Zero Day_ A Novel - Mark Russinovich [1]
It is clear to me now that you were perfectly correct in your initial impression as stated at our enabling meeting. The events that led to such a cataclysmic chain of events, events I wish to add from which we are still attempting to recover, began in New York City, but only by a few minutes. They might just as easily have started over the Atlantic.
WEEK ONE
MAJORITY OF COMPUTERS LACK SECURITY, REPORT
By Isidro Lama
Internet News Service
August 10
A report released Wednesday found that more than 80% of computers lack essential security software.
The overwhelming majority of PCs in homes have been found to lack essential security protections, according to a report by a leading cyber-security firm. Most home computers lack either a firewall, anti-spyware protection or current antivirus software.
“Curiously, most consumers falsely believe they are protected,” said a spokesperson for the Internet Security Association. “The reality is quite the opposite.”
Despite modest improvements in home security since the first survey four years ago, much remains to be done. “At a time when the public turns increasingly to computers to handle finances and to house personal information, it is leaving itself exposed to exploitation,” the spokesperson added.
The situation is no better with military and government computers, according to the report. “We are significantly exposed to a cyber-attack,” the report concludes, “the consequences of which could exceed our imagination.”
Internet News Service, Inc. All rights reserved.
1
MANHATTAN, NYC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11
12:01 A.M.
“Shhh!”
When the whisper came out of the darkness, the man stopped. A vast panel of glass covered the wall before him, displaying uptown Manhattan in a scene that might have been sold as a poster. Ambient light and the soft glow from a dozen computer monitors was all that spared the room total darkness. The logo of Fischerman, Platt & Cohen floated on each monitor.
In the hallway, the steps faded. A moment later her fingers touched his arm, pressing lightly against the soft skin on the inside of his wrist, her flesh much warmer than his. The thought of her so excited aroused him even more.
She tugged and he followed. “Over here,” she whispered. He tried to make her out in the darkness but all he could see was her form, shapeless as a burka. They stopped and she came into his arms, on him even before he realized she’d moved. Her scent was floral, her mouth wet and also warm, tasting of peppermint and her last cigarette.
After a long moment she pulled back. He heard the whisper of clothing across nylon, the slight sound of her skirt dropping to the carpet. He sensed, more than saw, her form stretch on the couch. He unbuckled his trousers and let them drop around his ankles. He remembered his suit jacket; as he removed it, her hand touched his erection through his undershorts. She tugged them lower, then encircled him with her fingers.
Her grip guided him, and as he entered her, a single computer screen sprang to life behind the groaning couple. Turning blue, it read:
Rebooting …
After a few seconds, the screen flickered and read:
NO OPERATING SYSTEM FOUND.
The screen turned black.
BRITISH AIRWAYS FLIGHT 188
NORTH ATLANTIC, 843 MILES OFF NEWFOUNDLAND
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11
12:01 A.M.
The flight attendants were clearing breakfast in the passenger compartments as Captain Robert McIntyre scanned the dials of the PFD, the primary flight display, once again. Beside him, copilot Sean Jones sat facing dead forward in that semihypnotic posture so common to commercial pilots on extended flights.
The sound of the twin engines well behind the pilots was distant. Outside, air slipped past the airplane with a comforting hiss. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with 289 passengers, all but flew itself. Once the airplane reached a cruising altitude of thirty-seven-thousand feet, the pilots had little to do but monitor the instrumentation and be available should something