Cyber Terror Read Online Free PDF

log their successes. We all know how it was done, though.”
    “Oh?”
    Merrick explained, “A lot of power stations, oil refineries and that sort of thing have got a really spongy software package controlling what they do. It’s called SetLink. Full of
holes. Whoever crashed Cockenzie sent a virus with a massive chunk of data to one of the ports running SetLink. The program couldn’t cope. It shut down.”
    “Clever.”
    “Pretty simple actually. And once you know how to do it there, you can use the same tactic to get into anywhere that’s running SetLink.”
    “How do you know who’s running it?”
    Merrick laughed again. “You Google ‘SetLink version 1.3.1’. Then you get a list of companies.”
    Jordan nodded. “That is simple.”
    “Yeah. Look at it like this. A power station got hit for a day, but a cyber joyrider’s done them a favour by pointing out how soft their system is. The company that makes SetLink has
patched that hole now, but they’ll be desperate to get their hands on the whizz-kid who did it.”
    “To have him arrested?”
    “You’ve got to be joking,” Merrick exclaimed. “To give him a job. They’d pay him a fortune to harden their security. And to look for faults in other
companies’ programs.”
    Jordan nodded. It made sense. Turning towards the door, he said, “I’d better let you get on now. Thanks.”
    Puzzled, Merrick replied, “What did Mr. Goss want? And has he got it?”
    “Er...yes,” Jordan muttered. “You’ve given him the lead he wanted.”
    A group of four young men had collected around Jordan’s car. With his sensitive hearing, Jordan detected the voice of the one on the passenger’s side. “How
are we going to get in?”
    They wouldn’t. The Jaguar would open and start only when its computer received the right codes from Jordan’s brain/computer interface – or BCI for short.
    The man by the driver’s door bent down and picked up half a brick. “This’ll do it.”
    The XJ Sentinel was made of reinforced steel, Kevlar and strengthened glass. The armoured cell was bulletproof and it could withstand a grenade. Hanging back, Jordan imagined it was also
brickproof.
    The young man hurled the half-brick against the driver’s window. It smacked against the high-tech glass, rebounded without making a mark and crashed into his shin. He yelped and clutched
his leg. Jordan also flinched. He knew how painful that would be. But he also smiled.
    Jordan had just talked to a cyber joyrider. These real-world joyriders were very different from Merrick Breeze. They were also far less successful. Jordan stepped forward, deciding it was time
to intervene.
    When they saw Jordan, the four men banded together and formed a barrier between him and the Jaguar. “We saw it first!” one of them cried.
    Jordan shook his head. “I’m not here to nick it. It’s mine.”
    “You’re not old enough – or posh enough.”
    “If you just walk away, that’ll be the end of it,” he said. “I won’t report you.”
    “No chance!” The man with the bruised shin limped towards him threateningly.
    Jordan stood his ground and scanned them with his terahertz vision. They weren’t carrying any obvious weapons.
    “Why should we leave you to it?”
    “Because it’s mine,” Jordan replied.
    The man laughed and then, trying to catch Jordan off guard, suddenly aimed a punch at his head.
    Amazingly fast, Jordan’s right hand came up in front of his face and the man’s fist slammed into it. He cried out again, partly in shock this time, and nursed his bruised
knuckles.
    “Not your lucky day, is it?” said Jordan. “Best give up.”
    Another one stepped forward. “Why? You’re outnumbered.”
    “If I thump you, I might take your head off completely. On top of that, the car’s going to start in five seconds and, if you don’t get out of the way, it’ll mow you
down.”
    They all sniggered.
    Jordan hadn’t practised the remote manoeuvre but his BCI was capable of