to be sure, but information coded by a human being. In this case you can run through the specific area of Rathborne Micro-Electronics and come up with all the answers to questions relevant to business, but if you then compare the data usage to the function, you come up with a missing seven and a half gigabytes." He looked at me with a smile of satisfaction. “That's the simple explanation.”
I sat and thought for a moment. "OK. Now you answer me a question, how did you manage to get that information out of the computer, if there are these encryption security devices for obscuring the data?"
He continued to smile, and I began to feel a fool before he answered. This was his territory and I was an outsider with little understanding.
"It's what I do. Most of the programmers in companies such as yours do not have the time or the expertise to dream up complicated protection devices, so tend to stick to a simple code, or use off-the-shelf systems. Once I unravelled that code, the rest was easy. After all, that is one reason why your father kept the files of the board of directors on paper and in his safe." I was about to ask him how he knew when he held up his hand to silence me. "I know because they are not stored anywhere else."
"So what have we got then? A missing seven gigabytes of data and nothing else?"
"Not quite. I think if you check up on the cash transfers of Rathborne you may find that large sums have been given to contractors. The invoicing seems to be correct but the amounts and method are not in keeping with the rest of the system. That was the only thing I could find that didn't seem quite as it should be."
"Would the IT guys in the Company have noticed this?"
"I would think so, if they had not done it themselves in the first place. Don't forget, the IT guys are rather like computers themselves. They will only react and work to a set of instructions that are given to them."
"So you think there is some fraud going on that emanated from the board room?"
"I think fraud is a little strong, because if someone not involved with the deal was asked to run a programme which he knew to be part of a fraud, then odds are that he would not do it."
"So it was either done by one of the board or a person from elsewhere. That being the case, surely the operators would have noticed something a little strange just as you did?"
"Yes, except that the code used to obscure the Rathborne accounts would probably not have been available to IT.”
"Was there anything else strange about the thing?"
"No, just the usual games played by bored operators. Crosswords with cryptic clues and that sort of thing."
"Going back to the missing data. Have you any idea what might be on it? Or where it is?"
"That is virtually impossible to say. My guess would be that it is data that links directly in with the accounting system. It could be the explanation as to why the procedures changed for this particular company. It could be anything. As to where to find the missing seven gigabytes of data, I'd look for a flash drive."
“Couldn't you have told us this over the phone, or on Skype?” Julie asked.
“I need your phones so I can encrypt them.” He held out his hand. We handed over our iPhones and watched as he plugged in a cord connected to his computer and busied himself for a few minutes at the keyboard, then handed them back to us along with a small thumb drive and a sheet of hand written notes. “On the drive is a security program you need to install on your computers. Instructions are on the sheet.”
The conversation carried on into the realms of speculation. Julie had been very quiet throughout and didn't speak except to say goodbye to Oldfield as we left to drive back to Calder Hall. The rain had ceased leaving the roads shiny under the street lamps, reflecting the safety lights in the shop windows.
"What do you think?" Julie said quietly.
"How do you mean?"
"Are you any closer to understanding what is going on with
I sat and thought for a moment. "OK. Now you answer me a question, how did you manage to get that information out of the computer, if there are these encryption security devices for obscuring the data?"
He continued to smile, and I began to feel a fool before he answered. This was his territory and I was an outsider with little understanding.
"It's what I do. Most of the programmers in companies such as yours do not have the time or the expertise to dream up complicated protection devices, so tend to stick to a simple code, or use off-the-shelf systems. Once I unravelled that code, the rest was easy. After all, that is one reason why your father kept the files of the board of directors on paper and in his safe." I was about to ask him how he knew when he held up his hand to silence me. "I know because they are not stored anywhere else."
"So what have we got then? A missing seven gigabytes of data and nothing else?"
"Not quite. I think if you check up on the cash transfers of Rathborne you may find that large sums have been given to contractors. The invoicing seems to be correct but the amounts and method are not in keeping with the rest of the system. That was the only thing I could find that didn't seem quite as it should be."
"Would the IT guys in the Company have noticed this?"
"I would think so, if they had not done it themselves in the first place. Don't forget, the IT guys are rather like computers themselves. They will only react and work to a set of instructions that are given to them."
"So you think there is some fraud going on that emanated from the board room?"
"I think fraud is a little strong, because if someone not involved with the deal was asked to run a programme which he knew to be part of a fraud, then odds are that he would not do it."
"So it was either done by one of the board or a person from elsewhere. That being the case, surely the operators would have noticed something a little strange just as you did?"
"Yes, except that the code used to obscure the Rathborne accounts would probably not have been available to IT.”
"Was there anything else strange about the thing?"
"No, just the usual games played by bored operators. Crosswords with cryptic clues and that sort of thing."
"Going back to the missing data. Have you any idea what might be on it? Or where it is?"
"That is virtually impossible to say. My guess would be that it is data that links directly in with the accounting system. It could be the explanation as to why the procedures changed for this particular company. It could be anything. As to where to find the missing seven gigabytes of data, I'd look for a flash drive."
“Couldn't you have told us this over the phone, or on Skype?” Julie asked.
“I need your phones so I can encrypt them.” He held out his hand. We handed over our iPhones and watched as he plugged in a cord connected to his computer and busied himself for a few minutes at the keyboard, then handed them back to us along with a small thumb drive and a sheet of hand written notes. “On the drive is a security program you need to install on your computers. Instructions are on the sheet.”
The conversation carried on into the realms of speculation. Julie had been very quiet throughout and didn't speak except to say goodbye to Oldfield as we left to drive back to Calder Hall. The rain had ceased leaving the roads shiny under the street lamps, reflecting the safety lights in the shop windows.
"What do you think?" Julie said quietly.
"How do you mean?"
"Are you any closer to understanding what is going on with
Similar Books
