way,” Max explained. He led me to
the office that flanked his. I began to understand the layout now. Max Donovan’s
office sat in the center of the north wall. His senior recruiters, Christine
Frost and myself, had offices on either side of his on the west and east walls
respectively. On the outside, beside the senior recruiters’ offices, were Tom
Ellis and Jessica Madison.
Max flipped the light on in my office and I could see the
bare essentials of office furniture. A desk, a chair, a credenza… it was there
for me to make it home, as much as I wanted to.
“Thank you,” I said. “This will be just fine.”
“Your PC is set up and our network techs will give you all
the support you need to get started. Come into my office for a moment. I want
to show you something.”
I followed Max back to his office and sat in the chair
across from him. He spun his chair around and opened a cabinet behind him
revealing a safe. He turned the lock and opened the heavy steel door. Then, he
reached inside and removed a file folder. The paper clip on the outside of the
folder shifted and in a brief blur, I noted a thin document within the project
folder with the words “SECRET” stamped discretely across its face. A small
flash of panic went through me and I wondered how far from Blackthorn I’d
really wandered. But the truth was companies all across the country do business
with the government. Every day, software development for government agencies is
outsourced to private firms. Safety precautions had relaxed in a post-911
backlash to the harsh restrictions on private firms being used.
The process was relatively simple. An agent from the United
States Secret Service would come and visit the facility of the company to do
the work. They would verify that the work being done was held in the strictest
confidence and that company could hold security clearances to do the needed
work. This was no different. There were no shadows in the closet here, I
assured myself.
Max found the page he was looking for, leaned back in his
chair and locked his gaze on me.
“Simon, the Department of Homeland Security is concerned
about their internal security, specifically security of their information
systems,” Max began.
This wasn’t really news to me. This was a fairly obvious
statement. It was their job to be paranoid.
“Specifically, their concern lies in the area of their
finances. Since the Enron and Goldman Sachs debacles, I’m sure you know what’s
happened in the area of IT Auditing.”
“Of course,” I replied. “Sarbanes-Oxley compliance has
become a huge area of concern for publicly traded companies. Millions have been
spent to bring in consultants in order to comply with that law.”
“Then imagine if you will, how important it is to the DHS,”
Max said, his eyes boring into mine, “to track funding for every operation in
the war on terror. And to keep that information absolutely secure.”
The ramifications were obvious. If information on funding
for DHS operations were ever to get into the open, the details of the
operations and where that money was being spent weren’t far behind. It was the
backdoor that would cripple domestic counterterrorist operations.
“I see your point,” I said quietly.
“We’ve been tasked by the Undersecretary of Management and
the CFO to find a project manager to lead a project to test security of the
financial systems within the Department of Homeland Security,” Max’s voice was
lowering with each word, his eyes intent. This was gravely important. The sink
or swim moment.
“What’s the JO look like,” I asked, inquiring about the job
order.
“Fairly extensive write up but the long and short of it is
this,” Max explained. “We need someone who can test system security from the
hacker side. A real black hat operation on the front-end. Find a way to beat
the system, holes in security, any possible way in. Then, it’s all white hat…
lead the team to stop outsiders from
the office that flanked his. I began to understand the layout now. Max Donovan’s
office sat in the center of the north wall. His senior recruiters, Christine
Frost and myself, had offices on either side of his on the west and east walls
respectively. On the outside, beside the senior recruiters’ offices, were Tom
Ellis and Jessica Madison.
Max flipped the light on in my office and I could see the
bare essentials of office furniture. A desk, a chair, a credenza… it was there
for me to make it home, as much as I wanted to.
“Thank you,” I said. “This will be just fine.”
“Your PC is set up and our network techs will give you all
the support you need to get started. Come into my office for a moment. I want
to show you something.”
I followed Max back to his office and sat in the chair
across from him. He spun his chair around and opened a cabinet behind him
revealing a safe. He turned the lock and opened the heavy steel door. Then, he
reached inside and removed a file folder. The paper clip on the outside of the
folder shifted and in a brief blur, I noted a thin document within the project
folder with the words “SECRET” stamped discretely across its face. A small
flash of panic went through me and I wondered how far from Blackthorn I’d
really wandered. But the truth was companies all across the country do business
with the government. Every day, software development for government agencies is
outsourced to private firms. Safety precautions had relaxed in a post-911
backlash to the harsh restrictions on private firms being used.
The process was relatively simple. An agent from the United
States Secret Service would come and visit the facility of the company to do
the work. They would verify that the work being done was held in the strictest
confidence and that company could hold security clearances to do the needed
work. This was no different. There were no shadows in the closet here, I
assured myself.
Max found the page he was looking for, leaned back in his
chair and locked his gaze on me.
“Simon, the Department of Homeland Security is concerned
about their internal security, specifically security of their information
systems,” Max began.
This wasn’t really news to me. This was a fairly obvious
statement. It was their job to be paranoid.
“Specifically, their concern lies in the area of their
finances. Since the Enron and Goldman Sachs debacles, I’m sure you know what’s
happened in the area of IT Auditing.”
“Of course,” I replied. “Sarbanes-Oxley compliance has
become a huge area of concern for publicly traded companies. Millions have been
spent to bring in consultants in order to comply with that law.”
“Then imagine if you will, how important it is to the DHS,”
Max said, his eyes boring into mine, “to track funding for every operation in
the war on terror. And to keep that information absolutely secure.”
The ramifications were obvious. If information on funding
for DHS operations were ever to get into the open, the details of the
operations and where that money was being spent weren’t far behind. It was the
backdoor that would cripple domestic counterterrorist operations.
“I see your point,” I said quietly.
“We’ve been tasked by the Undersecretary of Management and
the CFO to find a project manager to lead a project to test security of the
financial systems within the Department of Homeland Security,” Max’s voice was
lowering with each word, his eyes intent. This was gravely important. The sink
or swim moment.
“What’s the JO look like,” I asked, inquiring about the job
order.
“Fairly extensive write up but the long and short of it is
this,” Max explained. “We need someone who can test system security from the
hacker side. A real black hat operation on the front-end. Find a way to beat
the system, holes in security, any possible way in. Then, it’s all white hat…
lead the team to stop outsiders from
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