Thursday, April 3, 2008

2000 Mile, Full Circle (Part 2)

Previously: 2000 Mile, Full Circle (Part 1)



6:15 AM, The Terminal



The sun's rays has broken through the morning cloud as I reached the bus terminal, buses here leaves for the provinces every hour. I have decided that staying away from the city as much as I could would be safer for me -- staying away from the system, to drop out the radar. This country is perfect for those who want to disappear, there are places just outside the city limits which would provide enough cover yet its close enough that one could just drive a few miles to tap the system and gather intelligence and then drop back for cover.



Tactical approach on attacking the enemy is my specialty. While most hackers prefer to attract attention; in my opinion, the more a hack is aimed to seek attention then it is not much different to terrorist acts that covers the front page news -- cyber-terrorism, thats what they properly called. On a second thought when was the last time cyber-terrorism has been reported in the news? Was there ever a news about a data-centers shutting down due to cyber-attacks? How about news of data theft in massive scales? Compromised communication systems? It must be because news companies thought that its not as spectacular compared to people blowing up themselves for a cause they believed.



Its ironic that we live in a digital age where information drives the very core of our existence yet we still limit our perception of security on the physical existence. Right now you must be comfortably seating on you office or home while reading this, assured that you are safe -- doors locked and guards on every corner. However the reality is, your among thousands of other strangers inside the cyber-world and someone behind you is about to put a bullet on your head at this very moment.



My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the announcement that my bus is about to leave, I made it a point to board last so i can survey first who are the other passengers who will be traveling with m; making sure no one has been tailing me.



An hour later and the bus is traveling in the middle of nowhere, scenes of towering buildings are replaced by lush farm lands and scenic mountains. Although this place seems remote, the systems has place enough facilities here for me to continue my work. There are adequate broadband access, unencrypted wifi access points and legacy telephone systems that dotted the area; I am now so eager to get back on my enemies but first i needed a place to stay. Upon disembarking I wasted no time and started familiarizing my self to the town layout, checking where are the nearest transportation facilities, entrance and exit routes, police stations, coca booths and ofcourse the Internet access points. Feeling satisfied that I have covered enough ground surveilance, Its time to pick a place rest.



I choosed a runned down apartment behind a bar, the foot traffic in the bar would easily mask my presence and activities; no one would question me if I started going out and wondering during the night in town looking for access points to hack into. After settling in I decided to grab some time to enjoy the town and most importantly think and try to answer the biggest question there is right now...



Who is after me?