Page 43 of Critical Alliance (Rocky Mountain Courage 3)

“Will HR want me to fill out employment paperwork?”

“I said I would take care of it.”

“Okay, just making sure. Whose office was this? Looks like it hasn’t been unoccupied that long.”

“This is the programming floor. An AI specialist, I think. With around a hundred and fifty employees, I can’t keep up with everyone.”

Mackenzie started typing on the computer.

“I need to run down to my office on the first floor, then I’ll be back up to get you. So that’ll give you a few minutes.”

“I can’t stay through the night?”

“No. We don’t want to draw unnecessary attention.”

“Let me at least look at your security programs to see if any threats were detected.” Then she could go hunting for security breaches.

“Do you want to talk to the cybersecurity department tomorrow?”

Mackenzie shrugged. “Not yet. Your program could stop a majority of threats, but those are known threats. I’m looking for an unknown threat, except, well . . . I know about it. It would be like, say ... a zero-day threat. You’ve heard of that, right? It’s a vulnerability that isn’t known yet.”

Nora’s blank expression said it all.

“How could you not know this stuff working at a software company?”

“I have employees for that.”

Whatever. “That’s fair.” But explaining the details was not going to happen.

“I just need to run a few analytics system tests. I’ll be looking at the usual OSINT—”

“English, please.”

“Oh, open-source intelligence. It’s what criminal hackers use to get past security.” Mackenzie glanced at her sister. “Your eyes are already glazing over.”

“No. I find it fascinating that someone could hack into this system. Tell me how that could happen. We’re not connected to the outside.”

“Think of a home burglar. A hacker is like that. They watch the house. Figure out the best way and time to break in. In hacker terminology—exploit the system. Let’s say you have a window that you left unlocked. That’s a vulnerability—and that’s the way the burglar gets in. Then the real damage begins. They steal your jewelry. That said, we know that the biggest cybersecurity threats come from the inside.”

She watched Nora’s reaction, hoping her sister was following.

Nora nodded slowly. “So we might be looking at someone on the inside who has left that window unlocked?”

“Exactly.”

“Do you know what you’re looking for specifically in our system?”

“Right now, I’m hoping the hacker has only found a vulnerability but hasn’t actually taken advantage of it. Considering the message—‘You’re vulnerable to deadly attacks. They’re taking the stronghold!’—and the fact that actual physical attacks have already happened, I could be too late.” And she probably was. She needed to learn more about the stakes. If this wasn’t a ransomware attack—which it didn’t seem to be, otherwise they would’ve received a “ransom note”—then sensitive data was being stolen.

Nora subtly shuddered. “I’ll leave you to work for a few minutes, and then we’ll head home.”

Nora shut the door, leaving Mackenzie alone. Though she wouldn’t have expected her sister to remain by her side the entire time, that Nora left her alone somehow felt surreal—after all, some part of Nora must have still considered Mackenzie a security risk because of her past.

No. Nora needed her help. That was clear. And Mackenzie would earn Nora’s trust through this. Maybe she could even find a way to redeem the past and ... forgive herself? Lord, help me.

She closed her eyes with the silent, heartfelt prayer. Why was it sometimes easier to forgive others than it was to forgive oneself? She drew in a calming breath and opened her eyes to stare at the monitors.

Time to hunt for the threat, the attacker who could be lurking in the system without being detected. There were entire armies being raised up—hacking armies. Cyberforces created to run schemes and steal billions of dollars. Countries like China, North Korea, and Russia were working to attack infrastructures. She mumbled to herself as she perused the system and strategized how to check for vulnerabilities and exploits, and how to protect Hanstech.