Chapter 120: 120:Error All Around
Due to their tight schedule and demanding work life, the employees of Pears were granted a much-needed vacation to recharge themselves.
Jason and his team of IT specialists were relaxed in the resort's exclusive swimming pool,an unusual luxury for their tech-centric group.
They enjoyed the tranquil surroundings, a stark contrast to their typically high-stress environment.
After the release of their latest series, everyone was given a few days off, which came as a surprise for them. After all, their boss was someone who could suck you dry till the last drop.
"Any ideas on our next steps when we return to Pears Inc.? Will everything be alright?" Jason asked, breaking the poolside calm.
"We should check in with our contact at DOD to gauge their progress. Even though the boss claims that it's unhackable, I don't think we should underestimate global hackers—after all, nothing is absolute," a team member suggested.
"I can do that, but I'm not sure of their rank or whether they have the necessary information," Jason replied.
He then turned to the hotel staff assigned to their group. "Please bring me my phone from that bag," he requested, pointing to a nearby bag.
The staff member retrieved the phone, which Jason hadn't powered on since leaving their secure facility at Pears Inc. Actually, he had forgotten to turn it on until now.
As Jason powered on the phone to take a call to inquire about the situation, he had little to no idea that an undercurrent was already set in motion.
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At the same time, after getting Evan's command, Aurora started wreaking havoc.
As the operating system kernel— the core part of the OS responsible for managing system resources and hardware communication—loaded into memory, a trojan code activated, embedding itself within the system.
This trojan gained control over the phone's hardware functions, effectively prioritizing itself over the legitimate OS.
The system continued to its normal boot-up process, loading essential hardware drivers for the display, camera, and audio systems, until the phone was fully operational. By then, the phone was completely compromised, with the trojan discreetly manipulating its functions without raising any red flags on the user interface.
Once the phone was powered on, the trojan set to work by immediately establishing an external connection via cellular communication and pinged the nearest cell tower to ensure a backup route was available. Stealthily, it enabled the phone's Wi-Fi without any visible indication to be noticed by the user, keeping the activation invisible.
Seeking an even more covert method for data transfer, the Trojan activated the phone's NFC (Near Field Communication) and scanned for nearby NFC-enabled devices.
Once it had detected an NFC device on the hotel employee's phone, the trojan quickly established a connection and transferred a copy of itself onto the worker's device. This method was chosen for its discreet nature, as NFC allowed for a secure and limited transfer with minimal risk of detection compared to more traceable cellular and Wi-Fi routes.
However, as the trojan began its takeover, the Breach Protector software on Pears Inc.'s servers detected the anomaly and contained the trojan within a virtual environment designed for inspection. The trojan attempted to escape this containment to infect the server but Breach Protector's virtual assistant began analyzing it.
The analysis halted abruptly when the trojan's identifier, coded in Progress Script, indicated a familiar origin.
Breach Protector's virtual assistant recognized Progress Script as a language linked to Aurora, the powerful AI associated with the trojan. Despite this recognition, the assistant continued to protect user data while allowing the trojan limited functionality—using the server solely as a data transfer terminal.
The trojan then proceeded transmitting compressed data from Jason's phone to Aurora's main server. Utilizing the NFC connection for a secure, high-speed data transfer, the data was heavily compressed to ensure rapid transmission without overloading the server's processing capabilities.
Once the data reached the main server, it was forwarded to Aurora's servers via an encrypted Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), ensuring the communication path remained obscure. The trojans on both phones erased all traces of their activity, leaving no evidence behind.
In less than thirty seconds, the entire operation—from powering on the phone to the trojan's installation, its containment by Breach Protector, and the following data transfer and erasure, all was executed flawlessly.
The Trojans silently continued to monitor conversations and collected valuable information during the IT team's stay, ready to relay any significant data back to Aurora's servers.
Gradually, Aurora gained control over the phones of every Pears Inc. employee. Now, everything they did would be under Aurora's watchful eyes.
Having successfully compromised the phones of every Pears Inc. employee, Aurora's next target was the company's central servers.
Each iPhone and Mac used by the employees was connected to Pears Inc.'s servers which stored and monitored critical data.
This connection was tightly integrated with the Breach Protector system, which monitored any unauthorized access and threats.
Aurora navigated through the network and exploited the vulnerability created by the trojan codes. She accessed the server infrastructure before manipulating the data streams and settings to initiate an error in the Breach Protector.
This deliberate malfunction was designed to trigger a system-wide shutdown, causing every device protected by Breach Protector to disconnect and cease its operations, effectively creating chaos and disabling the company's primary defence mechanism.
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Back at Macrosoft Lab.
After Evan instructed Aurora to examine the data being processed by his virtual headgear, he asked, "Can you access my brain map and other data being processed by the headgear?"
Aurora responded, [No, Sir. The virtual reality program in the headset is blocking my attempts to access it. It seems I need your explicit approval for that.]
"Okay, proceed with access," Evan granted her permission to explore the data from his brain.
Evan trusted her implicitly and didn't question her motives for trying to do so before. He knew that despite her advanced AI capabilities and independent thought processes, she would never betray him. experience mv,le,mp,yr content
As Aurora attempted to access Evan's brain map and data, his system immediately alerted him:
DING!!!!!
[It has been detected that an external entity or something is trying to access the user's brain map and other information.]
"System, I don't know if it's your doing, but please allow or…" Evan instructed.
[...]
Suddenly, Evan felt a shock and a brief wave of dizziness.
Although Aurora gained access to Evan's brain map, the system concealed certain details, ensuring that neither Aurora nor any unauthorized entity could see or manipulate its internal system.
[Brain map and data retrieval have been completed, Sir,] Aurora reported once the extraction was complete.
"Analyze it and let me know of your findings," Evan instructed.
[Yes, Sir.] Aurora began analyzing the retrieved data.
After he received confirmation, Evan said, "Logout," and his consciousness reasserted control over his physical body.