Dark Cyber

By Ron Hudson

The hectic life of Jake Hardin as he moves through the realm of Cyberspace is not bound by geography, nor is it limited to the physical presence of adversaries. The NSA just outside of Washington, DC, supports and works closely with myriad other cyber groups in every section of the government seeking to protect U.S. data. This, he learns firsthand when he becomes the head of the special cyber group charged with dealing with espionage. But work is not the only reason for pressure in his life.
Hardin is human. He commits one of the worst workplace practices when he becomes romantically involved with Cathy, one of his employees. As they quickly learned when they got into this field, data is indistinguishable in and of itself. And data, like love, cannot always be controlled. And love as well as data can be used for illegal means when it is shared with the wrong people.
To this end, the fight against their love for each other and their dedication to their work leads to cyber threats among the NSA and one of their customers, the U.S. Navy, and its nuclear program.
Future data concepts that include concepts such as quantum physics, 5G networks, and others ensure that the overall landscape referred to as "cyber" stretches imagination during the love affair of Jake and Cathy.
Being a dual citizen of the U.S. and Russia takes the global business and defense world into the Federal espionage landscape and is inescapable for Cathy. Her actions place the penetration of secure systems and vulnerable systems in danger.
NSA security specialist, Tom Bagley faces the reality of the espionage plot and with his tenacious skills is unable to let go until he and his global partners have solved the case. Rich Collins, an active-duty sailor gets involved when it becomes necessary to plant part of the algorithm onboard nuclear ships. He too is influenced by a woman who is other than he believes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ron Hudson
• Release date: Oct 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005670207

Ron Hudson

Ron Hudson writes in several genres. Several of his books are fictional accounts about early South Carolina people and places, especially the Low Country. He was born and raised near the Salkehatchie Swamp and often visits from his current home in Virginia.

Book preview

Introduction

From the beginning of time, opponents have sought the intelligence of their foes to counter combat strategies. Current strategies are little different from those used on the battlefield by Napoléon in the 18th Century or General Eisenhower during World War II. The only difference is the latest and most modern tools are used. People like Jake Hardin of the National Security Agency (NSA) and his peers, make the U.S., a force to be reckoned with in this fight. Jake takes us deep into the emergence of modern technology, referred to as Cyberspace, and causes international conflicts.

The hectic life of Jake Hardin as he moves through the realm of Cyberspace is not bound by geography, nor is it limited to the physical presence of adversaries. The NSA just outside of Washington, DC, supports and works closely with myriad other cyber groups in every section of the government seeking to protect U.S. data. Thus, he learns firsthand when he becomes the head of the special cyber group charged with dealing with espionage his job holds many surprises. But work is not the only reason for pressure in his life.

Hardin is human. He commits one of the worst workplace practices when he becomes romantically involved with Cathy, one of his employees. As they quickly learned when they got into this field, data is indistinguishable in and of itself. And data, like love, cannot always be controlled. And love as well as data can be used for illegal means when it is shared with the wrong people.

To this end, the fight against their love for each other and their dedication to their work leads to cyber threats among the NSA and one of their customers, the U.S. Navy, and its nuclear program.

Future data concepts that include concepts such as quantum physics, 5G networks, and others ensure that the overall landscape referred to as cyber stretches imagination during the love affair of Jake and Cathy.

Being a dual citizen of the U.S. and Russia takes the global business and defense world into the Federal espionage landscape and is inescapable for Cathy. Her actions place the penetration of secure systems and vulnerable systems in danger.

NSA security specialist, Tom Bagley faces the reality of the espionage plot and with his tenacious skills is unable to let go until he and his global partners have solved the case. Rich Collins, an active-duty sailor gets involved when it becomes necessary to plant part of the algorithm onboard nuclear ships. He too is influenced by a woman who is other than he believes.

The maneuvers and twists reach the reality of global wars where the changing character of technology will aid and, in many cases, replace bombs that wrecked Pearl Harbor in 1941. The revolving technology and the human element as presented here take many unexpected twists and turns.

Chapter One

Tom Bagley followed his target near DuPont Circle. He had to walk briskly to keep up with the woman whose normal steps caused the overweight agent to gasp for breath. The thirty-something slender blonde pressed the button and waited for the light. The small maneuver allowed the out-of-shape man to briefly recover a bit of energy.

God these young people can move, he mumbled to himself.

Tom had been covertly trailing the woman for what to him seemed like fifty blocks. The heat was above 90 degrees and the unrelenting summer sun had already caused his partial baldhead to turn bright red. Despite his exhausted condition, he was determined not to lose sight of her. A feeling of relief came when she finally walked into a small cafe and took a seat at a table beside the window.

Tom took a position leaning against a light pole a half block down the street. Still whizzing, he fumbled for a cigarette and lit up a Camel. He had a perfect view of the attractive woman, who had taken a seat by the widow. He could have identified her in a lineup with 100 Percent accuracy. He didn't know why, but this was the first thought that came to his mind when he fully saw her young face. He had a mental phobia about her. More importantly, he thought, facial recognition is a tracking trait. His ego kicked in.

Her characteristics were familiar since he had studied her profile for the past month on the NSA personnel background database. This was the first time he had seen her face in reality. She was just one of the many employees he routinely scanned to update and verify their compliance with security regulations.

His job in the Threat Operations Center was more than an audit function. When suspicious activity popped up, the job was to follow up and document errors or in extreme cases covertly investigate the person. Among the numerous scans on which he was working, this one stood out immediately.

Nicole Gill's background check showed irregularities between her birth date and places of birth. She had been working at the NSA for just over three years and had several other discrepancies on her background check. She was also on the list of suspected compromising agents.

Deciphering the difference between complicated plots or being a routine shallow background investigation was Bagley's core job. He loved the break in the routine cases to investigate what he felt was a serious compromise. In nine out of ten cases, he found no nefarious activity. The one that did, made his job interesting. These investigations were the core objective of those working in the Threat Operations Center.

As Bagley tried to relax, a gentle stream of smoke came from one corner of his mouth. He scratched his bald head, itching from the now scorching sun. Suddenly his anxiety peaked. He tossed the cigarette aside and became more alert. A man wearing a pinstriped suit entered the cafe and sat down with the woman. His back was toward Bagley, but he was a white man of middle age. They appeared to know each other. Their discussion continued for about thirty minutes. While he could not hear the conversation, his skill as an undercover observer told him that the woman controlled the conversation. The man mostly nodded and made a few notes as she spoke. Tom's experience caused him to be especially observant when someone made notes. In the past, he had been able to retrieve important clues from such inconspicuous scribblings.

The two paid their bill and walked out the door to a waiting taxi. No other taxis were anywhere in sight. Tom had missed his chance to continue the chase. All he could do was watch as the blonde beauty and her companion rode away.

Maybe all isn't lost.

He quickly entered the cafe and took the same seat where the two were sitting. The server had not cleared the table yet. Tom searched for scribbling or notes the man may have made. Lying on the table was a wadded-up napkin with visible writing on it. He unfolded it. Voila! It was unintelligible in and of itself, but he hoped it would be a helpful clue.

Nix...ok...keep it up...23 Mar..., and some other unfamiliar scratches.

What did it mean? It would take much more work to determine the significance, but Tom had made sense of things less revealing before. He needed to get to work on this mysterious clue.

As he walked out of the cafe, an ambulance with the siren screaming worked its way through the busy street. As it passed, the siren pierced his ears. He walked south on 17th Street for a couple of blocks where a crowd had gathered near an accident in the middle of the street. Flames and smoke were boiling from an upside-down taxi. He recognized it immediately.

A fire engine and crew were busy putting their equipment into place to extinguish the burning vehicle. A second crew tried to get close enough to determine how many people may be in the taxi. The heat prevented them from getting very close.

A woman's body hung from one of the open windows. A firefighter fought the flames and was able to pull the lifeless body from the burning wreck. The once perfectly manicured face flashed before Tom. He instantly recognized her as the one he thought he could have recognized in a police lineup or anywhere else. As the firefighters continued to flood the car with water, the driver and second passenger burned inside.

Tom had no clues yet, but he was convinced that this was not a normal accident. No other cars were involved.

The taxi had to be bombed! How...and why?

Instinctively Tom did a visual search of the surrounding block to see if he could see any security cameras on storefronts or traffic cameras on the street. He saw none but realized a more thorough investigation would be necessary later. This was no accident. Somehow, Tom felt it was the beginning of some type of international conspiracy. He had experienced this before and expected a long and grinding investigation ahead.

Chapter Two

Jake Hardin often looked upon his life as luck as much as anything else. His parents were striving country folk who had obtained their meager assets by working hard all their lives. They always told him he would obtain his rightful place in life through hard work and dedication. Luck had little to do with it.

He attended school in Arden, West Virginia. He didn't receive good grades in high school and only stayed in school after the tenth grade because of the social activities. His father's farm was twenty miles outside of the small town through hills and down several dirt roads. Just getting to and from school was a chore. The school was one of the few places he could associate with others of his age.

His attitude started changing in the last year of school. He saw others with good grades receive scholarships go on to college and have successful careers. By this time, he had missed out on many of the basics of academia, and it wasn't easy to catch up. He struggled with algebra and English. His favorite class was history, mostly because the teacher was a thirty-year-old with flowing blonde hair down to her shoulders. He enjoyed just sitting there admiring her beautiful body. His parent's philosophies of hard work were finally coming home to roost. Jake was certain of one thing. He would do anything possible to avoid becoming a farmer like his father.

Despite his lack of good grades, he was able to graduate from high school. Right away, he went to Washington, D.C., and got a job waiting tables. He was able to share a small apartment with a friend. There he enrolled part-time in college and after two years was able to obtain enough credits to move into second-year courses. He also became exposed to different professions and realized well-paying jobs were not common in every profession. The big money was in computers, medicine, and business. It was a struggle, but in five years, he obtained a degree in information technology.

His degree in information technology made him the first choice for many companies. Although technology is growing at astronomical levels, he knew that the future in this field would look significantly different from the present. These were some of the principles of any progressive organization and Jake wanted to be in the fight. After turning down several offers, he took an entry-level job at the National Security Agency (NSA) in Arlington.

Jake had never had an arrest, and otherwise had a background that would permit him to receive a security clearance of secret shortly after he was hired.  He was able to get an apartment within a few miles of his work.  He was on his way up. His excitement was uncontrollable. It couldn’t have been better for a young man from rural West Virginia where most people were at some level of poverty.

The first three days on the job exposed Jake to the rules and, to him, the somewhat paranoid attitude of the agency. He filled out background forms, took a polygraph test, and attended a six-hour lecture about the security aspects of the agency’s functions as well as the harm it could cause to national defense if its data were compromised. They were also told of the penalty for revealing government secrets. Since his clearance was still pending, all information given to him was unclassified. Jake had read many spy novels. During the process, he often recalled some of the scenes he read from his favorite novels. Maybe, he guessed, this caused him to seek the work in the first place.

Although Jake had no intelligence experience at this point, he was cautious to comply with the rule of secrecy.  During breaks, some employees went to the cafeteria where they had friendly discussions, mostly about their personal lives.  Few discussed their work duties or anything about what they were working on.   A few of the more experienced employees were more revealing about their activities. Jake had read about undercover agents attempting to test employees. His paranoid mind wondered if they might be testing his devotion to his duties. Since he had no intention of such a thing, he dismissed the idea and went on about his duties.

Chapter Three

After eleven years of diligent work at the NSA in several overseas assignments, including assignments in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Germany, Jake was looking at an opening of a management position for the Signal Intelligence Directorate at the National Security Agency (NSA). He knew it would shape the future of the NSA. Among other things, one of his most serious assignments involved identifying threats against the government's metadata.

He worked hard, followed orders, and was a team player in every respect. He had gained the favor of several people that eventually gained influential positions, within and outside of the NSA. He was ready to take a visible leadership role, within the organization. As with others, his leadership outside the agency would be an uncompromised secret.

After reviewing several prospects for the job, Jake was asked to take charge of thirty-five analysts and administrative personnel to create the new department. Without hesitation, he took the position. He was now the team leader of a specialized group of people investigating spy activities. They were designated as Team D305. The team’s analysts began working on what was a review of the espionage of the recent compromise of data by the famous Edward Snowden. The department wasn't charged with tracking Snowden, but a review of his activities helped provide an understanding of how he and others like him reached their objectives.

Public access to millions of kilobytes of metadata such as IP addresses, wireless data, telephone data, digital addresses, internet addresses, and other raw data meant they were constantly on the alert for data compromise. Outside organizations and people with evil intent, were always trying to obtain access to this data because of its sensitivity. How much and to