer? You hiding something?" He was teasing her on


    purpose.


    Evelyn shook her head. After a while, she went to fetch theptop. "Be careful. I got a virus pretty


    quick. There''s a lot of important stuff on there."


    Sheffield nodded and took out an item from his pocket. It looked like a USB sh drive, but that wasn''t


    quite what it was. It had a small box at the end of it. He plugged it into one of the USB slots, and it lit


    up.


    Despite her confusion, Evelyn left for the bathroom.


    The moment he opened Evelyn''sptop, he felt something was wrong. He tried to call her over, but to


    his surprise, she was already in the bathroom. He used some of his tools to go snooping and found


    someone had already hacked in.


    The hacker was good. He left few traces. Evelyn wouldn''t have even known the guy was there.


    But Sheffield knew what was going on as he ran his batch file. Someone had made an iing


    connection, and that wasn''t in her trusted connections list.


    He opened his portable drive and brought out an app to do Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), and in


    particr, Encrypted Traffic Intelligence. That would do the busy work, and separate connections into


    different categories—he could even find someone using a VPN. He also threw up a stealth app to mask


    his own activity, in case the hacker decided toe after him directly.


    When Evelyn emerged from the bathroom, he asked, "Who used yourputer today?"


    Evelyn walked over and answered, "No one. I''ve been keeping it at home all the time. What''s wrong?"


    His words made her nervous, because thatputer was too important to bepromised.


    "Yourputer was hacked before I installed that security suite. Someone has hacked into your


    encrypted data."


    Evelyn looked at him and asked, "How do you know someone saw it?"


    He was worried that if he used too much jargon she might not understand. Then he exined it briefly.


    "I simply looked at the most recent files and who essed them. It wasn''t you."


    "No way! No one ever touched myputer! Except you... "


    "Yes," Sheffield said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "When they broke in, they must cloned an


    authorized ount so theputer thought it was you. The data was decrypted, and they had a look


    at the files."


    Unable to stay calm anymore, she told him, "I''m going to bid using those files in a few days. If the files


    are stolen and released in advance, it''ll hurt ZL Group a lot." The loss of money didn''t matter. The thing


    was, hundreds of employees had been working overtime for hundreds of nights for this bid!


    He paused, pondered for a while, and said, "What''s done is done. Let''s try and fix it."


    "How?" Evelyn couldn''t keep herposure anymore.


    After a while, he said decisively, "I''m installing everything on yourputer now. Meanwhile, you can


    Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    release the bid earlier than them or work up a new one. That way your efforts won''t be in vain and you


    can release the bid on time."


    He started to install the software he brought.


    Evelyn felt frustrated. "Easier said than done. The bid can''t be released in advance. And we can''t bang


    out another in one or two nights. Even if we release it now, our business partner won''t be able to finish


    the designs in such a short time. So that n is a no-go."


    "What''s the bid for? "


    Evelyn wasn''t nning to tell him, but since he asked, after taking a look at him, she finally chose to tell


    him the truth. "An online game. Ourpany has spent hundreds of millions of dors on the weapon


    designs. Character clothing and tools were designed by our employees."


    "Weapon designs? What did you spend more on? Clothing or weapon designs?"


    "Weapon designs!" This was a serious matter. ''Maybe I should get ahold of Dad, '' she thought.


    However, Sheffield put his hand on her phone to stop her. "Contact the designer first. Convince him to


    announce he has a deal with ZL Group. Do it now! We have to take every precaution!"


    Annoyed, Evelyn said, "Yeah, but it''s not that easy. The designer is pretty mysterious, keeping


    everything hush-hush. Although the designer holds the copyright, I''m not sure if we can get in touch


    with him."


    "What''s his name?" he asked after a moment''s contemtion.


    "I don''t know!" It was true. Someone else was in charge of the contracts. She decided to ask Carlos


    about it first.


    But as soon as she turned on her screen, he put a hand over it. Heedless of her impatience, Sheffield


    said firmly, "Contact the designer now."


    "Could you please stop thinking about the weapon designs? I need to call Dad now. Being a doctor is


    what you should focus on. Business is not as simple as you think, okay?"


    Unexpectedly, Sheffield insisted, "Make some calls. Figure it out! Your business depends on it!"


    Evelyn felt he was driving her crazy. "I''m worried and in a bad mood. Let''s not fight, please. Maybe you


    should go."


    Sheffield was silent for a while. Then he suggested, "The other way is to find the hacker and make him


    admit he was hired to hack into your systems to steal information."


    "And how am I supposed to do that? Ask nicely? I don''t think the guy who did it is going toe


    forward that easily. I''ve heard that the best hacker in the world is Star Anise. I don''t know any hackers


    now, not to mention that guy." She didn''t know much about IT. Right now, she was anxious, and the


    only thing she could think to do was ask Carlos for help.


    Sheffield offered, "Let me help you..."


    "Thanks, but no thanks. It''s hard to get in touch with Star Anise. Even if we find him, there won''t be


    enough time to track down the guy who hacked me. And who says he''ll do it? He''ll probably want more


    money. Just stop for bit, okay? I need to think."


    Taking a deep look at the woman who waspletely impatient, he asked, "Don''t you trust me?"


    Evelyn smiled wryly. "I want to, but how? You are good with a scalpel, car racing, and ying the


    piano. But what does all that have to do with this?"


    Sheffield didn''t want to argue anymore. "Everything''s installed. I''ll take off, then. Good night." As soon


    as he finished his words, he put down herputer and left with his coat.


    Evelyn was surprised.


    When everything was quiet in the apartment, Evelyn gradually calmed down. She regretted getting


    angry with him again.


    She looked at the screen of herputer and called Carlos. "Dad, myputer was hacked."