Audio Assault

by Jeff Adams

  “Wow,” Lorenzo said once he was fully up-to-date. “Getting personal information stolen because you buy a song is significant on its own. The audio tone is something new and disturbing, though.”

  “Right? I can’t imagine what it would be used for, or if it’s being used now and I haven’t figured it out yet. There’s no indication anything executed.”

  “There are all kinds of safeguards built in to make sure phones don’t react to an unauthorized sound. But it registered a threat. I’ll get our team responsible for that function to review this. I think IT needs to be more involved in this case now.”

  “Agreed. I’ll inform—” I had to edit myself. I couldn’t say codenames because there were too many people around. “I’ll authorize it and make sure the right people are notified.”

  “I’ll let the team here know you’re leading and on the scene for IT. Defender and Snowbird continue to command the overall mission,” Lorenzo said.

  “I’ll continue to analyze. We should also get Split Screen on this. Her abilities could be useful since she’s shown an aptitude for uncovering mysterious things in code. There are functions triggered by these files that she might figure out.”

  “Good call, Winger.” It’d only been a few months since I’d turned down taking a full-time leadership position, but I still made suggestions. “I’ll let her know.”

  “Great. Once you get her and the rest of the team figured out, I’ll set up a briefing for them.”

  “Sounds good. Let me know if you need any support from me or if you need more resources. Since you’re on the ground there, I understand your time might be split.”

  “Within the next couple hours, IT tasks will have my full attention.”

  “Great. I think I’m going to work on the sound file as well. I’m fascinated by that. It’ll be more interesting than writing reports.”

  Reports sucked. I hated them and appreciated how much Lorenzo wanted a justifiable distraction.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A COUPLE of hours later, Sofia took a break and came with me to Oliver’s office since she wanted to stay informed. Dad was upstairs with him, and we got Mom and Marcella on a conference call since Marcella was at her office.

  “I don’t have any more than I did earlier. I’ve turned the information over to my colleagues so we can get to the bottom of it faster.”

  “Good call,” Dad said. Luckily no one asked who my colleagues might be.

  “Agreed,” Mom added. “This would line up with the corporate espionage theory? Competitors perhaps?”

  “It’s certainly a possibility,” Oliver said. “If word gets out about this, it could damage Glenwood Music. It could also cause issues for the entire industry if people don’t feel they can trust the music they buy.”

  “And this ties back to the threat indicating it was the music distribution system the people targeting Oliver and his family were after,” Dad picked up.

  “Why pick Glenwood Music?” Mom asked. “They’ve got a couple of high-selling artists, but they’re still relatively small compared to other companies.”

  When had Mom become such an expert in the music business? She rattled off more statistics about the industry like she’d known it forever. It was clear where her focus had been in the past day or so.

  “There are a lot of possibilities,” Dad said. “If you target a smaller company first you can test out your plan. Once it works, you spread it to larger companies.”

  Oliver’s expression was grim. “Should we warn people that possibly some of our music is infected?”

  “We need to figure out if there are any other compromised song files in your repository.” I looked to Oliver. “The song we know is infected hasn’t been released yet. I’ll write a search program that can scan the other files and tell us if there are any out there. That’ll help us decide what to do.”

  “That’s the critical first step,” Dad said. “We need to know what we’re dealing with and if it’s out in the market now. We should avoid going public with any news. We don’t want to tip our hand too soon.”

  “Okay. Obviously you have full access to anything you need. Anyone that you need to talk to or work with. If you get any pushback, come directly to me. Theo, do you need anything special?”

  “I think I’m good.”

  Oliver nodded and looked around the room as if trying to make sure no one else was in his office. He dropped his head into his hands and wasn’t the confident entrepreneur, media mogul I’d seen in action the past few days. “I really hope you’re able to find the problem and the people behind it.”

  “We’ll do everything possible.” I looked to Dad. “I need to work on this exclusively and for ease of access I should do it from IT. We need someone else with Sofia.”

  “I’m already on that.” He gave me a subtle smile. “John’s off-site but on his way back. He’ll keep her safe.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking.”

  Oliver looked between us as if he didn’t quite know how to react to the exchange we’d had, but he kept quiet about it. “Ask Christian to set you up with an office in IT and to make sure you get whatever you need from Melissa.”

  I looked forward to unraveling this complex situation.

  Chapter Fourteen

  THE AFTERNOON turned into a blur as I put the search in place to look for songs that were already infected and worked with the team Lorenzo assigned to analyze the files we had.

  “I know you’ve had limited time to review our systems.” Melissa sat across from me in my temporary office. “Do you see any way for someone on the outside to gain access? Our access logs only show the attempts you made when you first started as well as the one attack that occurred during the charity event. Beyond that we only see the regular traffic you’d expect.”

  “I tried a few different ways to get in, and the security was tight. I haven’t had time to force my way in, but I don’t believe I’d have an easy time of it between your automated systems and the security team.” She nodded but still seemed apprehensive. “How many people overall have access to the system?”

  She picked up the tablet from the desk in front of her and tapped out some commands. “There’s only a couple dozen, and they either directly handle the distribution of music or pull reports. Those with access to reports don’t handle the actual music files.”

  I nodded and thought for a moment. “We should get that list up to my dad and Oliver since they’re vetting people to see if there’s any possibility this is an inside job.”

  “I’ll send it right now.” She focused on the tablet, no doubt to send the email.

  Melissa ran a tight ship. The security protocols were higher than what I would’ve expected to see from a corporate system without e-commerce directly tied in. Since the system handled file encoding, it provided the ideal point to add something to the song before it was released and it would be unlikely anyone would catch it before it got out.

  “You really think it could be someone here?” she asked when she finished typing.

  I looked up from my screen. I’d been working for an hour to deconstruct the infected file before Melissa stopped by. “It’s very possible. An insider would have the knowledge how files are assembled and the best time to add additional encoding. If not an insider doing the actual work, an insider providing the access is possible. Speaking of, how often do you make employees change their passwords.”

  “We’re on a forty-five-day cycle and people hate it.”

  I smiled and chuckled. When I started at TOS I was surprised they had a ninety-day refresh policy. While the IT team at the time appreciated my recommendation for a thirty-day cycle, it took a long time to get that implemented because it meant people had to learn a new password so frequently. It was one of the reasons we switched to fingerprints and retina scans as quickly as we could. They were easier than remembering the more complex passwords and passphrases we demanded.

  “You’re already ahead of the curve, then,” I sai
d as she nodded. “What about access? Can people log in from outside the company network?”

  “You have to log in to the network and then access it from your personal dashboard.”

  “How disruptive would it be if you cut off the access via VPN so that—”

  “There’s an extra layer of control in place.” I loved that she anticipated where I was headed.

  “Exactly.” A chime sounded from my laptop and a notification popped up that one of my analyses was done.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “My analysis of the first batch of songs is complete. There are anomalies.” I called up the results and found three hundred and thirty-two files featured characteristics of the infected file I’d first seen.

  She obviously saw my frown. “Can you tell me or does it just need to go to Mr. Glenwood?”

  I pulled out my phone and dialed Dad on his regular line. He picked up quickly. “Theo, have you found something?”

  “Yeah. Is Oliver with you?”

  “Yes, he is. I’ll put you on speaker.”

  “I’ll do the same. I’m here with Melissa.”

  I put the phone on the desk.

  “So, tell us.” Dad wasted no time starting the briefing.

  I told them about the findings. The scripts I ran went backward through the system, starting with songs that were to be released in the coming days and then back through the past month.

  “I’ve just sent this list to the three of you so you can look it over.”

  Melissa visibly steeled herself. It only took a moment before her tablet pinged with the email.

  “This is a disaster.” Oliver spoke first. “This appears to affect our entire release slate for the next three weeks. It’s a busy time for us as we’re rereleasing a section of my back catalog as well as albums from several of our biggest artists. It’s the start of the company’s fifteenth anniversary. Not to mention the song Sofia and I did.”

  “So, you don’t normally release this much?” Dad asked.

  “No. At most it’s usually one or two albums a month along with some singles. It can be a couple more if either of our two specialty labels release, but those are usually once a quarter.”

  “With the anniversary, a lot of publicity has happened around these releases?” I asked, curious about how many potential downloads they expected.

  Oliver surprised me with a chuckle. “We must be doing something wrong because you are in one of our primary demographics.”

  “I’m often told my tastes are not exactly in the mainstream.”

  “Well,” Oliver said, “we’ll see if we can broaden those tastes once this is done. To answer your question, we’re projecting more than a million downloads in the first week for “Guardian” and then in the hundreds of thousands for new releases and more in the tens of thousands for releases”

  “Back to our issue, when were these songs processed?”

  “Melissa, do you have that data? All I know is they would’ve had to be in the system in time for any early promotions.”

  Oliver barely had the question asked before Melissa was working her tablet.

  “The songs went into the system over a three-week period starting about six weeks ago.” Her speech was peppered with pauses as she read the information. “Each file was initially processed within hours of its upload as expected, but the final processing date…. This doesn’t make sense. The logs indicate each of these was reprocessed two days ago.”

  “Why would a large batch of songs be reprocessed like that? How did we not see that before?”

  “What are the circumstances a file would be reprocessed?” Dad asked.

  “Adding metadata—final artwork, final songwriting or producing credits, any last-minute changes like that. And we keep track of when those are done. I could see, for example, ten or fifteen songs all from the same album updated at one time for the final cover art.”

  “Do we know who made the bulk updates?” I asked.

  Once again she tapped her screen. The scowl on her face grew the more she tapped.

  “The updater information is missing.” Disappointment sounded through her voice.

  There was silence as the impact of that sunk in for everyone. Whoever did this not only had access but also the ability to cover it up.

  “Since we’ve got the time stamps these changes happened, we should be able to work with the access logs to determine who was logged in at the time.”

  “Let’s get that figured out,” Oliver said. “I’m going to have Larson oversee the fixes. Theo, if you find any more, pass the info to Christian so he can send them on.”

  “We’ve got ten days before these go out, right?” Dad asked.

  “To the general public, yes,” Oliver answered quickly. “However, some of the songs can be accessed early by fan club members and reviewers. You need special codes to access them, and they can only be played on the website, with no downloads allowed until they go on sale. We do that to build buzz while mitigating piracy ahead of the release.”

  “There’s potentially significant risk even in that setup. Depending on how the viruses are constructed they might be able to make the jump from the browser to the device. Let me test that right now. Can I get the URL of one of those sites so I can see what happens?”

  “I’ll have that sent to you,” Oliver said. “Do you really think that’s occurring?”

  “Given the sophistication I’ve seen so far, I’d have to say yes.” There was no reason to soften the blow.

  Across from me, Melissa typed furiously on her tablet. On the phone I heard muffled talking from Oliver asking someone to get me the website info. While I waited, I created an area on my computer where my security tools could run on a browser and contain any damage the virus might cause.

  Melissa looked up from her tablet. “Looking at the figures as of this now, since these files were updated, the most plays for a song was fifty-four times and the least was ten. From my quick cross reference, these are available only to reviewers and haven’t gone out to fan clubs yet. There’s still three days before club release.”

  At least it was minimal distribution considering the number of songs that had the potential to cause damage.

  “I’ve loaded one of the review sites. I’m going to play the song on mute.” I clicked the settings for the audio. “Since we don’t know the true intention of the strange audio we discovered in Sofia’s track we must be cautious. Stand by.”

  I clicked play. The clock on the player started, and it was only a few seconds before my security panel popped open, indicating the computer would’ve transmitted data if I hadn’t quarantined the browser. The song also contained the mystery audio.

  “I’m afraid this track is compromised. I’m going to set up some tracers along with fake data to see if I can find out where it’s going.”

  “I’m going to have the site shut down temporarily. We can’t—”

  “I don’t know if that’s the best idea,” Dad interrupted.

  “But we have to—”

  “How fast can the songs be replaced?” I jumped in. “We know the root files don’t carry the viruses, or at least Sofia’s didn’t. If we’re able to put out clean versions it might buy us time to do the necessary trace.”

  “We could also make it appear the song hasn’t been updated,” Melissa added. “If anyone checked the system they would think the infected file is still in place.”

  I nodded at Melissa for, again, finishing my thoughts.

  “Okay,” Oliver said reluctantly. “If we get that done in the next couple of hours, the review sites can stay up.” I couldn’t imagine what scenarios played out in his mind with this attack on his business. “Melissa, work with whoever you need to get a list of who listened to the infected files. I’ll work with PR and legal to determine how we want to reach out to them.”

  We all had tasks, so it was time to get back to it. “I’ll update as soon as I have something new. Is there anything else to discuss?”<
br />
  “I think that’s it,” Dad said.

  Melissa nodded, and I told Dad we’d talk later.

  “If you need anything, you know where my office is.” Melissa left, and I sent updates to the TOS team.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I’D STAYED at Glenwood Music until after nine and caught a ride back to Brooklyn with Dad and Oliver.

  “So the data that’s stolen is going to a location in Manhattan?” Oliver asked as he drove.

  “That’s what the trace shows. Although I would’ve expected it to go somewhere farther away, most likely overseas. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. Once we’re home, I’ve got a meeting to get updates from my colleagues.”

  “You’re pretty amazing.” Oliver stole a look at me in the rearview mirror. “You and Katherine raised him well, Victor.”

  “He’s a good kid for sure. But where his computer stuff comes from, I have no idea because neither Katherine nor I think anything like he does.”

  My cheeks heated, and I was glad the inside of the car was mostly dark.

  “Don’t hesitate to contact me at any point if you need resources from the company, Theo. I’ll make sure you get what you need no matter the hour. Victor told me you work late at night sometimes, I’ll email you my personal cell that I keep at the bedside in case you need to reach me.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  I expected to be up late shuffling through what I’d get from Lorenzo so it was possible I’d need something. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to wake him, though.

  As we arrived in front of the house, one of the security men came out from the first-floor apartment they used as their base. Another staffer came and took the car away. I’d seen this play out a couple of times now, and I still marveled at valet parking at home.

  As we got out, Sofia came down all bouncy and excited. What had her so excited?

  Without stopping to say hello to her dad, she stopped in front of me. “Theo, man, great timing. I’ve got a surprise for you.”