Read Online Zero Day: A Novel by Mark Russinovich, Howard Schmidt - Free Book Online Page B

I’ll be very grateful.” She drained her coffee, then yawned. “Have you noticed these marathon sessions are getting tougher and tougher, the older you get?”
    “Give me a break, Sue. You’re a kid compared to me.”
    Sue smiled. “It’s been good talking, though. If I get canned, I might come looking for a job.”
    “It won’t come to that, I’m sure,” he said, though it wouldn’t surprise him if she ended up being the scapegoat. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen that happen.
    “I might come looking anyway.” With that, she gave him a warm smile and left for the IT Center, her short hair bouncing, lean hips swinging.
    *   *   *
    Back at the office a bit later, Jeff asked if she’d found anything useful.
    “Almost nothing.” She grimaced. “I examined the logs. As I’m sure you know, we’re hit thousands of times a day by malware looking for a vulnerability. Some of it’s generated by a living hacker, but most are by automated worms, trolling the Internet. It was a bit daunting, realizing how under assault we constantly are, but I didn’t see any failure in our protection. This obviously got through, but I can’t see when or how. Wish I could be more help.”
    “And Harold?”
    “I’ve had him reimaging the lawyer workstations and laptop systems in the office with clean system installs of the operating system and necessary applications. He’s also checking the e-mail archives and database for signs of tampering.” She yawned, covering her mouth with the back of a hand. “Last, but not least, I’ve got him screening all the complaint calls we’re getting from associates. They don’t pay me enough to do that.”
    She hesitated as if considering something, then said, “I’ve been meaning to mention a string I came across in your printouts, but you were awfully busy. I don’t think it’s anything important, but look at this.” Jeff leaned over and read:
    Sh3 w!ll n3v3r 13t ur sp!r!tz d0wn
    Sh3s a v#ry k!nk! g!r7
    Jeff realized he’d missed the text in his earlier scan. Sometimes the clues to a cracker were in the ego parts, those sections of code about himself he couldn’t resist inserting. “I never saw that. What is it?”
    “Don’t laugh, but I think it’s leet-speak,” she said, straightening up.
    Leet-speak was hacker language. Malware authors often left their calling cards in their code, even if it was only for them and other hackers to see. Since this one was originally encrypted, it was obviously not meant for the eyes of security investigators.
    “It’s ‘Super Freak,’” Sue said, dropping her arms.
    “‘Super Freak’? The song?”
    “I think so.” Sue wrinkled her brow. “How does it go? ‘She’s a very kinky girl, the kind you don’t take home to mother.” Sue’s singing voice was surprising deep and guttural. Now that she had the words and the tune, she was really getting into the song, swinging her hips, raising her voice. “Yeah! I’ve still got it! Our hacker likes Rick James punk funk. He’s not all bad.”
    “Aren’t you a bit young to know Rick James? ‘Super Freak’ was … what? Sometime in the early ’80s?”
    “Rick James is classic.”
    Jeff looked back at the screen. “Okay, ‘Super Freak.’ But what does it mean? Is that the name of the virus? Or the cracker’s handle? Someone who’s a Rick James fan?”
    “Super Freak” might be significant, then again it might not, Jeff thought. Some virus code changed hands so many times all kinds of leet-speak from script kiddies crept in. It might not be connected to the virus’s author at all.
    “It might be his cyber handle,” Sue suggested. “You should be looking for it in any code you find. I’ll see if I can turn anything up in hacker chat rooms later.” She yawned again. “I’m beat.” She gave him a winning smile. “I’m going to lie down for a bit. I haven’t pulled an all-nighter since college.” She turned and walked away toward the couch,