Chapter 365: Chapter 365
As a classically trained hardware engineer, Xiang Shan used to feel an inexplicable psychological advantage over hackers. He considered himself a builder, while those hackers were destroyers. They lacked a systematic and holistic vision, merely building on the foundations laid by "our own people."
No, builders were software engineers. Hackers were just the ones making holes in the house.
But even inside a snail shell, one can establish a dojo. If you drill holes in the room well, placing them just right, the house can still be warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Communicating with Hartman, Xiang Shan did occasionally sense that "enlightenment from others’ perspectives."
Starting from different angles, indeed, one could see different things.
Xiang Shan was looking forward more to his encounter with "Zhu Rong."
His chat with Hartman hadn’t lasted long. Soon, the security department called him over.
The research department would provide a "script," which included the questions that could be raised later.
For the upcoming exchange with the hackers from Risk Community, Xiang Shan and his team had to stick to the preset list of questions. Even if an inspiration struck and he wanted to ask something new, it had to pass through scrutiny by multiple departments before it could be asked.
This was already preferential treatment.
It was unclear whether the United Nations officials considered Xiang Shan’s achievement in cracking the Orunmila Project worth such treatment, or they thought he wouldn’t last long in this position, so they indulged him like a rich last meal.
Xiang Shan thought it could be both.
In earlier years, when Xiang Shan’s father and uncle drank and bragged, they would often recite sayings like "power is everything" and "unused power expires." He always thought that was nonsense from a bygone era or what someone at a particularly corrupt level might say.
It wasn’t until he reached the level of the United Nations and found himself in this position that Xiang Shan thought, oh, there’s some truth in it.
Those two scholars were explaining their proposals point by point while Xiang Shan rubbed his nose.
—From the conversation just now, this Hartman is indeed a factor that can be utilized. With that in mind...
The vague plan in Xiang Shan’s mind became clearer.
Soon, the "online academic exchange" began. Attendees included several scholars from the Rama Project and several hackers from Risk Community.
Of course, he used his "Ramanujan" account.
The opening remarks were nothing more than the most cliché "I think this idea is terrible. I have a thought, and so on."
The key was to ignite the hackers’ emotions while revealing a bit of the correct direction.
The hackers were all "Jianghu people." For pride and face, they would risk being outed with their real names to run "Hero Arena" events, which were high risk and low reward.
Once caught up in emotion, who would care about anything else?
The direction offered by Xiang Shan and his team was indeed "correct."
"Xiduo" after all was just a small part of the data extracted from the Orunmila Project, one that Ingrid felt "might be analyzed with the methods of linguistic research." This part of the binary code likely didn’t correspond to something very basic.
Yet Xiang Shan and his people were in control of the full picture.
The Orunmila Project’s codebase was indeed vast and not directly manageable by the human brain, but Xiang Shan’s side did possess a "holistic understanding."
At least this one speculation among many from the hackers seemed "quite plausible."
Xiang Shan narrowed his eyes.
This wasn’t direct communication with the hackers. For him, speaking even a word was scripted; it lacked the thrill of a brainstorming session. He only felt an illusory sense of "inspiration clashing," but it wasn’t genuine.
Xiang Shan narrowed his eyes, concealing his inner thoughts.
—The first step had already been taken, the breach had been made...
At that moment, he heard some arguing outside.
Xiang Shan turned to look and saw it was from Hartman’s side. Hartman seemed to want to come over, but he was being held back by the FBI Monitor and another guard. There seemed to be a dispute.
Xiang Shan walked over and asked, "What’s going on?"
Seeing it was Xiang Shan, the guard lowered his voice and explained. Their task was to project the hacker community’s chat onto a screen, while experts loudly discussed it.
Hartman had been curious and came closer. His job was to analyze viruses and report at any time, and as an outsider, he obviously had no private office, so they had placed him in that corner. It was quiet enough, anyway.
The guard was unsure whether Hartman should be allowed to watch, hence the attempt to stop him. The former FBI staff was in charge of ensuring Hartman did not have "unnecessary contact" with others and ensuring Hartman had "no other business." He was also uncertain whether Hartman was trying to attract the guard’s attention to do something else, so he stepped in as well.
Xiang Shan feigned thought for a moment and asked Hartman, "Is your work done now?"
Hartman nodded, "The analysis tool is still running, and it will take several hours to process the data."
He had heard what was being discussed in the room and indeed felt an itch in his heart.
Xiang Shan turned to the former FBI agent, "He’s now part of the Hanuman Group; I can make the call, right?"
The former FBI member thought for a moment, then nodded silently.
Xiang Shan looked at Hartman, "Before you came here, did anyone tell you the full picture of the Rama Project?"
Hartman nodded, "I’ve seen the data from ’Xiduo’. But without orders, I can’t participate in those hackers’ discussions." ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ ɴovelfire.net
"Since you’re a hacker too, why don’t you come and take a look?"
Xiang Shan suggested with a negotiable tone, yet his hand grabbed Hartman’s shoulder firmly.
The others discussed for a short while. Hartman was originally brought in to deal with hackers, so involving him with the "Risk Community" was normal. However, some felt this discussion was deliberately added by the research department, beginning with activities related to the Rama Project. It might not be proper for Hartman to join.
Xiang Shan waited for a bit, then his expression turned impatient. He dragged Hartman into the small circle of discussion.
A few staff members showed some dissatisfaction, but didn’t say anything.
Xiang Shan indeed had the authority. He was the highest-ranking official here.
Hartman seemed very touched.
Of course, a couple of hours later, the meeting ended as usual. There was no need for any wrap-up. After all, the hackers had just gathered to share their techniques.
The two scholars who had followed Xiang Shan were ecstatic. They felt their thoughts had been sparked and had gained much.
Xiang Shan spent the rest of his time arranging the research project.
When it was time to finish work and have dinner, Secretary Hu appeared again, lightly reminding Xiang Shan with the implication to "be wary of an FBI agent".
Xiang Shan laughed inwardly. It seemed that his series of actions had been explained away by the rationale of "a scholar’s obsession".
No one realized his true intentions.
When work resumed the next day, Hartman was the first to report his findings.
"Zhu Rong" indeed used a kind of Trojan. He had left another trap on the servers of those corporate research institutions. When scholars downloaded the data they needed from that server, the computer would get infected. This Trojan could spread via USB drives, external hard drives, and Bluetooth and, under certain conditions, would send data to specific IPs or email addresses after connecting to public networks.
After triggering once, the virus would completely delete itself.
The good news was, Hartman had found several untriggered virus samples.
The bad news was, "Zhu Rong" had not publicly released all the stolen data.
Yet another set of data had been stolen.
And most crucially, this data was not from the "Orunmila Project" but from the "Obatala Project".
It contained alien organic compounds.
"’Zhu Rong’ probably didn’t understand it," Hartman said with a cigarette in his mouth. "But the worst-case scenario is that she knows someone in the field and has that friend assess the value of the research"
The ex-FBI member cleared his throat, seemingly reminding him not to talk too much about things outside his responsibility.
Hartman immediately shut his mouth.
In the discussions that followed, Hartman continued to participate.
However, there was a slight incident along the way.
The network security department detected signs of illegal access. Perhaps "Ramanujan," being a new face, had drawn the attention of some hackers. Someone was trying to trace the connection back.
But in reality, this was an impossible task. The consortium behind the Rama Project physically controlled the network’s gateways.
Yet, Xiang Shan looked at Hartman, "Buddy, can you trace the people trying to intrude in reverse?"
Hartman thought seriously for a moment, "Actually, I could try, but I can’t guarantee anything."
Xiang Shan then called a small meeting with those people. Hartman couldn’t touch other computers without permission. Without special clearance, he could only use his own equipment.
The others had grown accustomed to their boss’s unpredictable style, but this matter still needed discussion.
Of course, the outcome was somewhat predictable.
The "Hanuman Group" was nominally responsible for global apprehension tasks. However, using social engineering to dig out hackers from the "Risk Community" worldwide involved countless resources and manpower. Although Xiang Shan was the nominal head, he had no control over the police and military forces mobilized outside the park.
But within this group, his words carried weight.
After concluding the discussion, Hartman started his counter-hacking mission.
Xiang Shan patted Hartman’s shoulder, "Do a good job, brother. It would be great if you could figure out the structure of that online community."
Hartman laughed, "That, I researched last year."