Hiram Yaeger came into view, long hair still in a ponytail, granny glasses firmly in place.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” he said. “I’ll get right to it. The term American Wall has been used in cyberspace for the last few years. It refers to an elaborate series of firewalls and defenses we’ve built up to protect the information infrastructure. The thing is, no one is supposed to know about them. These systems are operated exclusively by the NSA. They cover government institutions and important civilian corporations.”
This took Kurt by surprise. “I keep hearing how vulnerable we are,” he said. “Are you saying this isn’t the case?”
“Let’s put it this way,” Hiram said. “We’re not as weak as we pretend to be. But the fact that your friend was talking about breaching the wall and bringing the system down suggests they’re contemplating something much bigger and deeper than your standard everyday hacking.”
“She’s not my friend,” Kurt said testily, “though she did save my life.”
“Odd, that,” Pitt said.
“Trust me, that wasn’t the only odd part,” Kurt said.
Pitt laughed.
“How might Sienna and Phalanx fit into all this?” Kurt asked.
Hiram was blunt. “If Phalanx works, it will replace the existing wall. In effect, it will be the American Wall 2.0.”
“What about these hackers?” Joe asked. “Any idea who they are?”
“We’re working on it,” Hiram said. “Aided and complicated by the fact that hackers have their own naming subculture.”
“The woman called them handles,” Kurt said.
“Exactly,” Hiram replied. “They’re more than just random call signs; they mean something. It’s a way of getting in touch with the right person. For example, even though Xeno9X9 sounds like a random string of letters and numbers, it actually tells us about the hacker’s skills. Xeno meaning ‘foreign,’ 9X9 being similar to the old radio terminology ‘five by five,’ meaning ‘strong signal, clear signal.’ My best guess is that Xeno9X9 is someone who can hack across borders with little problem.”
Pitt chimed in. “Based on prodigious amounts of research, we believe he’s a Ukrainian named Goshun. Interestingly enough, he went missing over a year ago. The prevailing thought was that he’d gone on the lam because his identity had become known. Now we’re wondering if Acosta had something to do with it.”
Kurt made a mental note of that. “What about the others?”
“We think ZSumG is short for ‘zero sum game,’ ” Hiram said, “a term commonly used in economic and market theories. It means one side can profit only if the other side loses an equal amount.”
“One winner, one loser,” Joe said. “No way for a win-win outcome.”
“Exactly,” Hiram said.
“So ZSumG might be a financial hacker?” Kurt asked.
“That’s our thought,” Hiram said. “Based on the evidence, ZSumG is believed to have cracked the security of several major banks in the last five years, stealing millions of credit card numbers, identity profiles, and bank account pins. He then sold them to criminal groups around the world.”
“Sounds like a lovely guy,” Joe said.
“Or gal,” Hiram said. “We’re not sure. Which brings us to the last name: Montresor.”
“Why does that sound familiar?” Joe asked.
Kurt had been thinking the same thing. The answer had come to him this morning. “Not keeping up on your required reading,” he said to his friend.
“I wait till the end of summer break,” Joe replied. “And then I cram it all in at the last minute.”
Kurt laughed lightly and then spoke. “ ‘The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could,’ ” he said. “ ‘But when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.’ ”
“ ‘The Cask of Amontillado,’ ” Hiram explained to Joe. “The name comes from the Edgar Allan Poe classic.”
“So it could be a reference to revenge,” Joe suggested.
“Or to hiding things where they can’t be found,” Kurt guessed, “the way Montresor sealed Fortunato in the wall.”