Part Fourteen
An agitated Ralph Lombard nearly jumped off the elevator, he hated riding the cranky machine, and it always seemed to make more noise than usual when he rode it alone. Almost as if the infernal contraption really disliked him! He rubbed his aching stomach which felt heavy and bloated; between the lousy hotdog and the news Boney had dropped on him, his digestion was really out of whack.
He walked down the ramp and stepped onto the bullpen floor which seemed to be bustling with more activity than normal. He noticed that Diane was looking mighty fine in a nicely fitting hot pink pants suit. Good ol’ Peggy was walking around the bullpen, chatting with her co-workers, her cheap stiletto heels making a clickity-click sound as she moved. Cat was talking into her new cell phone, probably hoping to get another dinner with that rich man, Arthur Chow. He snorted to himself; she was wasting her time, he was way out of her bookworm league.
Since his return to the newsroom after his lengthy probation was up, most of the female staffers of the Daily Planet avoided his company. Could he help it if he liked checking out a good lookin’ babe? Even Peggy wasn’t as friendly as before, but at least she smiled at him on occasion. Originally he had planned on keeping a low profile, but now with Boney demanding information on what Lane and Kent were doing, that plan was shot to the moon.
He looked around for Lois and her wimp of a partner; both of their desks were empty. That figures, probably out talking to one of their sources. How come they could get people to talk to them and he couldn’t?
Suddenly Ralph noticed a familiar face, a technician – the one who was always messing with their computers – talking with Jack and Perry near Jack’s cubicle. He seemed real intense and kept pointing at Jack’s computer. He decided it was time to find out what the tech was doing up here instead of sticking to his office.
“… so if that’s what we have to do to keep everyone’s computers safe, then so be it. Helluva way to run a newsroom, Cleat Johnson and ol’ man Krebs would never have put up with it.” Perry growled, none too happy about this latest technical intrusion on his beloved bullpen.
Ralph figured from the tone of his voice, Perry was not in the mood for games or more excuses about his lack of productivity. But he still wondered what Janney the IT geek was up to. He decided now was not the time to draw attention to himself. Bonesteel’s veiled threat had scared him bad enough, he didn’t need more trouble. He changed direction and headed for his desk, maybe he could cobble something together ahead of his deadline. Before he could sit down, the sound of Perry’s clear, strong voice cut through the noise of the newsroom.
Perry walked out of Jack’s cubicle with Ken at his side, he gestured for all staff members to come over. “Gather around kids, uh, I’ve got an announcement…!”
Steve called out jovially, “This should be good chief, are we getting a raise?”
A smile skittered across Perry’s lips, trust Steve to lighten up a situation, “Nope, not this afternoon, besides, I doubt if the suits upstairs would allow it.”
A few nervous giggles filtered through the group and they drew closer to Perry and Ken Janney.
“Ok Ken, the floor is yours.” Perry gestured for the systems administrator to ‘step into the spotlight’, so to speak.
Ken stepped into the center of the newsroom floor and spoke, his voice was gentle, almost fatherly as he spoke.
“As you all know, the Daily Planet’s computer network suffered an attack by a rather nasty computer virus a few weeks ago. Since then, the IT team has worked to put protocols into place that will prevent such attacks from happening again, either from within the DP’s network or from without.”
“Excuse me Ken, what do you mean from within the Planet’s computer system? “Myers, a stiff looking, middle-aged man, asked incredulously, “I don’t know of anyone in this room, with the possible exception of young Jack, who is computer savvy enough to be able to do that.” He turned to Jack and said, “No offense Jack.”
“None taken,” Jack said quietly and glared at the man.
Myers, put his head down, embarrassed at the unfair accusation he had leveled at the former street kid. Sensing the tension, Ken continued, “Yes, to protect from within and without. Okay, as I said before we have done a survey of security protocols.”
“More protocols?” Peggy whined, “It takes forever to get into my computer now.”
Ken, not happy being interrupted again, ignored her comment, and continued. “Our analysis of the security stature of the Daily Planet’s network revealed a number of problems that we will now be addressing. With the agreement of management and their full support, we will be changing some things in an effort to improve that security stature. The first thing we are doing is putting in place a new password protocol. There is a thing called Group Policy. Using Group Policy the users can be forced to use passwords, long passwords, complex passwords, long and complex, you name it. They can also be forced to change it on any schedule that the administrator sets. Duplication can also be forbidden by requiring non-repetition or even block similarity so that you can’t use for example D0llyP@rt0nS0ngs1 and then D0llyP@rt0nSongs2 the next time. Looking directly at Meyers, he added, “Actually, Jack has been helping us with this. He volunteered to help and has been testing the new protocols for us before we push them out to the general population. As a result of that testing the next time you log onto your machine, you will be prompted to change your password. Your password will need to meet the new criteria and if it doesn’t, you’ll be prompted to correct it. The directions will be displayed at login.”
Diane piped up mischievously, “How about an Elvis password for Perry?”
“Perry – and the rest of you – can choose whatever password you want. The new password criteria will be a minimum of 16 characters a mix of upper case and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. Just to show you how difficult it will be for someone to access your computer, the minimum number of permutations would be about 73 to the 16th power. Bottom line people; without the correct password, you can’t break into each other’s computers and neither can anyone on the outside.”
“Ken, we all have a lot of material on our computers, some of it is pretty sensitive. What happens if these safeguards and protocols fail?” Catherine asked.
“Yeah,” Stacy chimed in, “All my research projects … and other stuff will be gone!”
He turned to Stacy, “I suggest regular back-ups at the end of each workday and if there is something on your machine that is particularly of value it needs to be copied to a diskette and updated as well. Keep in mind, anything on a diskette can be stolen. If you forget your password, I can reset it for you, so there is no fear of permanently locking yourself out. That’s it people.” He raised his arms in a gesture indicating that the impromptu meeting was at an end.
Stacy thought, <Oh boy, I better tell Lois about this meeting. If anything happens to her ‘Wanda Detroit’ novel, she’s bound to go into ‘Mad Dog’ mode for at least a month. Hmm, how to go about accomplishing that without her knowing that I know about the novel’s existence?>
Ralph sat at his desk, thunderstruck. With all this new tech stuff in place, how was he to find out what information Lane and Kent had on their computers? <Maybe,> he thought to himself, <it’s time for me to blow town? No, Templar and Daae have deep pockets, they can find me. Have to think of something … fast!>
***
Across town in Templar’s office, a discussion of a similar nature was taking place between Bonesteel and Templar.
“So, will Mr. Lombard get what Daae is asking for? What’s your opinion?”
“I believe Ralph Lombard is a fool who will get himself caught the moment he touches either Kent or Lane’s computer. We should hire a competent computer expert who can hack the Daily Planet’s system, get what he requires and no one will be the wiser. But if we use Lombard and he is apprehended that will put those reporters on our trail, because he will speak to save his skin.”
Templar eyes flashed dangerously, “Than you will be personally responsible for his success, otherwise the consequences will be most unpleasant. Do I make myself clear?”
He nodded his head stiffly and then departed from Templar’s office.
A burst of glee escaped Templar’s lips, “Bonesteel thinks Daae wants the material. But I need that little story Lois Lane was working on about Daae’s media manipulation, if that fool Lombard succeeds I can pass that material onto Preston Carpenter and his reporter girl friend. Dear Linda already has so much experience with pilfering other reporters stories she’ll have a field day stealing from her old college chum! God, I love irony!”
“When the time is right, the story will be released and DMG in North America and Europe will be almost worthless, I can buy the entire corporation for pennies on the dollar. Daae will be too busy fighting legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic to care!”
He sat back in his chair and weighed Bonesteel’s words. It might be prudent to have a back-up plan in case Ralph Lombard does fail. After all, he was not a computer expert, more like the poor’s man Casanova. He picked up the phone and dialed a well-remembered number, if this fellow was available, than Mr. Lombard’s use was at an end…
***
Bonesteel sat down in his cubicle, he was shaking from a combination of rage and fear, he thought, <Templar needs my financial expertise, but eventually my usefulness will cease and he will dispatch me with extreme prejudice. I am in an untenable situation; it was wise that I created some insurance. After everyone leaves this evening perhaps another batch of papers from the RoyalPoint file needs to be copied and digitized.>
***
Mrs. Aronnax did not depart from her desk until minutes after 6:00pm. She quietly locked up her desk and file drawers, but deliberately kept her personal copier on. She was well aware that every evening since she had caught Bonesteel at her copier that he was using it at close of business each day. In the morning she retrieved the documents from her computer, creating both a hard copy and a diskette, she didn’t want such a file in her computer in case it was accessed by someone else. The papers made fascinating reading, but she pondered why Templar’s assistant used her machine and realized he too must be creating a back-up file for his own use. He might even be planning on betraying either Templar – or even worse, Daae. It made it all that much more imperative that she get a clearer picture of what kind of corporate piracy Jasper Templar was capable of.
