Hacker's Diary

by Adam Smith

  I found this remark very bold, however, who am I? And who is Jeff? he most likely does have a far better view of the picture from the top of the hill than I do, at the bottom of it.

  The other thing that I found at my Tweeter's feed, few moments before I got home, was that they made a VR goggles to help you control your drone. That is very smart. Kudos to the developers.

  At times, I thought that every other invention is like a link in an endless chain. They are all logical steps, in order, to allow the possibilities to assemble something new and better. Evolution of mind equals evolution of technology.

  Zombie walking my way back home, I had my mind completely empty and when I unlocked the door into my room, a surprise was waiting for me there. A huge cockroach was crawling over my laptop. I thought for a second putting my bag sown and grabbed a flip-flop. I swapped the roach off my Lenovo, he has spread his wings and began to flow over the room, it was disgusting and nasty, I tried to hit him down, several times, with the flop. On the third time, I managed to hit him down to the floor where he wiggled his tiny legs in failing attempts to continue his fight for life, I did not hesitate, even for a second and smashed the poor fellow to the flop to end his miserable existence on the spot. Next, I grabbed a piece of toilet paper and threw his tiny dead body into the garbage. Swiped the floor and the flip-flop with another piece of paper and called it a day. Did you know that roaches have sex 200 times a day? So, I guess porn stars are closest to roaches among human beings.

  Two weeks have passed. I finally got my first salary. And it was my day off, so it was a double win. As planned, I went into the bank to dump some cash into my dollars card. After that, I made a stop at the fruits and vegetable market to purchase cauliflower, Armenian plum, apples, tomatoes and some cucumbers. Then, I went to the spices store to buy spices for the meal I planned to prepare from the book.

  It was a fish in the oven and cauliflower rice. I found it kind of cool by the description of it. So, I decided, since I got the salary and enough cash to cook something different from the book and sausages, I went shopping for the proper ingredients. The final stop was a grocery store close to my home where I used to shop for cheap meat and fish and anything else that contains a good amount of natural protein.

  It was fun to finally be ready to cook the cauliflower rice, however, I missed one crucial part needed to cook the meal. It was the greater. I grabbed my wallet, the ID and the smartphone and walked out of the home targeting the main street.

  I strolled in a fast pace through the street to look around for a kitchen gadget store and found one on the left side of the street. I walked in and it was messy, I looked around when the store owner finally lifted his head from the phone and said "Shalom, how can I help you?" "I'm looking for a greater." "Oh, you are going to cook? That's nice! I have some plastic graters right here!" he went over the counter towards a wall that was on my left and picked a gray plastic grater from a hook hanging on the same wall.

  "There is an orange color, as well, if you want, I might even have a green one..." "It doesn't really matter. I just need it to be useful. By the way, do you have a metal one? I remembered my grandma always used a metal one and it was good." "No, I don't have any metal one in stock, they are not as durable as the plastic ones, and however, if you buy one that is made of Nirosta, it could be good." "How much does a Nirosta one cost?" "About 400 shekels." "Whoa, that's too much, I don't cook that often. Anyway, how much for this one?" "70" "Do you accept credit cards?" "Nope, cash only." I fished a bit in my wallet and pulled out the last 100 shekels bill I had. I handed him the bill and he has packed the greater for me in a nylon sack. "So, what are you cooking anyway?" He asked me just before I prepared to leave the store.

  "I want to go ahead and try to cook a cauliflower rice, it's a recipe I found inside a book I have." "Cool! How do you cook it?" "Well, you rub a fresh cauliflower over the greater and then add some olive oil, some spices and a Thousand Islands sauce if you like." "Sounds epic! I looked for it online. Have a good day!" "Thanks." I slowly made my way home. Just to find out that I'm finally ready to cook the meal. It took me about 40 minutes to get everything cooked including the fish in the oven. I made a picture of the meal and sent it to my mum over Whatsapp.

  I proceeded to try it out and it wasn't as half bad as I expected it to be. It turned out that I actually can cook something good out of a recipe in a book.

  I felt like I needed to tell everyone, but I did not know anyone who would be interested. So, I simply packed some of it into my lunch box. Maybe, when I dine, somebody would notice.

  So okay, now when I was well fed and my stomach was satisfied with that culinary experiment, that would probably be okay for a week or so, I can now proceed to purchase a bitcoin. I went to Google and sought for "Bitcoins in Israel" I found one website on the top that provided such a service. Without overthinking, I went on and purchased enough to pay for the tutorials.

  Then a reboot of a system was required, to start the Tails OS. Once it was on, I've started the Tor browser and went straight forward into Hansa market. Located the tutorials I wanted to purchase previously and went through all of the process required to do so. First, I had to register an untraceable email box.

  So, I did that then I did the actual transaction and got the link for downloading the tutorials. Now, there was some kind of a special action required. I had to save the tutorials from the Tails OS into my Kindle reader, I was somewhat hesitant to plug in the phone and transfer the tutorials straight into it, so I took an extra step when an unknown number from Arizona had called.

  I was a bit nervous because I did not know anyone from Arizona. Besides, I just purchased tutorials through what promised to be an encrypted connection. I took a deep breath and slid the green button to the right to answer the call. "Hello Adi?" a voice with Midwestern accent inquired. "Yes, this is Adi. How may I help you? " a drop of sweat was going down my temple. "We just saw that you have signed for BuildBox updates, and we just started a discount program at a very affordable price." I felt a significant amount of relief. "No thank you, I'm not interested at the moment. However, when I will be, I will contact you directly." And, I hung up the call.

  Now, I took a break of a minute and poured myself a cup of Fuze tea. That call was nothing extraordinary but the timing? I hesitated for a second and then simply decided that it was just a coincidence. I plugged into the laptop the second flash drive that I have purchased at the Duty-Free and transferred the files to it. Now, I simply closed the Tor browser and turned off the system once again. I had to pull the Flash drive with Tails OS off as the screen has required.

  It wasn't that hard.

  Now, I booted Windows, the main system that is installed on Lana. I called my laptop Lana because it was black and sexy as the character from the Archer show.

  Besides, Lana and Lenovo, sounds similar, no? I mean Leno and Lana? Well, never mind, excuse me for swaying away a little bit from the master plan story.

  When the Windows loaded, I plugged the flash drive with the tutorials in. While it was reading, I thought I should label the Tails flash drive with a marker, and so I did.

  I plugged my phone in and transferred the PDFs to my phone, so I would be able to read them anywhere. They are instantly been populated in the Kindle app, which I found amazing.

  After that was done, I stopped for a moment to think it all through. There are so many questions in the air. So many technical issues that have to be solved before I do what I have in mind.

  Well, I had a general idea of how to do it. The thing is that the cash boxes were running on Windows XP, which made the system very vulnerable, the fact that they had a USB port made it possible for any cashier to plug a flash USB drive into them. The main question that is coming up to mind is that how do I do that and remain unnoticed? There are cameras everywhere. At the front and the back. So, if I even did write a Trojan code that would sabotage the system and send the credit card swapped transactions in
to a remote account, I still would get caught because the security guard would be able to find out who plugged in the drive.

  I sat there and was in a thought, the heart rate was going up to the degrees outside. I turned on the fan and put it on the second speed. I also poured some more of the Fuze tea. Then, the idea came to my mind that was somewhat obvious but yet required a tremendous amount of effort to accomplish.

  I had to hack into the security cameras and record a stream for 12 or so hours, then on my shift, when I plug in the flash drive with the Trojan, I would simply have to stream that the recorded video to the security guards which also have shifted and most likely won't notice that the live stream, in fact, is a recording.

  It was brilliant and simple in theory. But yet, it requires a lot of effort. First, I had to have a connection to their network, second, I have to remain unnoticed to their cybersecurity system, and third, I had to be able to repeat all that at the day I would execute my flash drive planting.

  I went into the tutorials and scrolled through one of them. There were many. Some were useless to my course, nonetheless, there were some Trojan writing guidance. I had to have a break from all of that and breathe some fresh air. I dressed up and went into the park.

  I kept thinking about this idea with obsession. The more I thought, the easier it seemed to execute. When I was in the park, I saw the guy who was feeding the homeless cats that occupied the bushes over there. I said "Hi! How are you?" "Fine thanks." "May, I ask you, why are you doing this?" "Doing what?" "Feeding the cats, it probably costs a lot of money!" "Actually, it does, but I feel pity for them." "Well, okay." I had nothing better to say so I went back home.

  I Googled for a tiny flash drive and found SanDisk Ultra Fit 64GB to be suitable for my purposes, I placed my order on Amazon.

  Now, I had to write Trojan. And test it. I had to find myself a cheap second-hand laptop and install windows XP on it.

  Okay, a cheap laptop wouldn't cost me more than 800 shekels. So, all I have to do is to go to yad2.co.il it's like an Israeli craigslist, and find the seller that is not too far from me. Tel Aviv and the central area would be absolutely perfect.

  After about 20 minutes of browsing, I found one that was selling for 650 shekels in Florentine area of Tel Aviv. I won't disclose the characteristics of it, I will simply say that it is an old Dell. I picked the phone and called the guy, turned out it was a girl. "Shalom!" "Hi! I'm calling regarding the Dell laptop..." "Oh, sorry but it has already been sold." "Oh, I see." "Well, do you have any other laptop for sale at the same price?" "No, unfortunately not, sorry!" "'Well, okay. Thank you. Bye."

  Chapter 4

  It took me about 10 minutes more to find another for 730 shekels at Rishon Le Zion. I called the seller, it turned to be a kid, I thought I was mistaken for a minute but then proceeded and asked anyway "Hi! Are you selling a used Dell laptop?" "Well, yeah I do. You can come over today if you like, I'm sick, so I'm at home." "Okay, are your parents’ home?" "Yeah, why do you ask?" "Never mind, what's your address?" He gave me the address and I assured him I will be there to check the laptop at about 4 PM. Now, I checked the bus lines to Rishon and got myself ready for a 3-hour ride, it took two buses to get there from where I live so I had to go out now or I could cycle there on my crappy bicycle, which would be exhausting considering the fact that I have to work the next day for 9 hours at the Duty-Free.

  So, I got myself a flask (reused plastic water bottle) refilled with Fuze tea and grabbed the wallet and left for another adventure in the outer world.

  On the ride, there I sat at the back of the bus and observed the passengers. At the front line of the bus, there were old people sitting. Like Grannies and Grandpas with their tiny two-wheeled carriages full of veggies and fruits and other groceries, they bought once a week. Then, there were mid-aged ladies going for shopping at one of the malls in Rishon.

  And closer to the end of the bus, there were teenagers and among them was a fine looking couple, kissing and caressing each other, not to explicitly. But hey, what else can you call love?

  I kind of had a girlfriend once, she was a Ukrainian immigrant who made an Aliyah to Israel with her mother and older brother. She was blonde and innocent, so we used to date and kissed and had a lot in common, like similar music taste and favorite classes. But in the end, she dumped me for another guy who had rich parents and a secured future no matter what he would with his life. After that, I kind of heard the low opinion of women and girls from Post USSR countries especially. Well, Fuck it! I am going to be rich and fuck whoever I want and whenever I want without being attached to the circumstances of life or heart. That was the plan.

  I got to the house, on the Rothschild Street, it was crowded, there was some kind of sale going on, and so I had to push through the crowd. When I got to number 62, I called the kid and asked him to open the door for me. The building was old but well-cleaned. I went upstairs and was welcomed by an old woman who claimed to be the grandma of the kid. "I don't have much time, excuse me, I can just have a look at the computer that would be fine." "Yes, yes sure, Eli go ahead and show this boy the computer you are selling."

  The boy has led me to his room and there I've encountered the huge gaming PC and the old Dell Laptop right next to it. I tried not to show my Wow, so I went on and flipped the laptop, it looked fine, I asked the kid to turn it on, and he did.

  To my surprise, Windows XP booted. I grinned and said "Good". Now, connect to the internet." "Okay" he went on and got connected to his home Wi-Fi, to be honest, I couldn't care less even if it was his neighbors. "May I?" "Sure" the kid said and let me check the system, the keyboard, the sync pad and the characteristics. The sync pad had a delay and at times did not respond at all. I asked "Why are you selling?" the kid smiled "That was originally my dad's computer, then he bought me this PC" and waved his hand towards the monster machine. "I see. Do you know that the sync pad is laggy?

  I would buy it but I want you to lower the price." the kid got all serious and asked how much I would give for it? "650" he thought for a second, I could see he was doing some serious calculations in his mind and finally he said "Deal". I picked the Dell and went back to the grandma, I said "I'm taking it, he is a good kid. Here is the money. I gave her the 650" and she said "Give it to him, it's his, he posted the ads and all" the kid was right there when I turned around, so I simply gave him the cash and said thank you and made my way out.

  What a day! When I got home, it was already eight and I was exhausted, so I took a shower and went through the routine before I found myself dozing off.

  The next day was a day shift and it was awesome, the people were nice and the weather wasn't as hot as yesterday. Besides, it was Friday, which meant there would be a hell lot of people, but Shahar was happy because it meant he would get more sales.

  "How are you doing Adi? Anything new?" he winked and I knew what he was talking about. "Yeah, Bar Refaeli called me yesterday and said she would dump her husband for me." He giggled and said "Well, I may not got Bar but we have a date with Ximena next week. It's going to be as sweet as honey." I giggled too and wished him luck.

  Deep inside, everything that I was carrying about was the plan. So, I 1went in, smiled and played my role, I served the customers having a small chat with them from time to time. As usual, the break was awesome and everyone was extremely relaxed and nice, like if the company did not rip off anyone.

  We are living in a dream and everybody knows it. The dream of security, the dream of equality and the dream of free speech. But the truth is that nobody says what they think, not even me. We are spoon-fed what we supposed to feel, think and want. And there is no escape, you either join in or die. As I said before you are either a ship or a wolf. The only difference between a wolf and a sheep is that the wolf knows how to make hard decisions fast.

  After the shift was over, I've put the huge stack of cash into the envelope and thought to myself here you fucking go. Gave it to the deputy manager and went to
scan off my finger. A steady job is a fine concept, and knowing that at the beginning of every month, you would get your cash to pay your bills is awesome. But you know what sucks? It sucks to know that it's less than 0.1 percent from what the guys at the top make. And with cash as theirs, only the bigger fish can put them at place. I thought it would be cool to make my plan true and show them that they could be fucked from behind too, or from the bottom if you like.

  Tomorrow is a Saturday and I do have a night shift. It's kind of lame, but not everything goes as you would wish it would. I turned on a Rage against the Machine, Killing in the Name track to lift my rebel spirit up. When it was off, I did 3 sets of 15 push-ups each, some plank time to straighten my abdomen and went to shower, afterward, I spent about half an hour meditating, it kind of keeps one calm, and a cool mind is what every one of us could use from time to time. Afterwards, I lay on the bed and fell asleep in about five minutes.

  Working days passed intensively not leaving any time for writing the code or re-planning, but I can say that the fact I hadn't to drive while getting to and fro the workplace, allowed me to study the tutorials. Which were epic and shit. Honestly, I haven't felt more unique ever before, but the thing is that the tutorials were downloaded at least 1,000 times or so. Taking into account that 80% of the people who buy books never read them is a simple calculation that shows that I am among the 200 others, at least, who will possess that knowledge.

  My next day off was at 16 of May. That was a Tuesday, and to be honest, I waited for that day with high expectations, first I wanted to continue the writing of the Trojan, to dig the info needed to perform the setting up of an offshore account and money laundering techniques, all that without getting caught.

  Anyhow, I knew I'm playing high stakes but even in the army, I had to do something that would stand out to keep the Adrenalin flowing, otherwise, there wouldn't be feeling that would make you feel alive. If you going to practice that, do something that would not endanger your loved ones or big masses of innocent people because otherwise, you are an asshole.