Counting from Zero (17 page)

So, I’d say that it is possible to securely access the Internet wirelessly, but you can’t rely on your mobile device or service provider to provide that security – you or your company will have to do it yourself.

Also, note that I use the same thing for wired Internet access when I travel.
 
I won’t trust a network in a hotel or other location, so I establish the same secure tunnel and then encrypt all my traffic.

-> Your question not answered this week?
 
Argue for your vote on the Shameless Plugging area of our discussion forum
.

Chapter 1Ø.

Mick O'Malley
– step by step, little by little.
 
(2 comments)

Mick managed to get through the next day at the conference without dozing off.
 
When Liz asked about his evening, he just said he wandered around and ended up at the Bellagio fountain.

He read a mail from Sam:

Cher Oncle Alec,

When are you coming to Boston??
 
I can’t wait...
 
I hope it is on a Saturday, and when I don’t have orchestra practice.

I have a question for you, but only if you have time...
 
(Mom
made
me
write
that!)

Are there any places in Manhattan that we could visit and learn more about the ‘Manhattan Project’?
 
Seems like there should be.
 
I know it will be a while before I can visit Hiroshima and Los Alamos like you (and I’m going to visit Nagasaki as well – I can’t believe you skipped it!!) but we can visit some places next time I’m there, right?

Bye for now...

Sam

P.S.
 
Heard any good FUD lately? :)

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It was a while before Mick had stopped laughing and smiling.
 
He wondered how girls learnt to do this – to be so sweet, so cute, and so funny...

Mick sat in on a few sessions during the conference.
 
He always liked to hear what questions people in the audience asked and how they reacted to the presentations; it was useful for keeping a pulse on the state of his industry.

During the last break of the day,
he was cornered by an overweight man wearing a cheap suit
.

“Mick O’Malley?
 
I’m Josh Winters, from UBK.”

“Hello Josh,” Mick replied.

“I caught your presentation the other day on botnets.
 
Very interesting, very informative…”

“Thanks…”

“I was wondering if you could perhaps give us seminar for us on the topic… with some pointers on defending against them?” he asked.

“Ah, don’t you already run IT and security for the U.S. Government?”

“Yes, we do!”

“And you don’t already have a botnet denial of service attack strategy?”

“Of course we do… but it could always use some… updating.”

Mick was tiring of the conversation, and he remembered that he was missing a panel discussion involving Liz.

“Sounds great… why don’t you send me a fax and we can arrange it… I’m in the phone book,” he replied, trying to get rid of him.
 
Mick wished he could see the man’s face upon realizing that Mick was not in any phone books, nor did he have a facsimile number.

He cursed himself for forgetting about the session; Liz had been nervous about it for days.
 
He hoped she hadn’t noticed his absence in the audience.

“...
 
and
while I don’t want to contradict my colleague, Miss Clayton, I must share with you my views.”
 
Ted Zephyr spoke at the podium, and proceeded to contradict Liz’s thesis and her conclusions.
 
Mick could see that Liz, sitting at the panel table, was fuming inside, although she covered it up pretty well; it was only because he had observed her many times under pressure that he could read the little telltale signs such as a tapping of her toe or brushing a non-existent lock of hair behind her ear.

The session was soon over.
 
Ted had made a few weak points that Liz successfully countered.
 
Mick was disappointed that he had missed nearly all of Liz’s presentation, but had heard quite enough of the Zephyr.
 
When Mick approached the podium, he found Liz with Gunter and Lars, discussing the presentation while the Zephyr joked with a friend just out of earshot.
 
When Liz saw Mick, her face lit up.

“Mick, what did you think?” she asked.
 
“I think it went badly...”

“No, you did fine,” he replied.

“Really?
 
Do you think so?” she asked, a smile broadening on her face.
 
Mick nodded in reply, but was distracted watching Kateryna entering the back of the room.
 
Liz noticed as well, and her smile faded and went away completely as she turned away.
 
She started shutting down her computer.

That evening, he had dinner with Lars and Gunter only; Mick suspected Liz and Kateryna were off somewhere together, a thought that unsettled him.
 
Mick distracted himself by listening to Lars talk about the presentations he attended during the day.

“…
and
that last presentation, the one given by the Spaniard.
 
I didn’t get it at all.
 
He kept talking about ‘connecting the goats’.
 
What the hell does that mean?” Lars asked, confused.
 
Mick burst out laughing.

“He was saying ‘connecting the dots’ you ponce!
 
Why would you think he was talking about goats?”
 
Mick replied.

“I don’t know… I thought it must have been some sort of goat herding metaphor,” Lars replied.
 
“So, anyway, a little later, I was talking to these two amazing girls from some ‘New’ state… New Hampshire, New Jersey, I don’t know.”

“New York, maybe?” Mick asked.

“Could be,” Lars replied, not comprehending Mick’s point.
 
“Anyway, they asked what I did for a living.
 
I explained briefly, and you know what they said?”

“What?”

“They said ‘Bull!
 
Tell us what you really do!’”

“So what did you tell them?” Gunter asked.

“Well, I made something up, of course.
 
I told them I was a musician in a band called ‘Permanent Hardness’ and that we were about to go on a tour of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and possibly Uzbekistan!”
 
Lars paused until Mick and Gunter stopped laughing.
 
“Yep, it was a good night!”

Liz and Kateryna joined them in the booth.
 
Kateryna asked what they were laughing at, but Mick just shook his head.
 
They ordered coffee and swapped more respectable stories for a while.
 
Once again, everyone else got up and left, leaving Mick and Kateryna together, still talking.

Did they do that deliberately?

Kateryna seemed hesitant to start the conversation, and began with some small talk.

“Have you done all your must-do things here in Vegas, yet?” she asked.

“Not quite, but I still have tomorrow night,” he replied.

“That was so much fun the other night – thanks for showing me your places.”

“My pleasure.
 
I really enjoyed it, too.
 
And thanks for having your anti-spam guys look over the Zed dot Kicker code, too.
 
Really helpful.”

“Not at all, Mick.
 
It has been helpful to me too,” she replied.
 
“Any progress?”
 
Mick instinctively glanced
around,
quickly deciding this wasn’t the place.
 
He inclined his head towards the door, and Kateryna got the message, nodded and stood up.

Once outside, they wound their way through the casino lobby and out to the street.
 
There was some open space to the next casino, and they sauntered along in the moonlight.

“I am making progress, but I’m kind of stumped finding the botnet control messages,” he began, keeping his voice low so they wouldn’t be overheard, even by the Korean tourists nearby.

“That’s assuming there are messages,” Kateryna pointed out.

“I know, but I really believe they are there.
 
I just haven’t figured out the steganography yet.
 
But I will, rest assured.”

“I don’t doubt it,” she replied.

Mick spotted a sign outside the casino they were approaching, which gave him an idea.

“Do you like rides?” he asked.

“You mean roller coasters? Or like riding on a motorcycle?”

“Kind of like roller coasters.
 
I think there’s a 3D simulator in here that I’ve heard is pretty cool.
 
You game?”

“Game?
 
I think I understand what you are asking, but why use this word?
 
Does it mean play a game?”

“Hmmm.
 
I’m not sure, actually.
 
I think more likely it refers to game as in hunting rather than in playing a game,” Mick reached for the mobile in his pocket but Kateryna put out her hand and stopped him, touching his arm lightly.
 
Despite his sports coat, his skin seemed to burn.

“No need...
 
but you can look it up later, if you want.”

“You know me pretty well, don’t you?” Mick replied, smiling.
 
Kateryna smiled back but didn’t look him in the eye.
 
“So are you up for it, then?”

“Sure, why not?” she replied.

A few minutes later, Mick had purchased their tickets and they were in a not-too-long line for the ride.
 
There were mostly couples in the line.

Afterwards, they walked out of the ride still wearing their 3D glasses.
 
Kateryna went to remove hers, but Mick stopped her saying, “Look at my eyes – don’t they look strange?”
 
She peered at him.

“You are right.
 
Why is that?”

“The 3D glasses use light polarizing filters – opposite polarization on each eye.
 
This is the wave nature of light, as opposed to the particle nature that is shown in diffraction…” he paused, noticing that her attention was wandering.
 
“So, when you look at my eyes, you are looking through your lens, then my lens.
 
Close one eye now and look.”
 
Kateryna winked one eye shut as Mick did the same.

“Wow!
 
I only see one of your eyes – the opposite one...
 
Ah, I get it!
 
The lenses with cross polarization block the light… that’s why one of your eyes is totally dark.” Mick nodded his assent.

“Here,” he said holding out his hand.
 
Kateryna handed him her glasses and he took off his own and put them together, then flipped one upside down and did the same.
 
Kateryna nodded.
 
Mick handed hers back, but she shook her head.
 
He kept his on upside down.
 
“I kind of like the look,” Mick commented but could not keep a straight face for long.
 
But he kept the glasses on as they walked.