Read Online The Phoenix Variant: The Fifth Column 3 by Nathan M Farrugia - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Nathan M Farrugia
Ads: Link
this,’ Aviary said, pressing the home button. ‘But you’ll want it.’
The screen warmed to show the usual rows of icons. It looked just like any iPhone screen. With her finger, Aviary pulled up the control center. The icons and labels looked somewhat more sinister.
‘This first button toggles hijack mode,’ Aviary said. ‘Try it.’
Sophia knew it was just easier to get this over with so she pressed the circle that had the little wifi icon inside. The circle lit up and underneath it said Searching …
Aviary tapped and a full list jumped out.
The Promised LAN
blizzard
Wi-Fi 4G-58A1
Michael’s iPhone +1 (940) 603-8 …
NetComm Wireless
00:18:0f:c5 …
Pennsylvania 6-5000
BlackBerry 9700 +1 (267) 210-4 …
Jessica Hyde +1 (212) 294-1 …
attwifi
Abraham Linksys
The LANnister Always Surfs The Net
‘You can pick one manually if you like.’ Aviary was grinning again. ‘Someone’s phone. It can pick up anyone who has wifi—Wireless LAN—or Bluetooth turned on, which, let’s face it, that’s pretty much everyone.’
Before Sophia could choose, Aviary picked one herself, Jessica Hyde’s phone. The list disappeared and the word Searching changed to Connecting . A few seconds passed and it said, Connected , highlighted in pale green.
Aviary swiped the control center away and tapped another icon that Sophia didn’t recognize. A browser window popped up with a Google search. ‘Secure browser. You’ve—’
‘Hijacked her phone,’ Sophia said. ‘And she doesn’t know?’
‘No clue.’
Sophia felt her eyebrows rise just enough that Aviary would’ve noticed. Without saying a word, she’d admitted she was impressed.
‘Once it has connected to one network, it will connect to two others in the background—usually in opposite directions if possible. Covers you if you have to move off quickly. Think of your connections like spider legs. That way, your connection will never drop,’ Aviary said. ‘And! It measures the fastest of the three connections and automatically preferences the fastest one! And if they are all slow it uses multiple connections. Does a small transfer and latency test. Saves you paying phone bills too.’
Sophia nodded. ‘That’s actually really good,’ she said. ‘But what if there are no other phones around? What if I’m out in the mountains?’
Aviary swallowed. ‘Well, it won’t connect automatically but—’ She swiped on the control panel again and hit the icon next to it, an antenna icon. ‘It can connect to cell phone towers and use false IMEI numbers. I have it on a five-minute changeover but you can reset it manually if you suspect you’re being tracked by someone who is trying to kill you and stuff. But this really should only be used as a last resort. And actually especially not in a remote region because—’
‘I’d be triangulated in a heartbeat,’ Sophia said. ‘I know, I used to track people for a living.’
‘Yeah, the old-fashioned kind, gotcha. But they’d have to notice the new IMEI numbers that keep popping up, which is like counting hats in a crowd. Not easy. So GPS is safe but it’s not accurate since it uses the coordinates of the phone or modem you’re hijacking. Unless you connect to a cell phone tower, of course. And it goes without saying not to log into a website that connects to you in some way. Then you’re just waving a big red flag at the Fifth Column. Unless you plan to high tail it out of there after they come hunting.’
Aviary turned the phone up, revealing a second headphones jack. ‘Don’t stick your earphones in there. It’s a hidden wide-angle lens. You can take photos or record covertly. And my camera app even records from three angles at once, so you can cover yourself in every direction by looking at your screen as you walk—or run the feed to someone else like me, or someone using one of these phones.’
Aviary hadn’t drawn breath for that entire explanation and inhaled rather suddenly.
‘OK,’
The screen warmed to show the usual rows of icons. It looked just like any iPhone screen. With her finger, Aviary pulled up the control center. The icons and labels looked somewhat more sinister.
‘This first button toggles hijack mode,’ Aviary said. ‘Try it.’
Sophia knew it was just easier to get this over with so she pressed the circle that had the little wifi icon inside. The circle lit up and underneath it said Searching …
Aviary tapped and a full list jumped out.
The Promised LAN
blizzard
Wi-Fi 4G-58A1
Michael’s iPhone +1 (940) 603-8 …
NetComm Wireless
00:18:0f:c5 …
Pennsylvania 6-5000
BlackBerry 9700 +1 (267) 210-4 …
Jessica Hyde +1 (212) 294-1 …
attwifi
Abraham Linksys
The LANnister Always Surfs The Net
‘You can pick one manually if you like.’ Aviary was grinning again. ‘Someone’s phone. It can pick up anyone who has wifi—Wireless LAN—or Bluetooth turned on, which, let’s face it, that’s pretty much everyone.’
Before Sophia could choose, Aviary picked one herself, Jessica Hyde’s phone. The list disappeared and the word Searching changed to Connecting . A few seconds passed and it said, Connected , highlighted in pale green.
Aviary swiped the control center away and tapped another icon that Sophia didn’t recognize. A browser window popped up with a Google search. ‘Secure browser. You’ve—’
‘Hijacked her phone,’ Sophia said. ‘And she doesn’t know?’
‘No clue.’
Sophia felt her eyebrows rise just enough that Aviary would’ve noticed. Without saying a word, she’d admitted she was impressed.
‘Once it has connected to one network, it will connect to two others in the background—usually in opposite directions if possible. Covers you if you have to move off quickly. Think of your connections like spider legs. That way, your connection will never drop,’ Aviary said. ‘And! It measures the fastest of the three connections and automatically preferences the fastest one! And if they are all slow it uses multiple connections. Does a small transfer and latency test. Saves you paying phone bills too.’
Sophia nodded. ‘That’s actually really good,’ she said. ‘But what if there are no other phones around? What if I’m out in the mountains?’
Aviary swallowed. ‘Well, it won’t connect automatically but—’ She swiped on the control panel again and hit the icon next to it, an antenna icon. ‘It can connect to cell phone towers and use false IMEI numbers. I have it on a five-minute changeover but you can reset it manually if you suspect you’re being tracked by someone who is trying to kill you and stuff. But this really should only be used as a last resort. And actually especially not in a remote region because—’
‘I’d be triangulated in a heartbeat,’ Sophia said. ‘I know, I used to track people for a living.’
‘Yeah, the old-fashioned kind, gotcha. But they’d have to notice the new IMEI numbers that keep popping up, which is like counting hats in a crowd. Not easy. So GPS is safe but it’s not accurate since it uses the coordinates of the phone or modem you’re hijacking. Unless you connect to a cell phone tower, of course. And it goes without saying not to log into a website that connects to you in some way. Then you’re just waving a big red flag at the Fifth Column. Unless you plan to high tail it out of there after they come hunting.’
Aviary turned the phone up, revealing a second headphones jack. ‘Don’t stick your earphones in there. It’s a hidden wide-angle lens. You can take photos or record covertly. And my camera app even records from three angles at once, so you can cover yourself in every direction by looking at your screen as you walk—or run the feed to someone else like me, or someone using one of these phones.’
Aviary hadn’t drawn breath for that entire explanation and inhaled rather suddenly.
‘OK,’
Similar Books
