The Capture of the IT Vigilante

The Criminal Lair

The dark, dimly lit room was filled with the humming sound of the cold central air, servers, and business continuity units adjusting their status. Two hooded men sat, intensely staring at their massive, curved screens.

“I’m almost there!” Charlie exclaimed, rolling his chair back from the screen. “Hey Kev, you want noodles?”

“Nah. But some advice for you. Try a noodle addiction meeting.”

“Haha. Funny.”

Kev, frustrated, suddenly shouted, “Freakin’ eMazzanti Technologies, man! I can’t get through their firewalls.”

“Go around and see if the internet is properly filtered.”

“Awh, dang, man, they have their secure route on it. Oh crap! Take a look at this,” Kevin stood, pointing to his screen. A cartoon man on the screen with an “e” on his chest was taunting him.

“Nah,” Charlie said, holding his noodles at a burn-free distance.

“Wh-at?,” said Kev. “Now, it’s moonwalking across my screen.”

Charlie grabbed his chair and rolled over. “No way. They beat you at your own game.”

“Yeah. I’ve been working at this for days.” Splattered across the screen were the words “PROTECTED BY {e}.”

“I’m done!” Kevin growled, falling back to his chair. “Let me try a NON-cloud protected client. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m impressed by this company.”

“Moving on!” they both said at the same time.

“By the way, have you found the hacker responsible for trying to empty your bank account?” queried Kev?

“Almost,” Charlie chuckled, pointing to his screen as if it were human. “I’m going to take back all my money and then some,”, .

“Bitter! Party of one,” Kevin rang out.

“Shut it, man. I lost $183,000.”

“Yeah right, and you made $2 million off the government job yesterday. Plus, you caught them before they took too much. Probably some kids. You fixed the breach. Let’s chill, Dr. Vigilante.”

Charlie rolled back up to his desk, taking long pulls of noodles in his mouth at a time. “I’ll chill when I teach my bank, First Bank of T-North, a lesson. Pass me that list of bank codes.”

“Alright, man,” Kevin huffs, “but I’mma tell you I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

“I’ll be fine, man. I’m just realizing that this bank has no real security structure. They all use Blue Foot and Wells Technology. It’s like purchasing IT from Walmart. It’s cheap and we think it works,” Charlie says, struggling to make a falsetto soprano voice, framing his face with his hands and a forced smile.

“You’re crazy, man!” Kevin laughed out loud. “Listen, when I’m done with them, they’ll at least change their technology carrier.”

“Here we go,” Kevin said. “Let me add a couple detracer packs to the environment and some scramblers.”

“Oh come on,” Charlie warned. “You don’t need all of that.”

“We DO, actually,” he replied. “I was hoping to stay out of FEDERAL prison. I don’t know. Like. FOREVER?”

“Alright,” Charlie retracted. “I’m going to go for another bowl of ramen.”

5 Minutes later

Charlie returns. Kevin starts. “So, what are your plans for taking down your bank?”

“Pretty simple. Incognito.”

“Basically, the old-fashioned way,” Kev chimed in.

“Yep. I go out to the banks and I follow people.”

“Stay undetected for as long as you can,” they both say together.

“Did you know that people will write their account numbers on the deposit slip and then if they screw up, they tear it in half and chuck it?”

“Yeah, well, when I notice a deposit slip thrown away, I tear mine in half as well; and then I complain aloud to rid myself of any suspicion,” Kev explains. “Then I reach into the trash and take their slip.”

“That’s one way.”

“Yeah. Then I try to follow them,” Kev continues. “Earnie can run plates and give me the additional info I need. Of course, a simpler way is just to use a skimmer at the ATM or an RFID reader. But I like to sneak up on my assailant in the end. So, I get real old school and pull a couple of plates outside the bank. Make sure they’re doing transactions inside first, of course. Find out where they live. Have Earnie send me the addresses and then use them to break the mark’s unsecured internet. The fact that a lot of internet providers are not really securing their clients is a story no one wants out. If they were, why the need for firewalls and software?”

Most people would think that I just want to steal money, but that’s not it. I want to get into the bank,” Charlie says with a wicked laugh. “The only way I would take money is as a gesture to force the person I’m stealing from to call the bank. The goal is to get far enough to have the ability to listen in on the call. Then I gather additional personal information.”

“ ‘Welcome to First Bank of T-North. You’re on a secure line,’ ” Charlie adds, mocking the process in his ‘banking’ voice. “Then I log into their account, which is the first wall, and I use my programs to keep breaking through walls until voila! The mother lode. Then I can do some real damage to the bank.”

“Craporella, man, you are a true misfit,” Kevin throws his head back, laughing.

“You aren’t too far away or you wouldn’t be in here with me,” Charlie replies.

“How far have you gotten, man?” Kev asks.

“Come on, man, you know that we don’t discuss the logistics of our endeavors. But I’m far enough that I have already pierced their federal fences. I’m adding another camera on the blind side of the building before I leave and working from station 4 tomorrow,” Kevin says. “I just have a bad feeling.”

“Come on, when have you ever been scared?” asks Charlie. “Remember when we hacked Channel 2 News and the anchorman read our prompt that people should click the QR code on their TV for a chance to win $200,000?”

“Oh yeah, and there went the QR code on the screen. We raided so many cell phones that day. We’re still at large!”

“Don’t remind me,.” laments Charlie.

Ripe for the picking – 1 Week Later 

“Good afternoon, all.” Kev comes in, dropping his bag and unloading ARRI Codex Compact Drives from his backpack. 

“It’s been a long time,” Charlie says. 

“Yeah, working from station 4, man. What brings you back?” 

“I was hoping that things would have died down by now,” says Charlie, hopefully. 

“Nah… actually they’re just coming to a brew.” 

“Oh gosh. You haven’t finished your banking expedition yet?” Changing the subject, Charlie comments, “Seems you come bearing gifts?” 

“Yeah, it’s my quarter to donate to the cause.” 

“Can those drives handle macOS as well as Windows?” Charlie inquires. 

“Yeeeep!” Kevin replies. 

“Sweet,” Charlie says. 

The phone starts to ring. 

“Quiet…” Charlie shushes. He picks up the house phone and pushes mute. “It’s the bank calling me,” he whispers, unmuting. “This is Tammy Harris from Frauds,” an indistinct voice says. “Is this Agent Theodore Falcon?” 

“Yes, it is,” Charlie replies. 

“What did you find on the withdrawal from Charlie Shores’ account?” 

“Well, the same thing I told the other agent and the OPI,” responds Charlie. “It moved from account to account, and we lost track.  Can you give me the first account number?” 

The lady sighed. “I just passed this on minutes ago. Can I have your email? I’ll add you to the thread.” 

“No, that’s not necessary,” Charlie replies. “Just give me the numbers.” 

The woman reads the external account numbers. 

“Thanks so much,” Charlie replies. He hangs up. 

“O-kay, Agent Falcon,” Kevin says. “I believed you, man.” 

“Yeah, well, now I’m off to the races.” 

How did you hear that? 

Kevin pulls a listening piece from his ear. “This babe has supersonic listening capabilities. It can even detect what someone else might be saying on the other end of the phone. It even has a GPS listening channel. Say you want to hear what Earnie is doing in station 3.” 

“That’s insane. I wanna hear more later, but I have work to do,” Charlie says, pulling up to the desk. 

The Arrest – 3hrs Later 

“What, no ramen today?” Kevin taunts Charlie. 

“Nah… I’m closing the window now,” Charlie mumbles. 

“Should have been done with that,” Kevin says. 

“I didn’t want to play it too close,” Charlie says closely engaged with the ribbon of text on his screen. Then he looks up and starts. 

“So, I have been working for a week bending First Bank of T-North’s network infrastructure, and I have succeeded, because late last week they put out a 24-hour RFP for cybersecurity,” he says, excitedly. “In addition, I think I just found the thief using the external account number I was given. It appears that this person is using Vox from station 2’s way of moving money. Paying account holders at different banks to keep transferring it and leaving a little bit behind for their services. It seems my $183,000 has dwindled to $139,000 and I am pulling every drop back from these FREE RIDERS!” Charlie stands and strikes a chest and triceps pose as if he was in a bodybuilding competition. 

“Where did the money end up?” Kevin questions. 

“It looks like it went to the UK and came back to the US and is currently resting in Delray Beach, Florida in the account of a Robert Guthery,” Charlie says in a super nerdy voice.  

Charlie cracks his knuckles and says, “Mr. Guthery, your funds have been withdrawn by the United States Government. I left him a little note so that when he opens his account, OH-HE-WILL-KNOW. Done! I’m running the funds through my tracer program, and it will deposit itself back into my account momentarily. Yahoo! Speak of an angel. There is my $310,000!” 

“Three-ten,” Kevin shouts. 

“Yeah, interest, hacking, and handling.” 

“Oh Lord.” 

A sudden bang on the door startles the two. Charlie immediately turns his computer feed to the cameras upstairs, which sit in what looks like a regular home. No one knew they were 20 feet underground. 

“Oh crap, it’s the Feds,” Charlie starts to grab his stuff. “They’re going to take down the door.” 

The cameras record a blast. “They’re in the living room,” Charlie shouts. Kevin suddenly stands up and says, “Charlie, you’re under arrest.” 

Charlie looks up, scared. “What?” 

“Yeah, we infiltrate the old-fashioned way too. Time!” Kevin pulls out a gun and handcuffs Charlie. Just then there were rumbles on the steps and heavy rattling on the floor, and the door flies open. The other agents take over. 

“You’re a heck of a hacker,” Kevin says as the agents make their way up the stairs with Charlie. “It would be nice to have you on our side.” 

Charlie holds his head down. Another agent asked Kevin, “How did you do it?” 

“Honestly, eMazzanti Technologies. eCare Cloud Backup, and MXINSPECT led this investigation,” he admits. “This company has some serious services.”