“I think we’re ready, Professor,” said Malvalaha.
Lau walked over to Malvalaha’s desk and motioned for the other Gamers to gather around.
“Windows will block an attempt by a typical INF file to enter the operating system,” said Malvalaha. “So what we have done is create two files with innocent-looking names, in this case—slides.inf and slide1.gif. I say innocent looking, because they are typical names and extensions used as part of the PowerPoint program itself.”
Lau stood back to allow the students to inch closer to Malvalaha’s screen.
“Slide1.gif has been created as an executable program file and slides.inf is designed as an installer file that will rename slide1.gif to slide1.gif.exe,” said Malvalaha. “Once inserted into the Clark Station server, slide1.gif.exe will create a registry entry that will allow activation of the Sandworm program. In this particular case, we will not be able to run the program directly, but the SCADA software will have ingested a yummy PowerPoint GIF-and-INF cocktail.”
Malvalaha leaned back in his chair to catch his breath.
“The malware itself is not embedded in our PowerPoint file. Rather, it is retrieved by a drive-by install—the download of updates to Java, Windows, ActiveX or Adobe will trigger the activation. We have obfuscated the malicious code in Sandworm to avoid detection by their antivirus software. When SCADA is used in any capacity today, the malware will activate, and the Clark Station will go offline.”
“Were you able to use Sandworm to affect the outlying generation plants?” asked Lau.
“We added an interesting twist to the GIF-and-INF cocktail,” said Fakhri. “We wrote the code to reject requests from the Chuck Lenzie Station as a potential DDoS attack. The normal operating functions of SCADA are compromised to the extent that Clark Station will deny SCADA access from the outlying stations.”
“There’s one more thing,” interrupted Malvalaha. “All of the major casinos have standby power systems. I’ve done some research on the standby system at Caesars Palace and found it to be typical of the major hotels that have a backup in place.”
“What is the standby system’s capability?” asked Lau.
“Most of the buildings have the typical battery-powered security lights that will remain on for an hour or so,” said Malvalaha. “But the batteries will eventually lose their charge. The major casinos claim to be cognizant of guest safety, but they are really more interested in keeping the slots running. They employ a more sophisticated backup system called a paralleling system.”
Damn.
“How long will the paralleling system maintain power?” said Lau, his voice showing obvious concern about this new twist.
“Fear not, good sir,” said Malvalaha. “We’ve got this.”
Lau relaxed—a little.
“The consulting engineers who provided the Cummins Power paralleling system to Caesars Palace were very proud of their work,” said Malvalaha. “The engineers were so proud they detailed the entire project on their website. Here’s what I learned from their dot-com.”
Malvalaha went on to detail how the paralleling system at Caesars consisted of nine sections of switchgear and two sections of low-voltage controls, including a digital master control.
“Here is where they failed,” said Malvalaha. “The entire apparatus includes a DMC 300 digital master control, which employs a simple-to-use icon-based touchscreen interface. This simplifies their diagnostics and operation.”
“So,” started Lau, motioning for him to get to the point.
“Sooo,” interrupted Malvalaha, “they wired the DMC 300 control panel to the Nevada Energy SCADA system in order to receive instantaneous notice of an outage. Their client insisted that those slot machines never miss a beat.”
“Hell yes!” exclaimed Lau. “Let me guess, you stirred in a little something for the DMC 300 in the cocktail. When the grid goes down, the backup system will fail as well.”
“Yes, we did,” said Malvalaha proudly. “We’ve done the same for the rest of the hotels with similar systems.”
“Let’s get started,” said Lau. “The program will execute at what time?”
“I have it set for 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time,” said Malvalaha. “It will release the system in exactly forty-eight hours, as requested by the client. This should be an interesting Valentine’s Day weekend for Sin City.”
“Walthaus, are you ready?” asked Lau.
Walthaus had gained the respect of his peers and was allowed the honor of generating the keystrokes. He brought up his screen and was inside the Clark Station servers within moments.
“We have identified the optimal zero-day vulnerability in Windows as the packager.dll file, which is part of OLE, a Windows Object—Linking—Embedding property. Our GIF-and-INF cocktail will be embedded in an OLE object and installed into SCADA. Kudos to Trend Micro for creating a solution to the INF intrusion. Unfortunately, they didn’t consider our workaround. Just like that, SCADA drank up our cocktail and is ready to belch one hot mess tonight at eight.”
The group briefly exchanged high fives and settled back in their seats—like professionals ready to work on the next task. The Zero Day Gamers were becoming more proficient and expert at cyber espionage. How far can this take them? More importantly, how high, or how low, will they go? All important questions for later.
Chapter 31
February 13, 2016
Brae Burn Country Club
West Newton, Massachusetts
“Come on, girls, hurry up!” Susan Quinn hollered up the stairs for her daughters to pick up the pace. “Dr. Warren and his guest will be here shortly, and I don’t want you running around like wild Indians!”
“Suze, it’ll be all right,” said Donald. “J.J. won’t care. He loves the girls like a grandfather would.”
“He’s hardly old enough to be their grandfather,” replied Susan. She pulled a platter of meats and cheeses out of the Thermador refrigerator and placed them on the kitchen island. “I want the girls to learn some responsibility when it comes to being on time—especially when guests come over.”
“Honey, they’re ten and seven. They’ve barely mastered the concept of cleaning their rooms,” said Donald. As if on cue, however, the girls hopped down the stairs in perfect bunny-rabbit unison until, with one final slap, they reached the marble floor with their feet. “Come here, my gorgeous girls, and let me hold you.”
“No way, Daddy, we’re dressed and we’ve put our faces on,” said Penny, the Quinns’ oldest child.
“You have?” asked Susan. “Just where did you get these fabulous faces to put on?” She reached out for both of their mushes and gave them a squeeze, causing the girls to squeal with delight.
“Remember, Mommy, Uncle J.J. gave us each a make-up set for Christmas,” scolded Rebecca, age seven going on thirty.
Donald was amazed at how fast they grew up. He knew there would be a time in the not-so-distant future when he would have to scare the bejesus out of their potential suitors. He would be ready for them when the time came.
“Listen up, girls. We’re going to have some snacks for dinner tonight—meats, cheeses, shrimp and some raw veggies. Would you like to have some of that, or shall I fix you something else to eat?” asked Susan.
Donald admired his wife as she treated the girls like young ladies. Susan was excellent at providing the kids real-world choices. The girls might prefer a plate of hors d’oeuvres tonight rather than shoving mac and cheese down their throats just because it came in the shape of some creep named SpongeBob. Donald watched as the girls pondered their options. They whispered back and forth. This was a high-level decision.
“We’ll take mac and cheese, please,” they announced in unison. So much for your theory, Daddy-O. The girls ran off singing, “Easy peasy, mac and cheesy. Easy peasy, mac and cheesy.”
“I’ll grab some wine,” said Donald. He made his way down the marble hallway to a built-in, climate-controlled, wine-storage nook. The McMansions of 2006 becam
e the foreclosures of 2008. Nobody needed a 5,800-square-foot house with a built-in wine nook. But the Quinns were rewarded with this palatial home as a result of Donald’s agreement to spend a couple of years “away.” His “vacation” was now a distant memory. Their new life was filled with wine nooks, singing children and new friends, such as Dr. John Joseph Warren—J.J. to his friends.
He and J.J. became close friends after they met during Donald’s stay at FMC Devens. J.J. was an accomplished Army Battalion Surgeon who was deployed to Joint Base Balad as part of the 310th Sustainment Command—located on the former Al-Bakr Air Force base north of Baghdad. J.J. rose to the rank of major during his decorated career with the Army. He spent time at FMC Devens monthly to visit with the handful of former military personnel who had run afoul of the law. J.J. offered them support and encouragement. Donald, who held the job of office custodian at the time, struck up a conversation with J.J. and the two became better acquainted.
Upon his release from FMC Devens, Donald watched an interview J.J. gave to Boston’s Fox 25 about his service. The reporter asked him about his time at JBB and what were some of the highlights. J.J. was borderline incredulous. That’s a tough one to answer. It was either working on our brave men and women who lost parts of their bodies or Carrie Underwood visiting in ‘06. What do you think? Highlights, there were no highlights. The interview was over.
J.J. carried a lot of anger with him following his retirement. He was disappointed in the lack of appreciation the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan received in the media and by politicians. J.J. was particularly irate over the political football the war had become. Donald became his friend, confidant and sounding board. In a way, Donald was J.J.’s PTSD shrink.
As so many of the Army Medical Corps do, J.J. took a job with Veterans Affairs at the VA hospital in Jamaica Plain. The VA New England Healthcare System was headquartered in Bedford and the Jamaica Plain campus was where J.J. was assigned. Unlike many of his fellow members of the Medical Corps, J.J. wanted to make a real difference in the lives of the returning vets who were damaged. In addition to providing primary care for vets, VA Jamaica Plain was home to the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was having trouble coping with what he experienced in Iraq, so he wanted to help others with PTSD as well.
Once again, J.J. became disillusioned and the anger set in. When the Veterans Health Administration scandal surfaced in 2014, J.J.’s response was simple: Where the hell have you media people been? J.J. had observed how hospital administrators manipulated records in order to receive their coveted bonuses. He heard the complaints of the soldiers who were ferried from one waiting list to another, but never received treatment. J.J. realized the practice was systemic throughout the VA. When the reports surfaced in ‘14 identifying thirty-five veterans who had died while waiting for care in the Phoenix VA system alone, he submitted his resignation.
Donald recognized that his friend needed an outlet—a purpose in life. Donald and Susan introduced J.J. to prepping. The couple appreciated the importance of having a trained physician as part of their group. Just as important, J.J. was a real patriot. He proved that during his service as well as afterwards with his commitment to helping his fellow veterans. In addition, as if fate had waved her wand over the entire relationship, J.J. was a direct descendant of Dr. Joseph Warren, an original member of the Sons of Liberty who played an early, leading role in the War for Independence. J.J.’s bloodline was directly linked to our Founding Fathers. Members of his family were field surgeons at Bunker Hill. John, the younger brother of Dr. Joseph Warren, founded Harvard Medical School. J.J.’s familial roots ran deep into the soul of the United States.
Donald and Susan discussed bringing J.J. into the group at length. They broached the subject with the other members. A consensus was reached after a little background research and the Quinns were tasked with approaching J.J. about the matter.
Donald remembered the initial conversation well. It was a night in early August of 2012, soon after J.J.’s resignation from the VA. The Quinns invited him over for an afternoon of swimming and relaxation. Donald knew that J.J. enjoyed coming over to their home. He never married and did not have any children in his life. He simply adored the girls. Like any good uncle, J.J. would spoil the young ladies with age-appropriate gifts. On that day, the girls received mermaid swim fins. As the adults sat around the pool and talked, the little mermaids practiced their whale-tail splashes with their pink fins. J.J. had quipped, Maybe they’ll let women become Navy SEALs by the time these two grow up. Donald laughed to himself as Susan’s eyes got real big at the thought of her two precious pups becoming full-blown SEALs. Donald knew better. Not on her watch.
Donald broached the subject carefully, tying the concept into the current state of world affairs. At the time, the media was covering events in India. On July 31, 2012, India had experienced the largest power outage in world history. Generally, India’s power grid was deemed unreliable at best. On the 30th, a circuit breaker tripped at one of its outlying power stations. Subsequently, this tripped the breakers of another transmission station nearby, and power failures cascaded down the grid until twenty-five percent of India’s population was in the dark—three hundred million people. India was in a drought due to the late arrival of their monsoon season. Extreme heat prevailed throughout the country, including in New Delhi. The twenty-three million residents of Delhi, packed in at a density of nearly thirteen thousand people per square mile, were without power for days. Bedlam emerged as the city remained in the throngs of a heat wave, and in the dark.
Donald brought up the hypothetical to Susan and J.J. about the possibility of a similar occurrence in the United States and the ramifications of a widespread power outage. This conversation led to the threats of cyberattacks and electromagnetic pulse weapons. The Mayan Apocalypse was even thrown into the mix. By the time the trio had finished discussing the various threats we face as humans, J.J. was the one suggesting the need for a preparedness plan. Donald remembered thinking to himself: That’s how you introduce someone to prepping. You show them the real world threats and let them draw their own conclusions about the need to get prepared.
By the end of the long day of swimming and conversations, the three agreed to meet again to discuss the concept in more detail. Donald provided J.J. with some homework consisting of the two preparedness books delivered to him by Susan while he was at FMC Devens. Donald and Susan agreed to discuss J.J.’s interest one more time with the group. They also wanted to put together a plan for J.J. as it related to the big picture.
The Quinns knew survival medicine was one of the most important elements of a preparedness plan. After the shit hit the fan, people would not have access to a doctor, much less a hospital. Available treatment would be scarce and required medications even scarcer. If someone became injured or sick, help would not be on the way. Today, injuries could vary from minor, such as a scratch, to major, like head or chest traumas. After the SHTF, a minor scratch could kill you. Drinking contaminated water could cause dysentery, dehydrate you and result in your death. Finally, safe disposal of the inevitable dead bodies was an important medical and hygiene issue.
Tonight, the Quinns hosted this get-together not only as a social gathering, but as one of the many preparedness meetings the three had held since 2012. Dr. J.J. Warren was their Armageddon Medicine Man.
Chapter 32
February 13, 2016
Brae Burn Country Club
West Newton, Massachusetts
Susan Lowell Quinn instructed the girls to give Uncle J.J. and his lady friend a hug together with a good night kiss before she led them upstairs to bed. Susan knew how impressionable girls were at this age and she worked tirelessly to instill manners in them as well as feelings of self-worth and confidence. Penny, who was ten, was at an age where she would learn to make positive choices about her own life and for others. Susan and Donald both strived to raise their daughters as young adults while avoiding the externa
l social ills prevalent in today’s society. Only a parent could appreciate the fears of their beloved children taking a wrong path.
Susan was raised in a religious family, dedicated to the teachings of the bible. Dating back to the 1700s, the Lowells were practicing Christians and active in their church. The Lowells were notoriously independent throughout their history, hence their active involvement in the War for Independence. This also held true in their religious beliefs. While the Catholic Church dominated the religious landscape of Boston for centuries, Protestant Christian churches were established as early as 1592. Known as separatists or independents, the Congregationalists distinguished themselves from the more in vogue Presbyterians and were considered more progressive in many social reform movements, including abolitionism, suffrage and temperance.
By the time Susan’s great-great-grandfather Charles Russell Lowell became a Unitarian minister of the West Congregational Church in Boston, the Congregationalists were widely viewed as pioneers in allowing a laissez-faire approach to societal values in relation to the worship of God. Susan, while holding to these same Christian precepts, still feared that her children might be exposed to the unintended consequences of letting societal norms take their own course without interference or moral compass.
Determined to raise the girls as Christians, yet providing them a well-rounded childhood, Susan chose to expose them to adults as much as possible within their home. This evening was an important opportunity to introduce them to the horrors of war without the shocking images, online or in the media, that have jaded so many young people.
J.J.’s guest tonight was former Marine Second Lieutenant Sabina del Toro, who served in Iraq at the same time J.J. was stationed there. Sabs, as she preferred to be called, met J.J. at Joint Base Balad. She had been deployed to Iraq, and the thirty-two-member Marine platoon she commanded was assigned to the 6th Marine Regiment under the 2nd Marine Division based in Camp Lejeune. The 6th was primarily a peacekeeping force deployed throughout the Sunni Anbar province, which included Fallujah, just west of Baghdad.
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