The Origin Point: A Future Tech Cyber Novella (12 page)

"But what about policing compliance? Kids
would just cheat."

"You bring in some controls. Instead of
school buildings you would have study halls where paid monitors
patrol the cubicles and maintain order. Of course every room would
also have camera surveillance. A disruptive child could be removed
and permanently ejected. For fraud detection, students could be
required to report for testing at their current level, every 60
days or so, and if they fail to achieve a passing grade they would
have to report to a traditional teaching environment for say, six
months. The idea is to give parents and kids a level of learning
flexibility no generation has ever had. The question will be: why
are we relying on the whims of the teachers when compliant
computers could run the entire process for us?"

"What's the catch?"

"The catch is the battleground for a life
online. Every child will end up surrendering their personal privacy
and involuntarily creating reams of data for an online profile. A
child's strengths and weaknesses would be automatically recorded
and, one guesses, maybe an employer could have access to the
information in the future. Also to make lessons more interactive,
preferences would exist. For example if a student liked skiing,
questions would relate to some form of skiing. But this preference
would also be in the student's profile. The government and big
business would know 'this kid likes skiing.' Suddenly your health
care premiums go up, and you are bombarded with advertising for ski
equipment and vacations in Aspen. The long-term danger of this
whole idea is the inability to keep your personal data private.
Your entire primary and secondary education performance, every
second captured online would belong to the state indefinitely."

"A trade-off between privacy and efficiency,
the core central battle of emergent technology," Dallas noted,
intrigued by Apex's assessment of the issue.

"Yes, but people have to understand the
trade-off now. Because if past developments are any indication,
society is not going to be asked to choose. The decision is going
to be made for them."

"What do you mean?"

"The situation I've been referring to is
already taking place. The foundation for building out the system
has already started."

"But how? When?"

"Officially years ago, but functionally
within the past eighteen months, they've kind of taken off with
their plans."

"Who? How?"

"If you knew your government, or let's say
private influential citizens, were engaged in a plan to co-opt your
online data and create a national surveillance and activity
database what would you do?"

"Reveal the story."

"And if they had plenty of options for
suppressing the information, for claiming your story was
false?"

"At least the story is out there, you raise
awareness."

"Raise awareness?"

"Yes."

"Awareness and understanding are part of the
challenge. The system will technically be voluntary but you have to
opt-out, everyone will default in. Of course opting out will take
effort, which most people refuse to exert. But those who stay awake
and aware will make the appropriate preference changes, and will
not have as much information compromised as those who complacently
give in."

Dallas leaned forward. "How much can you
tell me about this whole project...to make this a story?"

"Dallas, what did I tell you from the
beginning?"

"But your own alarmist words imply you want
to make sure this system is publicized," Dallas protested.

"Not really publicized. I want to make sure
the system is destroyed. Putting a story out there for the creators
of COSA to deny will not destroy the system. Tell me what kind of
pressure would have to happen to make them drop the whole
idea?"

"Maybe a massive public backlash?"

"Against an officially non-existent project
no one can see?"

"Okay, prosecution?"

"For writing policy papers?"

"I don't get it. I thought you said COSA was
built."

"The rollout is too complicated to explain
right now. But in general, the way the system was established makes
the whole program appear to be a research and development project;
benign thought pieces like the ones you saw; and a few experimental
tests with cooperative government departments and businesses using
old data. You can not point to a transparent project and say, 'okay
we know where to aim our weapons.'"

"But if the project is out there and
developed, how did that happen?"

"There are people who made the work
happen."

"Okay what's the source of their power? In
this town everyone hates to lose power."

"Would you believe their power comes from
being incredibly smart, loyal and trustworthy?"

"You're joking."

"No, these are people who have basically
outsmarted everyone, and in a really permanent fashion. Think about
it. Most people, especially around town, are idiots, operational
idiots. They function in a narrow world of beliefs and
understandings, plotting and planning their careers, seeking
revenge against rivals and cheating on their spouses. The number of
people who are true thinkers, who not only have a sense of duty but
also actually aim to fulfill it, those people are few and far
between in D.C."

"People like Marco Manuel."

"Absolutely. If you had a billion-dollar
idea to drop into someone's care, you'd pick Manuel right?"

"In a second."

"Well, let's just say his skill is
recognized worldwide."

"Wait. Really? But is he..."

"What?"

"Is he doing something illegal?"

"No, remember he is way too smart to be
obvious. The project is organized on a completely legal foundation.
A private consortium is doing the prep work, and the government can
eventually sign on, voluntarily without strings. All government
participation so far has been conducted in the name of
technological research. Almost every government department runs on
two systems, or at least the employees think they have two systems,
behind the scenes is actually only one."

Dallas shook her head. "Look Apex, why are
you giving me a story I cannot use? Especially if the project
cannot be defeated. If you don't want to expose the truth, I don't
know what else I can do. Writing the story will at least shake
people up."

"How about you...you investigate the
story."

"What do you mean?"

"Make your activities appear to look like
you're going to write stories related to the documents you
found."

"But won't that be dangerous?"

"Why? Was someone else threatening you
besides me?"

"No," Dallas quickly answered, thinking of
Marco's warnings. "But if they really care about their project they
might become concerned about my sudden interest."

"You want that exact reaction to find a
vulnerability. Let's see who decides to be concerned and why. Poke
around a little bit on one topic, like education. There is already
a lot of experimenting being done with computer learning in
schools, pull a thread of the story, look at which computer
hardware company is providing the most product to schools, who's
got the contracts. While the basic curriculum is already available
for home schooling, the next step will be the creation of advanced
online tools, and whole communities demanding the transition away
from their traditional, failing school. Try to see if the Education
department or online learning businesses will reveal more. You
write about cyber issues, an online education story should fit
right in with your interests."

"I write about cyber security issues."

"Okay even better angle, 'are your kids
safe?' People will freak out thinking about how criminals could get
access to their children through online education tools. Exploit
that option within the scope of your story. If the population
refuses to complacently accept the concept, the system's backers
will be forced to change the functions or they will not have a
chance to succeed with their implementation."

"Okay, that may be a good idea. I'll have to
bounce around a couple of possible scenarios but I'm sure one will
stick."

"Okay good."

"But Apex, what exactly do you and I have
here? A partnership of some kind?"

"I hope so, Dallas. I'll admit, I'm trying
to get the system destroyed so you have to decide what's in this
for you."

"You giving me the full story at some point.
I'll wait for the details."

"I'm never promising the full story."

"I'll wait to see how much you will reveal.
But can I ask now, why do you even know so much about this top
secret plan?"

"I know insiders."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You'll always have the latest information,
like when the system will be fully rolled out?"

"Possibly."

"Will I get the story as soon as there is
enough to reveal?"

Apex hesitated. "Revealing any part of the
story may take years. But let's say, under any circumstances, you
get the story before details are officially made public. And by
public I mean a direct announcement about COSA or some form of the
system's existence for public consumption."

"Okay, but in the meantime, can you give me
another opening?"

"Like what?"

"I'm going to let you decide when the right
moment appears. I can get people onto the questions about an online
education, but you'll have to come up with another option before
this breaks. I want to be the recognized lead on the details about
the system and its implications."

"Okay, deal."

"And if there's trouble?"

"What kind of trouble?"

"The kind you were trying to use on me."

"Don't worry about any problems."

"Don't worry? Why?"

"I'll be vigilant, make sure everything is
okay."

"How?"

"I think you already know. I have decent
tech skills."

"You'll watch me? Trace my phone?"

"No Dallas, I'll watch them."

*

CHAPTER THREE - THE LAW
ENFORCEMENT FILE

Carter sat on his own bed reading his Initium tech
team's report about the security sweep at Horizon. The report was
comprehensive in its condemnation. The building's sensors failed to
note an unregistered flash drive on the premises; a file on the
drive overrode the automatic security check on Marco's laptop; and
the implanted program uploaded to the main operations system
through the building's Wi-Fi connection. Every broken step in the
process was a failing of his technology. Whoever had created the
drive's files had utilized advanced infiltration applications he
had never previously seen.

The approach Initium's confidential GCS
partner team was taking to the assignment from FedSec involved a
multi-tiered security protocol. The face of each person entering a
Horizon building was scanned and cleared through a facial
recognition application before a body passed through the entry
barriers. Discrete sensors on walls and in doorways alerted for the
presence of metal, wirelessly transmitting devices, miniature hard
drives, cameras, recording devices, and certain drugs. All files
originating on the internal system were digitally watermarked, and
external files were flagged for viruses and errant code. Every
desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile used within the premises had to
be security cleared, which meant running a validation program to
flag for unauthorized file uploads or downloads. And no one took
work home. The office complex's servers contained applications for
aggregating data pulled from government and businesses around the
country. But the main COSA program was run from a server farm
located in an abandoned nuclear missile silo station near Carter's
family home in North Dakota. As a test, more than 100,000 generated
profiles had been created and the program ran analysis all day on
updates of incoming data created by those 100,000 individuals as
they pursued their lives. No citizen had volunteered for the
experiment, but all of the data was legally obtained.

To protect their research advances in
information collection, Initium's technologists were convinced they
could provide an unobtrusively secure environment where employees
seamlessly walked around with their electronic equipment, and were
unaware of the constant internal checks and verifications running
against the devices they held in their hands. Horizon was the
functioning test lab for their findings, but to Carter's surprise
the bugs had yet to completely ironed out. Annoyed by the report's
conclusions, but prepared for questions, he sent the document over
a secure line to Marco and Julia with only one data point
expunged...the revelation about whose device was used to download
the documents found on the flash drive discovered at the Infrared
restaurant.

Feeling disappointed by his own
shortcomings, he stood up, and in bare feet walked to the liquor
cabinet to pour a glass of scotch. Moving towards the lights of San
Francisco shining into his living room, he stood against a glass
window and looked out into the city. 'Maybe Apex was right,' he
thought. 'They could try to destroy COSA before the system
completely rolled out.' But he quickly dismissed the idea. The
minute the system was destroyed, a clone would emerge in its place.
'This advance is inevitable,' he thought. 'No government is going
to give up on the idea of identifying every human within its
borders.' And given that reality, thinking technologists should
ensure the process was controlled even if they ended up complicit
in the outcome.

Carter had no answer for the essential
conflict inherent in his role. He was on the frontlines, playing
both sides, manufacturing the equipment to be used for COSA's
infrastructure, and warning independent technologists to be
prepared for the emergence of an advanced cyber enemy to fight.
Neither stance felt entirely correct to him, yet he could not
abandon either. 'How did the battle get this far?' he wondered.
When discussions had begun between his company and the government
their intentions seemed only to be connected to national security.
Now the proposal would permanently create a record for every
individual. Not a criminal record, but a record nonetheless. The
government's information gathering mandate was no longer the Social
Security Administration having your birthdate and latest mailing
address. COSA would know the presents you received for your
birthday and if you were planning to move, along with the food you
ate, clothes you wore and each completed moment in transit from one
place to another. The scope profoundly reached through the depths
of an average person's life, and returned a kaleidoscope of
information designed to aid government and business to identify
operational objectives.