The dim light from a small desktop lamp shone down on the keyboard as Dayne began the login process to the Williams & Teacher operating system. It was past 11:00, so he felt confident the law firm’s offices would be deserted, therefore his remote accessing of their systems would go undetected.
Earlier in the day, through his clickjacking program, he’d successfully captured the solicitor’s login credentials. Now, he entered the same passcode, pressed enter and waited for the system to allow him access.
On the desk beside him lay a ticket for tonight’s Lord Huron show at the Corner Hotel. He’d planned on going to see the indie-folk band from America with Craig but begged off earlier in the day. He told Craig to go ahead without him; that he didn’t need his help, and that the search may be a total waste of time. Truth be told, Dayne hoped to find something of value other than what interested his best friend. Craig, he knew, wouldn’t jaywalk without a gun pressed to his head, so the little Dayne shared about tonight’s foray into corporate espionage the better.
While Dayne waited for Garth’s home screen to load, he accessed his iTunes library from the second monitor and set it to shuffle. The openings chords to a Paul Dempsey tune filled the room.
A moment later the green and white logo of Williams & Teacher dissolved from the screen to be replaced by a menu page:
Human Resources, Law Library, Current and Archived Files, Client Information, and Email Options.
Dayne clicked on the client information tab, thinking it the most logical place to begin. Depending on what he discovered, his search could expand from there. As he delved through the client list, and Garth’s work for each, he quickly understood he’d uncovered a little more than he bargained.
He inserted a thumb drive into his workstation’s USB port and began the painstaking process of selecting and transferring files. And like picking fruit from an over-abundant market stall, he took time to pore over his choices, selecting only the choicest most succulent items.
As the sky began to brighten, Dayne still hadn’t budged from his seat facing the monitor. His bladder screamed to be relieved, but, he estimated, just another 15 minutes of downloading files and he’d have everything he needed.
Earlier, he determined this one attack would be the only time he’d risk accessing the Williams & Teacher system. The level of cyber security they employed was state-of-the-art, far beyond what he expected for a small law firm, making future forays into their systems, even for him, just too dangerous. However, the amount of information he’d gleaned was immense. The value to the firm, of what he’d uncovered, incalculable.
As the last of the file transfers finished downloading, he carefully logged off. His cyber footprints invisible. The virus remaining in Garth’s workstation, even if discovered, untraceable.
Dayne rose from his chair, stretched his tired limbs and made his way down the hallway to the toilet at the rear of the house. The rising sun shining through the louvered window caused him to wince. Below, a steady stream of urine hit the bottom of the bowl for an interminable amount of time.
As he flushed, he noticed the ingrained water rings in the bowl and thought it a shame his cleaning habits were so abysmal.
He could just as easily have been talking about his best friend Craig’s situation.