Page 43 of Girl, Empty
‘So you’re saying our perp entered these buildings by magic?’
‘No.The opposite.It just looks like magic.Everything you think of as secure, be it locks, cameras, access panels, bank vaults, they’re all just code.They’re just ones and zeros arranged in patterns that tell machines what to do.A biometric scanner doesn't actually recognize your fingerprint.It converts the ridges and valleys into numerical data, compares that data to stored numerical data, and if the numbers match within acceptable parameters, it sends a signal to an electronic lock telling it to disengage.'
Ella looked over at her partner, who was wearing the expression of a woman who’d just heard trigonometry explained in Greek.‘So, you’re saying anyone can get in anywhere?’
‘Yes.If you know the right sequence, you can tell any system to do anything.Open when it should stay closed.Go blind when it should see.It's not magic.It's just knowing which numbers to change.Perfect example, weight sensors in elevators are just load cells connected to analog-to-digital converters that send numeric values to a central processing unit.If you can intercept that signal and replace it with the numbers the system expects to see, you can do anything.'
‘Right.I think I follow.What about biometric scanners?'’
‘Biometric scanners are even easier to fool because they're trying to solve an impossible problem, which is turning biological data into digital data without losing accuracy.Your fingerprint isn't stored as an actual image of your fingerprint.It's stored as an algorithm based on measurement points called minutiae.If you can generate the right algorithm, you can convince the scanner that any finger is the authorized finger.'
Ella was trying to keep up with the techno-babble.Ripley looked like she’d already checked out.‘What about the cameras?And the bank vault?’
‘Blacking out security cameras?Pfft.That’s the easiest part.Have you never heard of signal jammers?’
‘No.Should I have?’
‘They’re all the rage.Not a new technology, but they’ve gotten really good in recent years.Theaters and venues use them to stop people filming shows and concerts.’
‘How do they work?’
‘The clue is in the name.They block signals.Modern security cameras aren't like the old analog ones with physical tapes.They're all networked.They capture footage and transmit it to a central server via radio frequencies – WiFi, cellular, whatever.A signal jammer floods those frequencies with noise, so it's like trying to have a conversation next to a jet engine.
Ella leaned in.‘So the cameras stop working?’
‘Not exactly.The cameras keep recording, but they can't send the data anywhere.From the monitoring station's perspective, it looks like the camera just went dark.But here's the clever part - if you use a directional jammer, you can create a bubble of interference that moves with you.Walk past a camera, it goes dark.Move on, it comes back online.’
‘That's what we saw,’ Ripley said.‘Cameras going dark one by one.’
‘Then that’s what your guy used.Those things are legal to buy too.As for the bank vault, well, that’s a tough one.’
‘No kidding,’ Ripley said.
‘I mean, the locks for the bank vault are no different than any electronic lock.A hacker could absolutely get in there, but…’
‘But?’
‘You asked me where I was at midnight last night?’
‘Yes.’
‘So someone got into the bank vault about that time?’
‘Correct,’ said Ella.
Lorraine scoffed.‘No chance.The First National vault seals at 5 PM for fifteen hours.It’s on a time lock.A hacker could own the whole server and it wouldn't matter.You can't hack a block of steel.’
Ella took it on board, even though she begged to differ.Someone had gotten in there, because dead bodies didn’t magically appear in vaults.‘So, you can say with certainty that someone hacked these systems?'
‘Yeah.In this game, you learn to remove the impossible before concluding the improbable, and people can’t walk through walls.Believe me, I’ve tried.So it has to be a hacker.Every security system I've ever worked on can be accessed remotely if you know the protocols.And before you ask, yes, that includes the ones at Morrison and First National.'
‘There are backdoors into these systems?’
‘Sort of.Every security system has access points for things like maintenance, updates, diagnostics.You can't have a system that's completely closed or you can't fix it when it breaks.'
'And who would know about these access points?'
‘Well, tons of people, but that’s not the weird thing about all of this.’
