Zero Day_ A Novel - Mark Russinovich [130]
Jeff thought back to the small space where, for all he knew, three dead bodies still lay soaking in blood on the floor. “Did you get a look at that office?”
“Not really.” Daryl shook her head. “It all happened so fast. It was terrible, just terrible.”
For the first time since all this had started, Jeff saw Daryl’s face start to crumble. He took her into his arms and held her as close as he could. After a moment he said, “I was thinking about the virus attack. Altogether it was just three men, and perhaps four computers. That’s all it took.” He paused. “There’s only four days to go.”
“I know,” she said softly against his chest.
Jeff thought back to the day he’d first walked into the law firm and met with Sue Tabor and Joshua Greene. It was as if a lifetime had passed since then. For years he’d focused on Internet and computer security, for years he’d anticipated just such a coordinated attack against the fragile infrastructure of the West. When it came, it hadn’t originated from a rogue nation nor had it taken substantial resources. It had come from a small back office in Paris. And it had not been stopped by a firewall or antivirus software. In the end it had taken the two of them, risking everything and nearly coming up short. It seemed incredible to him.
How long could they stay lucky? This very minute in Singapore, or China, or at any American college campus, some geek could be developing or releasing a destructive virus that used a newly discovered zero-day vulnerability to spread—a new virus for which by definition they had no protection on the always-lagging antivirus signatures, one against which no superheroics could save them.
In the end the Arabs had been unlucky, nothing more. No great feats of software engineering had saved the West. And if it hadn’t been for Ivana’s single-mindedness, he and Daryl would never have found the Arabs or would have been too late. Even now they might not have done enough.
He held Daryl more tightly. At least, finally, he’d found this. The coming days were uncertain. There’d be little time to think about the two of them. But whatever happened from here on, he believed, nothing would change that it was now we instead of I, and some consolation was to be found in that.
“Will this do enough good, do you think?” she asked.
“Some. Better than nothing.” He met her eyes. “All we can really do now is wait. Together.” Daryl nodded. “Wait,” he said, his voice flat. “But know that if not this time, then next.”
ZERO DAY
DHS ASSURES NO THREAT OF CYBER-ATTACK
By Isidro Lama
Internet News Service
September 10
A report released Friday assures that neither Al Qaeda nor any other terrorist organization possesses the ability to significantly harm American computers or the infrastructure of the Internet.
“Statements that we are vulnerable to a so-called cyber-attack are simply unfounded,” said the executive assistant director of the Department of Homeland Security, Roger Witherspoon, in a press release Friday. “Security has never been higher and such groups lack the sophistication and expertise to exploit what vulnerabilities remain, ones we are in the process of closing.”
The increasing use of viruses for financial scams is the major concern now facing the industry, said Witherspoon, responsible for the overall security of the network, which connects millions of computers worldwide. He dismissed recent assertions that the nation is vulnerable to even a modest attack because so many computers and computer networks lack even basic security software.
“Such talk is counterproductive,” he said. “The various security-software vendors are cooperating completely with DHS and we can be assured that we are secure.”
Internet News Service, Inc. All rights reserved.
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