To Beat a Hacker

Posted on Thu Dec 22nd, 2016 @ 2:04pm by Lieutenant Commander Craig Travis & Lieutenant JG Liam Harrison

Mission: Indomitable Will
Location: Security Suite- Bullpen

Travis had picked up his first investigation case. He had received a complaint that a many new shop owners had come under some sort of cyber attack. From there Electronic Advertisements had been deleted or changed by someone to say some very filthy things, to there shipments manifests being switched or deleted all together. It was turning into a big headache and was driving some businesses away. Travis was looking over the reports but not being a computer guy he had no clue. He had requested help from Ops.

Liam scratched his head as he looked down at his PADD and then up at the bulkhead to figure out where he was. He had made peace with his superior officer and now he was able to get down to the actual work. He had been called down on a rather interesting request. There was someone who was hacking in to shops on the station. While Liam wasn't really a hacker, he knew enough to get by. Odds are, this was someone having a laugh and there was no malicious intent. But if there was a breach in their system, he was sure as hell going to fix it.

Finally finding the right room number, which in hindsight was kind of hard to miss, Liam walked right through the doors to the security office. He approached the clerk at the front desk and asked for the Assistant Chief, who had summoned him. After finding directions to desk, Liam found the man with ease. "Lieutenant Liam Harrison, Computer Systems Specialist. Reporting as ordered," he announced.

Travis looked up from his console which was frustrating him. He hated computers in general. When he heard the Lt's responded he chuckled. "That was fast. I need help I am an Ex-Marine and my computer skills show for it. I am trying to figure out this case that I sent you and I have no clue where to start."

"Alright, let's get to it, then," Liam said as he walked over to the other officer's work space and began to setup shop. There wasn't much he'd need, most of the tools could be utilized from elsewhere in the station and done through the computer. "What was the last thing he accessed?"

"Last report we have is this complaint logged by one of the main Ferengi traders. They claim there shipping manifest was completely altered and was switched with another Caitian trader. Neither knew about it until their packages arrived at there destination and everyone was very upset and refused payment." Travis pointed to the last open ticket he had on his screen of many.

Liam nodded at the man. "Well, it seems like the hacker is just doing this to test his skill and to get a laugh. Hopefully he won't give us too much trouble now," he told the security officer as he analyzed the information. He fetched the data from the time of the incident and parsed through it looking for anything unusual. "This might take a while," he told Travis. "Is there anything else you can tell me while my algorithm does its thing?"

"I agree with that assessment. He looks like he is trying to push things and see how far he can go. You can see here our first report of his doing he changed the online menu for a local eatery. They saw a huge decline in business that even now they have not recovered from." Travis showed Liam what he was talking about on his PaDD. "My fear is if he keeps getting away in it when he will get bored and try to attack more vital systems."

Liam briefly skimmed over a few lines in the PADD and nodded. "Well, let's see if we can't put a stop to him?" he told the officer with a smile as he looked up. A few moments after he finished speaking, the computer beeped with an unusual, unsecured access point. "The computer seems to have located his entry into the system...and it appears he's still connected." Liam sat reading through the logs and checking back for what the hacker had done. "I'll see if I can't expel him from the system and get you a location for the guy. Odds are once I kick him, he'll know we're onto him and change locations, so how do you want to play this?"

"I would rather him not to go underground he needs to be dealt with. Can you track him if we are mobile?" Travis asked hoping to get a jump on this troublemaker.

Liam turned to the security officer and smiled. "Yeah, just give me a second," he told the man as he began loading programs onto his tricorder. Once he was done, Liam stood up and nodded to the officer. "I've installed something that will allow me to both track the signal and disconnect it remotely once we have him. Do you want to bring a security team with us, or do you think we can handle it on our own?"

Travis loved the spunk the computer wiz was showing. Most would shy away from going after someone. Travis knew he would not be able to use the tracker on his own. He was bad with a standard tri-corder let alone a modified one. "I think if you can get me to his location, we can handle it. What I would want to do is when we get it narrowed down. You shut him down as I make entry. I don't have to probably stress it but make sure you are recording all he is doing we will need it."

"The computer is logging all of his actions in a secure sub section of the computer core that not even he can access. We should be fine," Liam told the Lieutenant with a smile. "I might need a phaser too. You know, in case he catches you off guard or somehow gets around you, you know?" he said with an innocent tone.

Travis opened a cabinet by his desk and pulled out a backup phaser. He set it to minimum stun. Looked at the young man and handed it over. "This stays away unless somehow atechie can overthrow an ex marine. Got it?"

Liam took the phaser and strapped it to his waist. "Understood, sir," he told the Lieutenant. He was kind of excited, and he had an uncanny ability to hide it. Liam opened up his tricorder and began to ping the guy's location. "OK, it looks like he's in civilian guest quarters on Deck 720."

The two didn't say much as they made there way to the target. Every once in a while Travis would confirm the target was there. Travis needed to work on his cardio it was a huge base. They rounded a hall and came up on the door. Things down here were pretty quiet and they had tried to blend in as much as possible. "So he still connected?"

"Looks like it," Liam told Travis as he observed the tricorder. "He's trying to break through a couple dummy firewalls I setup, but he should be able to get through them. I just put them there to keep him busy," Liam explained. "Right up here," he whispered to Travis nodding at a door near the end of the corridor. Liam could feel his heart beating. The station down there seemed eerie and unlike anything the Operations Officer had had to do before.

Travis setup up outside the door and did a quick look. One thing he knew about these types is they tend to have cameras setup. This guy must be new because he didn't detect anything. Travis gave Liam the que to cut the connection as he punched in the over ride code to open the door.

Liam put a few commands into his tricorder and booted the hacker out of the server. "You're good to go," Liam told Travis with a nod. Liam grasped the phaser on his belt and kept himself outside the room, lying on the bulkhead waiting to see what would happen but also keeping himself out of danger.

Travis pushed the last button to the door. Not real sure what he would find inside he entered the room started an arched sweep from right to left. As he entered the room the lights went pitch black. He quickly activated his light emitter and pulled his phaser out. As he took another step in the room he could feel something tug on his ankle and than release. "Trap!!" Travis exclaimed as he dove for the door knocking Liam back into the hallway.

Liam landed hard in the hallway, sound seemed distant and muffled. "Travis are you ok?" Liam yelled as he tried getting up.

Travis' reaction after he felt the trip line was to lunge backwards out of the door and towards Liam. He had made it most the way out the door and got low enough that most of the concussion from the blast threw him out in the hall towards Liam. Travis heard Liam call out. He started to do a check of his body and then realized he had some shrapnel stuck in his right leg below the knee. "I am alive but we need to get a Fire team down here." Travis said as he looked in the room and it was set to burn everything up. "And I need to get to Medical!"