---

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

---

On that Monday morning, Rupert went to work. His mind was troubled by the threat he had received. He felt uneasy and couldn't make sense of the situation. He knew he was cornered and couldn't tell anyone about the threats, until he was certain that it wouldn't backfire.

He stepped out of the elevator and walked to Cindy's desk.

"Good morning Cindy. How was your weekend?"

"Good morning Rupert. I had one of my best weekends ever. It was just me, my couch, my blanket, some coffee and an awesome book. True bliss I tell you. And you?"

"My weekend was busy, to summarize it."

"Oh my. It's the presentation, isn't it?"

"All weekend, Cindy. I worked on it all weekend, but today it ends. I'll present it and that will be that."

"You do look a bit tense today. What time is the presentation?"

"In an hour," Rupert said.

"I wish you the best, Rupert."

"Thanks. I better go to my office. I need to do a final check to make sure I don't embarrass myself in there."

"Okay, bye," Cindy said.

...

Rupert went to his office and placed his laptop on the desk. He decided to check the electronic version of the technical documentation for any inconsistency with the hardcopy he had used all along. He opened his email and downloaded it to his laptop. He then opened the documentation file and scrolled to the last few pages of the document, after noticing that the digital version was a page longer than the hardcopy.

Four hundred and one pages.

He chuckled.

If I had to write this many pages I would go mad.

He scrolled to the last page and saw something he hadn't noticed before.

"Project Proxy? What's this?"

He read the remainder of the page.

This is an overview of an encryption system. I didn't know we were developing a new one. I must ask the board about this.

He closed the document, opened his presentation documents and skimmed through them.

It all looks good to me. Now I just have to print copies of the summary for the guys to read. So that's five, plus one for me to make six copies.

He set options for the printer to print six copies of the document and pressed a button for the printing to begin. All six copies were printed within a minute, as Rupert watched.

He stapled the twelve sheets of paper in twos and placed them on the desk. He then opened the slide show he was to use during the presentation, to check it for errors. He spent more than half an hour verifying his statistics and modifying the slide show.

When he was satisfied with its contents, he then saved it and took his laptop, together with the printed documents, and briskly walked out of his office.

There were only a few minutes left before he was expected to present the review. He just nodded at Cindy as he walked past the reception area. He entered the elevator and went up to the twentieth floor.

The elevator doors opened at the twentieth floor and Rupert walked out, and then went into the boardroom.

Alone in the boardroom, Rupert began setting up equipment for the presentation. He connected a projector to his laptop and aligned its projection to a board. He then loaded the slideshow and then paused it, displaying the first slide.

He went over what he intended to say, saying it to himself as he paced up and down the room.

The group came in a few minutes later. First to come through the door was the CEO of Leadsway, Lloyd Grant, followed by his personal assistant. After the two, came the Finance Director, Sean Smith; the Managing Director, John Lay; the Director of Human Resources, William Roberts; and the Head of Research and Development, Linda Stern.

They all sat around the table and faced Rupert, who was now standing beside the board that had the slide projection on it.

"Good morning," Rupert said.

"Allow me to present to you my review of the current security system implemented by Leadsway, together with its strength, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement, as I see them."

He picked up the documents he had printed and handed them to Linda.

"Ms. Stern, would you please take a copy and pass the rest on. Thank you."

She took a copy and handed the rest to William Roberts, who took a copy and passed the rest on.

Rupert walked back to the board.

"Those documents I gave you are a summary of the review. Please feel free to go through them as I go on. Firstly, I'd like to outline the aspects of the system that I consider in my analysis."

The group picked up their copies as Rupert continued.

"Among the chief aspects I considered is the encryption system," he said.

He pressed a button on the small remote controller he had in his hand and the projector moved on to the next slide.

"Data in our computer system is encrypted mainly for storage and during network communications. Data requiring encryption the most when stored is of permanent customer account data, finished software projects and projects under development. Communications between and within departments is encrypted also, to reduce the likelihood of unauthorized viewing by interception. Data sent over the Internet to our customers and that which they send to us is also encrypted, for the same reason."

Some members of the group slowly nodded their heads as Rupert continued.

"As you can see from the documents, the current encryption system being used here is proprietary, and was developed by our research team. It is based on the same principles as that of BuyNow, which was infiltrated weeks ago. This leaves us vulnerable to the same kind of attack that BuyNow suffered and I recommend updating it by developing a new one or by buying it from other developers. Secusol has just announced its new encryption technology and, judging from its specifications, it is worth considering as one of our options."

He moved to the next slide again, cleared his throat and continued.

"The next aspect is the antivirus system. This, also like our encryption system, was developed in-house and is subject to the same shortcomings. I would like to add that our endeavors to penetrate the security solutions market did pay off a couple of years ago, but as the years went on, we gradually shifted our resources and attention to commercial and personal software, and mobile applications. The cyber security industry has evolved greatly the last couple of years and we, together with BuyNow, have fallen behind corporations like Secusol. Corporations like Secusol have specialized in developing security solutions. I consider BuyNow's security breach as our wake up call. So the antivirus system also needs attention."

He moved to the next slide.

"Data access permissions are efficiently implemented and I see no need for major modifications. Your documents contain the user groups and their permissions," he said and changed the slide.

"The last aspect is physical security. The security measures implemented to protect server rooms, workstation rooms and other essential infrastructure, as detailed in your documents, are sufficient and efficient. I also see no need for major changes to these," he added, and ended the slide show.

"To sum it up, we must upgrade our core security system to the latest technologies available on the market. Details of the options and their estimated costs are included in the documents you have. It's not too late to secure our systems, but we don't have much time either. Thank you."

Lloyd Grant cleared his throat and said, "Short and straight to the point, just how I like it. Thank you, Blake, for your much valued analysis. We are going to go over the recommendations you have detailed in these documents and come back to you with our choices, so that we can discuss this further. We must implement a solution as soon as possible."

"Yes. I think Mr. Blake has pointed out some really important issues. We do need to upgrade our security system, as he said," Linda added.

"Well, that's it for now, Blake. Thank you. We will meet again," Roberts said.

The group stood up and left the room. Linda was the last to leave the room and Rupert stopped her by the door.

"Sorry, but I had forgotten something," he said.

"It's okay. What is it?"

"Well, when I was going through the technical documentation, I saw a section labeled Project Proxy. I don't know of any current projects pertaining to encryption systems, do you?"

"Yes. It was assigned to us on Friday. We haven't gone far with it yet, it's still in the design stage."

"Oh, I see. Thank you," Rupert said.

"No problem. It's highly classified, so don't tell anyone else about it," she said.

"My mouth is sealed," he said.

Linda left the room and Rupert dismantled the equipment before leaving the boardroom.

After leaving the boardroom, Rupert entered the elevator to go back to his office.

That's over and done with. I must call Sylvia and check if everything is okay at home. Damn, those freaks are probably watching her right now.

He took his phone out of his pocket, but noticed a new message notification. The phone was in silent mode and so he didn't know about the new message when it came in.

He opened it and read it:

no_tricks@or_else.xyz
Send it before noon

Rupert stopped breathing for a few seconds, as he stood in the elevator, starring at his phone.

"A temporary email address. Typical. They've got a sense of humor too," he grumbled.

He put his phone back into his pocket. The elevator doors opened and he stepped out.

"Rupert. How did it go?"

"It was great, Cindy. We'll be meeting again to discuss a few more things," Rupert said.

"Well, you don't seem pleased. What's wrong?"

"It's complicated," he said.

She just stared at him without saying a word.

"Okay, okay. Let's say I'm not in a good space right now," Rupert added.

"I can see that. You are not ready to tell me what's bothering you, but that's okay. Tell me when you are ready. I'm here for you," she said.

"I know. I'll tell you, soon. I just need some time to process it, that's all," he said.

"That's fine, Rupert."

"I'll see you later, okay?"

Rupert walked away from her desk.

"Something's really troubling him," Cindy said to herself.

...

Rupert walked to his office door, opened it and stood by the door for a few seconds, gazing into his office. He felt a sudden wave of fatigue hit him as he stood there.

What am I doing? I'm suggesting security solutions to a company I'm helping to get hacked. Damn.

He sighed and then stepped into his office, shut the door and sat on one of the couches. He checked the time on his watch and slowly whispered, "One hour left."

He relaxed and allowed his body to slide to one side on the couch, until he was lying in a sleeping position.

What am I going to do? I can't go to the authorities; we'll be dead before they solve the case, if they ever solve it.

He lay on the couch for more than half an hour, contemplating his quandary, before deciding to send the technical documentation to the hackers.

I need more time. I'll find a way out of this mess, I just have to stay calm and collected, and think rationally.

Rupert stood up, fixed his shirt and jacket, and then his tie. He then walked to his desk, sat down and then located the technical documentation file on his computer. He found it and sent it to the email address he had received on his phone earlier.

continues in Chapter 19...

---

Copyright © Innocent Mwatsikesimbe

Thank you for reading my work.

---

previous Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18