“Any thoughts, Finger?” CDWG Director Cynthia Grayson asked, her voice coming through a connection over the computer.
Trent Turner had been deep in thought and was ready to chime in. “Okay, let’s do it then,” he said.
“Do what?” Millar asked.
“Narrow down the purpose of the botnet,” she said. “We know that Nations Bank is a target, so let’s start there. Let’s talk out the likely targets inside the bank.”
“They could be trying to bring all of the systems down,” Millar said.
“Possibly,” Grayson replied. “But if that was the purpose, they certainly didn’t need something this elaborate to accomplish their goal.”
“Sure,” Millar agreed. “Why wait if that was the case? They designed it so you could plug in different modules, which wouldn’t be necessary if that was their end game.”
“I think there might be something more obvious than that, when you consider how the technology side of the banking systems works,” Turner explained. “There are — what? — ten, maybe twenty banking systems that run the majority of the world’s banks?”
“Probably. Go on,” Grayson said.
“We know Nations runs its transactions through a banking software platform developed by Allegiance Financial Systems. It’s called DataBank.”
“Right,” Grayson confirmed. “They know what they’re doing, so let’s assume they’re targeting a specific banking platform.”
“Exactly.” Turner punched the keys on his laptop, and when he pressed Enter the search results displayed on the screen. He pulled up a sales presentation for the company and began reading. “DataBank is running in more than thirty percent of the world’s banks. Eighty percent of the banks with assets over three hundred and fifty billion use it and — get this — ninety-five percent if you narrow it down to the United States.”
“Nations is one of the largest banks out there,” Grayson said. “If this is about transactions, we can split it down even further… Only look at banks big enough to move a significant amount of money without immediately raising eyebrows.”
“The modules would come into play there,” Millar added. “They might have a module that gets the money out somehow. Maybe they have another one set to wreak havoc on the systems to buy them some time afterward.”
“That would be a solid plan,” Turner said. “Cyndi, do we have anyone on the inside at one of the other major banks that uses DataBank?”
“Give me a sec,” Grayson said. Mouse clicks and keyboard strokes could be heard in the background. “Here we go. Okay, say over fifty billion in assets. Here’s one, Spartan Bank. They’re almost one trillion. I’ll have my analysts focus there and try to identify a pattern.”
“What have you managed to dig up on the Federal Reserve?” Turner asked. “That’s definitely going to be another common thread. All of these banks will be connected to the Federal Reserve system.”
“We hacked into its network through a system that was downloading security updates,” Grayson confirmed. “We hijacked the session and managed to look around and set up a couple more backdoors, but we haven’t found anything yet. We’re still in there poking around and wading through their traffic logs.”
“There was a Federal Reserve branch that correlated with most of the dead hackers,” Turner said.
“True. We can consider major locations for the big banks that correlate with Fed branches,” Grayson suggested. “It’s something else to narrow things down.”
“Sounds good.” Turner thought about the results from Cannibal. “What about the hackers that turned up dead on Interpol?”
“I’ve put a couple of analysts on that, and they haven’t come up with anything,” Grayson said. “We’ll look for connections to big banks.”
“The Federal Reserve is the central bank for the United States, so it’s got more money than any other target,” Turner pointed out. “We should assume they’re going big, considering the level of sophistication.”
“You know the Fed could well have its most significant assets abroad,” Grayson replied. “The politicians have been fighting for visibility into its foreign dealings since the dawn of time.”
“Good point. Try digging into its overseas accounts and see if anything lines up,” Turner said. “Also see if there are ties to The Collective.”
Grayson didn’t respond immediately, and then said, “We’ll focus on that angle for now and assume the US is the target.”
Chapter 80
Pavel Kozlov’s eyes were cold, void of emotion. “I understand,” he said in Russian.
The man on the other end of the phone didn’t like to rush a plan, but recent events and a lifetime of experience had made the decision to put Operation Berlin on the fast track easy for him. Yuri Khrushchev was also smart enough to know that no good battle plan survived first contact with the enemy, so he wasn’t alarmed. They needed to stay nimble.
“Are you on track with the operation?” Khrushchev asked, but the question was more of a command.
“Yes, we are. Tomorrow, correct?” Kozlov answered. There was too much at stake, so he wanted to make sure they were in sync.
“Tomorrow,” Khrushchev confirmed. “Did your men take care of The American?”
Kozlov closed his eyes and bowed his head. He knew his delayed response had already given his mentor the answer.
“No. He has proven to be a very difficult man to kill.”
There was an uncomfortable pause that could only mean the confidence in him from his comrades back in the Motherland had begun to wane.
“And the internal situation? The hacker that chose the senator’s son?” Khrushchev pressed. When the response wasn’t immediate he added, “No more mistakes, Pavel.” His tone was reprimanding.
Kozlov raised his head and prepared to deliver new details he knew would strain their relationship further. “We had a problem with delivering the codes last night,” he admitted. He could hear his mentor take in a deep breath.
“What kind of problem?”
“Our man was not there for the pickup. Other arrangements were made, and they made it safely to the backup site.”
Khrushchev didn’t respond for a long moment and finally said, “Continue.”
“The men discovered an FBI agent was following them. They led her into a trap and were able to take her alive.”
“What?” The hard line communist was irate.
“Yes. We will find out what she knows. Our men can be very persuasive.”
Khrushchev was taken aback. The situation was much worse than he had thought. He knew Kozlov was loyal to their cause, but Yuri Khrushchev was now joining the ranks of those who doubted their comrade’s effectiveness.
Kozlov heard a squeak from what he assumed was his comrade’s chair as he sat down. Next he heard the rhythmic drumming of his fingers on the desk, like Khrushchev always did before he made a big decision.
“It is wise to keep the two operations completely separate,” Khrushchev finally said.
Kozlov felt the loss of faith in his ability to execute physically. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and did what any good soldier would do.
“Yes, it is the best option,” he said. “We’ll remain prepared to handle things if the situation changes.”
“Take care of this, Pavel,” Khrushchev demanded, the importance of their operation evident.
This wouldn’t be the first time Pavel Kozlov had his back against the wall, and his resolve to prove his doubters wrong was absolute.
“I will,” he said.
“There is a meeting with The Group today,” Khrushchev said. “Andrei will set everything into motion.”