by Uzi Eilam
“Yes, my friend, I’m aware of this threat, and so are the Singaporeans.”
“Listen to me, Gideon. We aren’t those young commando paratroopers anymore. Don’t go playing the hero here.”
“I promise to be careful, General Director, and ask again that you dedicate your attention to the assistance your people will be asked to provide.”
“It’ll be okay, Gideon. Best of luck.”
***
Even such a long, busy day eventually came to an end. Gideon and Dan were sitting in El Al’s Business Lounge, waiting for the flight to Singapore via Bangkok. Dan’s fingers were flying over his laptop keyboard. The young man never rested even for a moment, Gideon marveled.
“So, Dan, how would you summarize your meetings?”
“It was wonderful. Even though the meetings were so tightly crammed I could barely breathe.”
“So what were the highlights?”
“Oh…there were quite a few. I got suggestions to add scent sensors and sensors that can take photos through metal walls. Dad told me about a multichannel communication component developed by our company in California, which is already being utilized by several systems. That would be an upgrade for our IOT system. He complimented me on incorporating the drone the company developed along with the Singaporean industry’s projects.”
“That sounds good, Dan. What else?”
“The most important thing I learned from the discussion with my old friends, Gideon, is to incorporate a principle of dynamic immunity in the existing system.”
“What exactly is that?” Gideon inquired.
“You know a lot more than me about the nature of the ongoing struggle between the developing threat and the response to it. With the tight timeline we’re dealing with, I’ve realized how important it is to include upgrade capabilities as part of the system’s integral nature. IOT technology is equipped for this, Gideon, and that’s the first thing I intend to do when we get back to Singapore.”
Gideon was glad to realize that the decision to leave for a day of meetings in Israel had been the right one. He leaned back in his seat, focusing on what he would be required to do in Singapore. The issue of the leaks was a constant source of concern, and he was waiting impatiently to hear from Deutsch and Chang Mei.
Chapter 34
Keeping the promise he had made to Gideon before his departure for Israel with Dan, Deutsch discussed the issue of the leaks at length with Chang Mei. He told her about his phone conversation with John O’Connor, who had recommended he focus on the personal motives of those involved. Dr. Chang Mei did not hesitate to single out Damia as someone who should be looked into. She also told Deutsch that, in a conversation with Tan, she had brought up the preferential treatment that he gave Damia. They decided to insert some false information into the task force’s summaries in order to zero in on the source of the leaks. A special alert regarding a cyber attack on the MRT subway would be a good example of such information.
General Tan’s daily meeting with the task force was characterized by satisfaction with Gideon’s report on his and Dan’s successful meetings in Israel. The general praised the friendship between the two countries but refrained from criticizing the United States, which had not complied with Dr. Deutsch’s requests in his conversations with Washington.
Some new information Dan had extracted from the updated surveillance network caused increased tension and apprehension among the team members. Dan reported a major operation currently coming together and described the determination of the two generals, the Iranian Ja’afari and the Malaysian Razek, to ensure the success of a massive terrorist attack, the details of which were still unclear to Dan.
Rogel read new information concerning cyber threats off his computer screen. He alerted them to the presence of a new cyber warfare center in Malaysia, built with aid from China, saying that the center constituted a threat to all of Singapore’s infrastructure facilities. Based on this data, Rogel claimed that a broad-range action targeting civilian aerial transportation had yet to be realized and that the MRT mass-transit system had not been harmed at this stage. Tan raised the alert level of Singapore’s Special Forces.
“I’m troubled by what we heard from Rogel,” Tan said to Gideon and Dan. “We have to determine which of our institutions would be most vulnerable to a cyber attack.”
“I agree, Tan, that does require some attention and action. I think Dan and Rogel can map the cyber threats and recommend a priority list for protecting these potential targets.”
“We haven’t touched on the threat to the electricity and energy infrastructures, or other means of transportation other than the subway, which we mentioned,” Dan said.
“We shouldn’t discuss this in haste,” Chang Mei commented. “I suggest we let Dan and Rogel work on it and present their recommendation when they’re ready.”
The Iron Lady was already thinking several steps ahead following her conversations with Deutsch. She knew the mention of potential attacks on the subway was part of a deliberate misdirection campaign, intended to zero in on the source of the leaks. Dan hadn’t been brought in on the scheme yet, and might expose actual topics that should not be elaborated on before the entire task force.
Brigadier-General David Rogel was already standing at the entrance to Tan’s office when Damia addressed him.
“David, can you give me a ride? It’s on your way anyway.”
“Oh, I’d be happy to,” Rogel replied. “Can we leave now?”
“Sure. I’ll just confirm with the administrative staff that the summary of today’s meeting has been typed up and sent on.”
This wasn’t the first time that David Rogel had driven the head of the Technology and Communication Department home at the end of the workday. The attention that the exotically beautiful young woman directed at him caused him to feel flustered.
Rogel remembered Damia’s studio apartment from his previous visit. Once again, he expressed his admiration for her good taste and the elegant juxtaposition of the furniture. He dropped the bag containing his laptop on the counter in the foyer and sprawled out in the recliner next to the small living room table. Damia turned toward the small kitchenette and soon returned bearing a tray with two aromatic cups of tea and a bowl of cookies.
“You mentioned you had some questions, Damia?” Rogel asked, sipping the tea with pleasure.
“Oh, right. It’s about cyber.”
“What about it, exactly? That’s an immense field.”
“On the task force, we talk about the threat of cyber assisted terror attacks. But from what I understand, there’s a broad range of civilian targets that could be harmed. Is it all the same thing? Could our capabilities, yours and Dan Avni’s, be used to interfere with the activity of political institutions, for example?”
“The truth is that cyber warfare can harm any system and any organization. You could spy on someone with this technology, or create conflict and disrupt people’s lives. If someone is determined to cause harm, he could ignore the clear-cut ethical principles and rules of law. But I believe, Damia, that for our task force that option is purely hypothetical. We’re more focused on defending against possible attacks, including cyber-related ones, than on taking the offensive.”
“Sometime in the future, Rogel, I’d be happy to learn a bit more about how cyber techniques work…”
“With your background, it wouldn’t be difficult for you to understand how all this works. But I’m not the only expert in the field. Dan Avni, who runs the entire cyber defense campaign, is at the forefront of this topic.”
“Well, Rogel, we’ve had a busy day, and you deserve some rest too. How about if we find some other opportunity to discuss those questions we mentioned?”
“Right. It really is late.”
Damia handed Rogel the bag containing his laptop and parted from him with a light kiss by the door.
“Thank you, dear, for everything,” she said before pulling away.
Rogel sat in his car, wondering what he had done to merit so much attention from Damia. It seemed like more than professional curiosity to him. Her questions about the political uses of cyber techniques were somewhat confusing. However, Rogel was not ready to honestly confront his own desires. He started his car and drove off.
Chapter 35
Muhammad Osman had been granted an office of his own at the bank, a sure sign of the senior status he had dutifully earned. Although it wasn’t on the management floor, no one had any doubts regarding his standing at the bank. He found himself thinking once more of Ronit Hart, who had recently been promoted over him and had won the privilege of ascending to the management floor.
Osman was seated in his chair, still putting off browsing the files piling up on his desk or powering on his computer. The image of the Israeli remained in his mind’s eye. The pretty and talented young foreign woman appealed to him. He was grateful for the morning runs, which were a convenient excuse to get closer to her. He kept thinking back to their shared dinner and what had taken place after it at his apartment. It had been a special, wonderful evening that he recalled with yearning, afraid it had been a one-time occurrence.
Ronit had seemed busy and distant in the last few days. Osman wondered what role the Israeli Gideon Ben Ari, to whom she had also been dedicating time during her morning runs, played in this new distance between them. Perhaps he should try to bring Ronit closer, he thought, by advising her about China, a follow-up to the guidance he had given her before she left for meetings in Hong Kong.
Osman called her on the internal line. “Good morning, Ronit. Do you have a few minutes for me? I thought of some topics that might interest you in connection with the banks in China.”
“Thank you, Osman. That’s really nice of you. Can you come up in an hour? I’ll be finishing a meeting and would be happy to talk.”
Osman smiled in satisfaction and began to type up some conversation points on his laptop in preparation for his talk with Ronit. He set out for the coffee nook to “celebrate” with a cup of espresso. Damia, his childhood sweetheart, surfaced uncontrollably in his consciousness.
Osman had known about his classmate’s love for him ever since their distant schooldays. He was not indifferent to her, but the relationship was more like that of siblings. The friendship continued, but Osman did not feel ready for a committed relationship or for marriage. His career at the bank took up most of his energy, and whatever was left was dedicated to political activity in Singapore’s small opposition party.
As he contemplated this romantic triangle, beginning to wonder if it included a fourth side, the Israeli Gideon, Osman remembered he and Damia had decided she would join him once more for a meeting of opposition leaders. During the first meeting in which she took part, she had already expressed a willingness to help them and supply them with information, mostly thanks to Osman. She had meant information that was not particularly sensitive concerning the topics with which she was involved at the National Security Institute. Osman was pleased about managing to bring Damia closer to the opposition party, an achievement that had won him appreciation from his friends in the party’s leadership. He tried to shake off his compunction for exploiting Damia’s love for his own purposes.
“I’m glad you cleared some time to talk to me, Ronit,” Osman began as he sat down across from Ronit in her office, powering up his laptop. “I get the feeling management is burying you in work in an inconsiderate way.”
“Thanks for your concern, Osman, but this is an essential part of the obligations of my new role.”
“I noticed you’re running less in the mornings, too.”
“I am, but it’s temporary. I know I’ll go back to my routine. You wanted to talk about the banks in China, Osman,” she reminded him cautiously. “From the little I learned during my trip to Hong Kong, I realized I have a long way to go before I get a real grasp on what’s happening in China’s banking world and what the rules of the game are.”
“That’s true, Ronit, and what I wanted to emphasize was the party leadership’s unchallenged control of the banks, just as they control other areas of life. That’s why the manager of the bank in Hong Kong only allowed himself to reveal limited information to you.”
“It’s true, the bank manager, Mr. Fang, didn’t exactly throw the door wide open for me, but he did appoint a talented, quick-thinking young man, Ming Hua, to escort me, and Ming told me how things work in China in a really fascinating way. He didn’t even hesitate to answer my questions about fund transfers, especially the ones related to crime and terrorist organizations.”
“Did he also mention the banks’ counter measures against cyber attacks? The Chinese are deeply involved in that field.”
“The truth is that Ming brought up the topic of cyber without me even asking about it. Here.” Ronit turned to her laptop, typing rapidly until the file she was seeking appeared on the screen. “I wrote down everything I learned from what he told me in here, but it looks like the tip of the iceberg. I still have a long way to go.”
“You should assume every bit of information you got from Mr. Fang and from what your young escort told you was authorized by the powers that be. This brilliant young man’s willingness to reveal information to you was intended to extract information from you about your own intentions. The Chinese know more about you than you think, and I don’t think they like the fact that you’re interested in their fund transfers.”
Ronit listened to Osman for a long time and, once she was alone in her office, reviewed what he had told her. Chinese involvement in transferring funds and their role in cyber activity fit in with what she had heard from the bank’s cyber defense team, as well as with the information she had received from Dan Avni. The exposure of her interest in the financial areas about which the Chinese were sensitive troubled her very much. She would ask to meet Dan Avni to share the information she had received from Osman, as well as her apprehension.
***
The lights in the offices of the National Security Institute had been turned off; another day of activity was over. Damia went out to the parking lot and was pleased to see Osman waiting for her in his car. She kissed his cheek and ran her hand over his neck in a gentle caress.
“Busy day, Damia?”
“That’s not unusual for the last few weeks. Are we driving to your meeting? It’s a special meeting by the Workers’ Party leadership?”
“Yes, my dear. I’ve gotten permission to invite you to attend as a visitor,” Osman replied.
“What’s the topic? What’s so special about tonight?” Damia couldn’t stay in the dark about what she was dealing with, even if she was only a passive listener.
“Our party is struggling and doesn’t get any support from the public. It’s obvious to us it won’t be easy to go back to the days when the party was established by Mr. David Marshall. Six elected seats in parliament are not an expression of the public’s true level of support. It might be caused by the current financial situation, or perhaps people are simply afraid to be exposed as opponents of PAP5, the ruling party.”
“And what can you do about it? Do you have a plan?” Damia was characteristically pragmatic.
“You can listen to the ideas yourself and be the judge. It’s important to me to hear your opinion later.”
Damia recalled how, even during the first meeting, she had been surprised by the general youth of the party’s leaders. The older leadership had had to make room for the younger generation, which was significantly more combative. She had listened with much interest to a review presented by the party’s chairman and heard about the surveys conducted in secret, which had exposed the true leanings of Singapore’s citizens.
“The ruling party is continuing Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy6 in regard to the charity the government has bestowed upon the
masses all these years. The surveys express widespread support of our principles,” Osman stated passionately. “And we have to find a way of ensuring the elections reflect this.”
“So what do you suggest, Osman? We’ve already beaten this topic to death since our failure in the last elections,” the chairman said.
“We should undermine the government’s ability to supply rice and circuses to the citizens.”
“That sounds very nice,” a member of parliament noted. “But how are you going to make it happen?”
“We have to target the economy,” Osman thundered. “We have to make the government’s responsibility for its failures evident to the people of Singapore.”
“While breaking the law?” the member of parliament challenged.
“We have to find safe ways. It’s possible that forces outside of Singapore might do the job for us. And one more note, people,” Osman continued fervently. “We have to deal with the support and aid that the government is receiving from the United States and Israel. For the working masses, this sort of support seems like international justification of whatever decisions the government makes. We have to find a way to dam this fountain of support!”
During the drive home with Osman after the meeting, Damia didn’t say a word. It was only when she was about to leave the car that she kissed Osman lightly on the cheek and asked him to stay out of trouble.
***
“I need to talk to you. It’s urgent!”
Ronit’s WhatsApp message appeared after Dan’s mobile pinged.
“I’m already at the hotel. I’ll wait for you in the garden terrace.”
“Leaving now.”
Dan was happy to be meeting Ronit. Some long, busy days had gone by since their last meeting. He had been charmed by Ronit’s directness and her quick responses when he explained the rules of cybersecurity to her. It had been chemistry at first sight, he felt. Even without knowing why Ronit wanted an urgent meeting, Dan was certain that it was indeed important and pertained to the issues occupying the Singapore defense task force.
