we believe, is on the left. The man he’s talking with is a high-ranking member of the MSS.”
China’s Ministry of State Security. Counterpart to the US’s CIA and FBI.
“Which would indicate that his client is now Chinese intelligence?” the CIA chief said.
The Vice President made a coughing sound. “Possibly, yes. At the least, we think Beijing is probably aware of this man’s activities, if not directly involved. And we believe, based on the most recent intelligence, that Chen is currently in Munich.” The Vice President waited, then added, “Now I’m going to let Dean Stiles have the floor.”
Stiles, a gruff, wide-shouldered man with a shaved head and a long chin, was the new White House cyber czar. He cleared his throat, a deep raspy sound, then began to describe the technical details of the breaches, reading from notes written in longhand on three-by-five cards. Blaine noticed the suppressed yawns and restless shifting around the table as he described the adjustments of stopgaps and encryption safeguards.
It was essentially a cat and mouse game, Stiles explained. You install counter-measures and the other side finds a way around them. Back and forth. Blaine had been told by a cyber crime analyst at the National Security Agency once that only about two hundred people in the world fully understood the hacking game at its highest level,and she doubted if any of those two hundred were in this room today, with the possible exception of Stiles.
Afterward, a slightly awkward silence filled the chamber as the Vice President paged through papers in his folder, as if searching for something.
“Wasn’t Janus also a US asset at one time?” said Kyle McCormack, the CIA’s head of counter-terrorism, raising the question Blaine had decided not to ask. Stiles frowned and turned his eyes to the Vice President.
“That’s right,” Stanton said. “We discussed that at our initial meeting. He identified a series of computer science centers in China being used by the Chinese military to hack into American networks. This was five, five and a half years ago.”
The CIA counter-terrorism chief nodded, watching him with hooded eyes.
“But the information was deemed unreliable, wasn’t it?” said McCormack.
In fact, there was something else about the episode, Blaine recalled, something damaging or embarrassing, some of which had gone public, but she couldn’t remember exactly what it was.
“Of course, we don’t believe that one person is behind this threat,” Thom Rorbach said, changing the subject. “It’s more likely that Janus has been retained as an independent contractor to hack into our systems and deliver these threats. That may be the extent of his involvement.”
“Do we even know that he’s really involved?” Blaine said. “Couldn’t it be someone simply using the name, as a way to get our attention?”
“Possible,” Rorbach said. “But not likely.” Blaine glanced at him, then looked back at her booklet. He had strange eyes—wet and virtually black, as if there was no center to them, no pupils. “A very specific code has been used in all of his communications. Four variations of eleven numbers and letters. They were the same classified codes Chen used in his dealings with us six years ago. A signature, in effect.”
Blaine nodded. But she was remembering something else. A man who had written a report about Janus years ago. A former intelligence field officer named Charles Mallory.
“At any rate,” the Vice President said, “the feeling is we’re flying into something of a fertilizer storm here. The President’s directive is that we mobilize all of our resources. He would like a preliminary working plan tomorrow morning by ten, involving all pertinent agencies. Data searches. Signals intelligence. Banking transactions. Everything that we can pull together. Thom Rorbach will coordinate.”
Rorbach, Blaine noticed, seemed to still be looking at her. In fact, his head hadn’t
China’s Ministry of State Security. Counterpart to the US’s CIA and FBI.
“Which would indicate that his client is now Chinese intelligence?” the CIA chief said.
The Vice President made a coughing sound. “Possibly, yes. At the least, we think Beijing is probably aware of this man’s activities, if not directly involved. And we believe, based on the most recent intelligence, that Chen is currently in Munich.” The Vice President waited, then added, “Now I’m going to let Dean Stiles have the floor.”
Stiles, a gruff, wide-shouldered man with a shaved head and a long chin, was the new White House cyber czar. He cleared his throat, a deep raspy sound, then began to describe the technical details of the breaches, reading from notes written in longhand on three-by-five cards. Blaine noticed the suppressed yawns and restless shifting around the table as he described the adjustments of stopgaps and encryption safeguards.
It was essentially a cat and mouse game, Stiles explained. You install counter-measures and the other side finds a way around them. Back and forth. Blaine had been told by a cyber crime analyst at the National Security Agency once that only about two hundred people in the world fully understood the hacking game at its highest level,and she doubted if any of those two hundred were in this room today, with the possible exception of Stiles.
Afterward, a slightly awkward silence filled the chamber as the Vice President paged through papers in his folder, as if searching for something.
“Wasn’t Janus also a US asset at one time?” said Kyle McCormack, the CIA’s head of counter-terrorism, raising the question Blaine had decided not to ask. Stiles frowned and turned his eyes to the Vice President.
“That’s right,” Stanton said. “We discussed that at our initial meeting. He identified a series of computer science centers in China being used by the Chinese military to hack into American networks. This was five, five and a half years ago.”
The CIA counter-terrorism chief nodded, watching him with hooded eyes.
“But the information was deemed unreliable, wasn’t it?” said McCormack.
In fact, there was something else about the episode, Blaine recalled, something damaging or embarrassing, some of which had gone public, but she couldn’t remember exactly what it was.
“Of course, we don’t believe that one person is behind this threat,” Thom Rorbach said, changing the subject. “It’s more likely that Janus has been retained as an independent contractor to hack into our systems and deliver these threats. That may be the extent of his involvement.”
“Do we even know that he’s really involved?” Blaine said. “Couldn’t it be someone simply using the name, as a way to get our attention?”
“Possible,” Rorbach said. “But not likely.” Blaine glanced at him, then looked back at her booklet. He had strange eyes—wet and virtually black, as if there was no center to them, no pupils. “A very specific code has been used in all of his communications. Four variations of eleven numbers and letters. They were the same classified codes Chen used in his dealings with us six years ago. A signature, in effect.”
Blaine nodded. But she was remembering something else. A man who had written a report about Janus years ago. A former intelligence field officer named Charles Mallory.
“At any rate,” the Vice President said, “the feeling is we’re flying into something of a fertilizer storm here. The President’s directive is that we mobilize all of our resources. He would like a preliminary working plan tomorrow morning by ten, involving all pertinent agencies. Data searches. Signals intelligence. Banking transactions. Everything that we can pull together. Thom Rorbach will coordinate.”
Rorbach, Blaine noticed, seemed to still be looking at her. In fact, his head hadn’t
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