Read Online Unholy Code (A Lana Elkins Thriller) by Thomas Waite - Free Book Online
Authors: Thomas Waite
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be a good candidate for that. We’ll do what we can.”
In Lana’s experience, that meant Don would be locked and loaded by nightfall.
“Tell me about the security detail you’re arranging for us.”
“Three rotating one-man shifts per day.”
“A little on the thin side with Emma, Don, and me coming and going,” Lana said.
“I agree, but getting any coverage is really tough with our domestic challenges. The threats to just about everyone on Capitol Hill are increasing almost every day. And the White House?” He waved his hand as if there were no telling the level of hatred directed toward the incumbent.
“Don’s thinking we should get a Malinois.”
“I can help you with that.” Holmes was smiling for the first time in days. He suddenly looked years younger. “I had one myself for eleven years. His name was Bingo, like the old song. My son raises them up near Hagerstown. Superb dogs.”
“We’re going to need an adult for guard duty.”
“He trains them for that if they don’t go to the military. Or for special security details if clients have unusual requirements. He may have one suitable for family work. I’ll check.”
“So what did you want see me about?” Lana asked.
“Steel Fist.”
“Of course … ”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m not buying that any one person is capable of what he’s done. The release of all those files on citizens was not supposed to be possible. You told me so yourself.”
At Bob’s request, Jeff Jensen had tried to hack NSA’s domestic surveillance files last month, though neither Lana nor Jeff had any idea of the extreme nature of their contents. He’d failed to make a dent in the agency’s deeply layered encryptions. It irked her to no end that another hacker had succeeded.
“So all that private data was real?” Lana said. “Not some stab at propaganda?”
“They were old. They were supposed to have been destroyed. Now members in both houses are demanding to know why we ignored the post-Snowden reforms.”
“That’s not all they’re demanding.” She showed him the subpoena from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“I see we’re scheduled for the same day. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I warned you. We’re going to want you to push back hard with testimony about the need for even stronger national anti-terrorism standards. The agency’s legal counsel will prep you. Oysterton’s a prime example of that, but we’re going to have to fight this battle with facts, not anecdotes, which is what they’re doing with stories about good old boys holding down the fort. That’s what they’re going to hit you with. Me, too. We’ll coordinate our testimony.” He handed her back the subpoena. “I want you to try to attack our files again. Use that Bortnik woman instead of Jensen this time.”
“Really?”
“A fresh perspective. Just try it. Indulge me. See where Bortnik’s forensics take you.”
She realized he wanted Galina to search for the footprints of the hacker who’d succeeded where Jeff had failed. If Galina could find the hacker’s trail, it might reveal the weaknesses in the NSA’s network that had led to the release of those embarrassing documents—and ultimately lead to the identity of the cyber culprit.
Bob lowered his voice. “I suspect we’ve got a mole in this operation.” He looked out his window at the wide expanse of NSA facilities. “There are thousands of possibilities here. A mole’s the only way we could have been penetrated.”
“A Snowden?”
“No, someone who’s probably still working on the inside, passing it along to an openly declared enemy.”
“Well, Galina’s very good. She’s excellent, in fact, at detecting patterns in metadata.”
“Meantime, be very careful out there, Lana.” Bob had returned his gaze to the window. “You’re an open target now.”
“When do I meet the security detail?”
“Anything else you want to talk about
In Lana’s experience, that meant Don would be locked and loaded by nightfall.
“Tell me about the security detail you’re arranging for us.”
“Three rotating one-man shifts per day.”
“A little on the thin side with Emma, Don, and me coming and going,” Lana said.
“I agree, but getting any coverage is really tough with our domestic challenges. The threats to just about everyone on Capitol Hill are increasing almost every day. And the White House?” He waved his hand as if there were no telling the level of hatred directed toward the incumbent.
“Don’s thinking we should get a Malinois.”
“I can help you with that.” Holmes was smiling for the first time in days. He suddenly looked years younger. “I had one myself for eleven years. His name was Bingo, like the old song. My son raises them up near Hagerstown. Superb dogs.”
“We’re going to need an adult for guard duty.”
“He trains them for that if they don’t go to the military. Or for special security details if clients have unusual requirements. He may have one suitable for family work. I’ll check.”
“So what did you want see me about?” Lana asked.
“Steel Fist.”
“Of course … ”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m not buying that any one person is capable of what he’s done. The release of all those files on citizens was not supposed to be possible. You told me so yourself.”
At Bob’s request, Jeff Jensen had tried to hack NSA’s domestic surveillance files last month, though neither Lana nor Jeff had any idea of the extreme nature of their contents. He’d failed to make a dent in the agency’s deeply layered encryptions. It irked her to no end that another hacker had succeeded.
“So all that private data was real?” Lana said. “Not some stab at propaganda?”
“They were old. They were supposed to have been destroyed. Now members in both houses are demanding to know why we ignored the post-Snowden reforms.”
“That’s not all they’re demanding.” She showed him the subpoena from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“I see we’re scheduled for the same day. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I warned you. We’re going to want you to push back hard with testimony about the need for even stronger national anti-terrorism standards. The agency’s legal counsel will prep you. Oysterton’s a prime example of that, but we’re going to have to fight this battle with facts, not anecdotes, which is what they’re doing with stories about good old boys holding down the fort. That’s what they’re going to hit you with. Me, too. We’ll coordinate our testimony.” He handed her back the subpoena. “I want you to try to attack our files again. Use that Bortnik woman instead of Jensen this time.”
“Really?”
“A fresh perspective. Just try it. Indulge me. See where Bortnik’s forensics take you.”
She realized he wanted Galina to search for the footprints of the hacker who’d succeeded where Jeff had failed. If Galina could find the hacker’s trail, it might reveal the weaknesses in the NSA’s network that had led to the release of those embarrassing documents—and ultimately lead to the identity of the cyber culprit.
Bob lowered his voice. “I suspect we’ve got a mole in this operation.” He looked out his window at the wide expanse of NSA facilities. “There are thousands of possibilities here. A mole’s the only way we could have been penetrated.”
“A Snowden?”
“No, someone who’s probably still working on the inside, passing it along to an openly declared enemy.”
“Well, Galina’s very good. She’s excellent, in fact, at detecting patterns in metadata.”
“Meantime, be very careful out there, Lana.” Bob had returned his gaze to the window. “You’re an open target now.”
“When do I meet the security detail?”
“Anything else you want to talk about
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