Chapter 1: Sam's Meeting at the Law Office

Wednesday May 21, 2008

Samantha Zeek, who also went by Sam or Sam K, was 30 when she walked into the office building for the most important day of her life. She arrived early in the morning, she needed preparation for her mind and appearance from the professional staff the firm employed, and some witness preparation from Joe Pope.

While her face was cute at 20 when she graduated with an advanced degree from Cal Poly, for a few years after she had a sponsor/employer with particular and demanding requirements 24/7. Then that sponsor made some bad choices in the people he chose to antagonize, and paid with his life. Sam was raped and almost killed in the attack. Without her sponsor Sam, a trained computer genius, was on the streets before she was 24.

Fortunately, she had learned much in both the classroom and the bedroom, and was resilient in using what she learned afterwards. She also had many friends. Still, burning the candle so very brightly at both ends over the span of her twenties while making her own questionable chemical choices left its mark on her. An intervention by Paulo Zero, in her mid-20s, saved her.

Now at 30 her figure was not bad, although she presented as sort of stocky and well below average by LA’s kale-fueled standards, even if she was far from fat.

When the need came, Paulo Zero selected her to aid him, then backed her with money and some very intense advice. She was still a genius who could learn at a faster rate than most. With hair styling, makeup, new clothes, and the guidance of Joe Pope, she presented herself well enough to move to the next level.

After her testimony Sam was ushered to the waiting room for the executive offices while the partners conferred with her master. She was dressed in an uncomfortable new business suit but would let a computer and her documents do the talking.

The value of the law firm came from the complex, detailed and spot-on opinions they wrote and sold to clients, often selling the same opinion to both sides of a given conflict. To that end they use two computer systems, 1) a normal network that connects to the internet, and is vulnerable to all the attacks that implies, so it is used for nothing important, and 2) a separate, physically isolated internal network, confined to the building, where all work was done and supposedly stored securely. In an attempt to steal work product from Eric Grey, Larry and his two partners had violated the internal network’s security, building a bridge connecting the two networks - and hence the outside world - using a wireless wi-fi device that was not secured because they were not smart enough about security or network devices.

Now Sam had a chance one-on-one to illustrate the great cost of that security breech to the managing partner of the law firm. She knew that when leading desperate fools into cyberspace, especially lawyers, truth was not really a requirement. Lawyers believe what they see on their computer screens, which have replaced law books in so many ways. Sam prepared some screens to make it easy for Barnes to follow, and thereby heighten his great despair.

(Here we pick up Barnes after he left his meeting where Eric Grey turned down the CTO job.)

They spent zero time on niceties, Sam pointed to the “outside” computer Barnes used for emails and little else. At her request Barnes invoked his Dark Web browser. Barnes had no legitimate use for such software on his computer, he had no idea how to use it, but when the bored low-level tech asked if he wanted “the custom secure browser - for a small fee” he automatically said yes, thinking it made him look like one of the cool kids who knew what he was doing. (An unwritten LA law: we never really leave high school, we carry it with us to the grave.)

It was a mistake which would cost him much emotional anguish.

After the browser was open Sam took the keyboard and typed in a address from memory.

As she typed, Sam mentioned that the management of the now-fired computer support firm assigned workers to shifts based not on their computer skills, but based on how well they “played the office game” with their own managers. Thus the techs who Barnes saw at the law offices most often were in fact the best entertainers, but also the worst computer people. Many were hoping to make it big in stand-up comedy so they could get out of the office and into the floodlights where they were sure they would shine bright.

Once the browser was up Sam looked puzzled, so she hit a few keys filling the screen with computer code, and then pointed to a line of code. She said that line meant that his private browsing history was exported “every 78 seconds,” to another computer via the Dark Web.

Barnes had never browsed the Dark Web, so he insisted there could be no history. She said the computer had other ideas.

Sam opened up a another window on the screen. There was the history in black and white with green and red accents. The top of the page said “Browsing history - by Frequency - David Barnes, Esquire, Los Angeles.” Below were the titles of the dark web sites Barnes had supposedly visited, a long list of titles that were too disgusting to speak out loud. After a period while Barnes panicked and ranted and claimed he was innocent, Sam opined that the previous support firm’s now-fired daytime techs and part-time stand-up comedians had decided to “test” the dark-web browsing software using his computer to look at sites that appealed to their worst perversions, which is why there was a disgraceful history to export. It was a way to kill time and get their jollies on the job. Naturally they logged in for their fun and games as “David Barnes” because they could. Computers are trained to trust username and password, it is how they recognize people.

Barnes knew instantly that he could be blackmailed by anybody with that list - which was exported every 78 seconds! Every computer in the building could be configured that same way, because it was a problem with the previous tech-support jokers who worked on ALL the computers. These minions of chaos felt no loyalty to the company that paid their salaries and instead always chose the path of greatest self-amusement. It was what comedians did.

After a few more keystrokes Sam said a Dark Web history with the designator “David Barnes, Esquire, Los Angeles” attached went to Pune, India and took up residence on a private server there.

Barnes recalled a guy who looked like a desi (a person of Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi birth or ancestry) on the tech installation team - a quiet guy who rarely spoke but delivered some devastating quips.

Sam knew the guy. “Last week he got picked up as a writer on the pilot for a TV comedy, I think it was a Mindy proposal. He is a step closer to professional stand-up. You know, lots of smart, rich geeks from Eastern Europe live in Pune,” Sam said, while keeping her frosty, professional demeanor. “I wonder how they get so rich?”

Less than an hour ago Barnes had heard one of his trusted lawyers, Eric Grey, talk about the internet-based dangers. “It is a dangerous world, with the internet you must know that Compton and Watts,” (the ultimate threat in their minds) “and all of China, are right outside the door.” Suddenly the vulnerability and very personal risk terrified Barnes.

Sam calmly disabled the malware, it only took a moment, but she claimed it was a temporary fix at best, that the SOB who wrote it was clever. She pointed to another line of code and said it was tied to the computers clock with a timer and would reinstall “from the dead” in 49 hours, like a slow zombie. “The asshole programmer even named the program ‘Zombie’ which is obvious and bold, the arrogant prick.”

Barnes saw the phrase “Run Zombie” on the screen where Sam pointed.

Sam said that digging “Zombie” out of the “root level” would take some time and was a delicate job; if a mistake was made it was probably booby-trapped with something much worse, she saw another reference to “Vudoo Revenge” that looked nasty; Sam thought the best-case scenario was a virus wiping the all the computers on both networks.

In the name of security Barnes knew there was no backup for the secure network of computers, so he had a severe panic attack.

When Barnes could focus again Sam returned to the browser window Barnes had opened, finished typing the address she started, and opened up a Dark Web “Pirate Auction” site she knew from memory. There was more crushing bad news. A quick search revealed the username and some of the password of former law firm CTO Chet Chester, one of the now-fired partners. The “Network Available For Plunder” was not identified, but a general physical location (accurate) was given, along with the description for some sample documents: briefs that should have been locked down on the internal network were now shown as free samples on the dark web, in plain view for anyone with knowledge to peruse.

She mentioned that, since Chet was now out of a job, he might have sold his password to a pirate for a price, or it could be stolen, there was really no way to tell. Chet did not have the skill to do anything else, like setting up a computer bomb or a network virus.

Barnes recognized one sample document as authentic, he had reviewed it yesterday during final proofing before delivery to the client. It would be a $200,000 sale when delivered Monday, and here it was listed as a free sample! If he knew how to pray, he would have prayed that his client did not see this. Things seemed much worse than he imagined was possible. That was a problem with computers.

The pirate site took only blind bids ($ amounts were not listed) for exclusive rights to plunder the network (or so these trusty pirates claimed). Sam showed Barnes there were 15 bids on file for the auction which ended in about 20 hours, at Noon tomorrow. Two more bids came in as Barnes watched in horror. Most bidder’s names were gibberish, consisting of 15 to 30 seemingly random letters and numbers. However, Barnes did notice a fragment of a last name that looked familiar. It suggested a man named Goldstein, his former brother-in-law, a lawyer with computer skills, who hated Barnes profoundly.

It was matter of public record that David Barnes was married to a girl named Madison who had a sister named Ashley who was married to Goldstein, who was a computer enthusiast and a lawyer. Goldstein was a better lover than he was a lawyer, but his income was less than the sisters thought they deserved to spend. The day Barnes and his bride returned from their honeymoon, there was a family dinner. At the table Ashley and her husband casually informed Barnes that they had been enjoying Madison, including quickies before and after the ceremony on the wedding day. “I was dripping Goldstein’s stuff during the service,” Madison added with a smile. Then Madison casually mentioned that she preferred the couple to her own husband as a sexual companions, although she liked how Barnes earned more dollars “for them.” Now that the honeymoon was over Madison reminded Barnes that Ashley was pregnant, so in addition to returning to their old schedule Madison wondered if she could “pick up some of the overnight slack” for her sister. Since Ashley was less available, and Goldstein did not want to cut back, they all figured Madison could pick up a couple nights a week for now. They could do it at his house, if Barnes preferred. He could watch (but not touch) or work more hours those nights, at his choice.

Barnes was more than generous, he left the dinner and the next morning divorced his wife, freeing her up 100% with the associated lack of income. There was a prenup, but Goldstein moved to break it. Many hearings and lawsuits followed. Barnes won them all but it cost him a great deal of time, his ex-brother-in-law really was a terrible lawyer but he had few clients so he had plenty of time to make up claims. Goldstein and Barnes hated each other.