Clandestine-IsaacHooke-FreeFollowup by Isaac Hooke Read Free Book Online

good about their decision to join before the emirs ship them off to the war zones to serve as cannon fodder."
    "I'm really looking forward to that ," William said sarcastically.  
    "What about your MacBook?" Ethan nodded at the laptop. "Will they confiscate it?"
    "They might, but I doubt it. They usually let the foreign fighters keep their laptops and phones, though I'd be careful to delete any music, movies or photos. The muj sometimes get special treatment in regards to what sorts of media they're allowed on their devices, but best not to risk it."
    "So, when we use the local Internet services to keep in touch with Sam," Ethan said. "I'm assuming we'll have a way to encrypt our traffic?"
    "Of course." Aaron retrieved an envelope from his backpack and dumped three USB sticks on the table.
    " Amn al-Mujahid ?" Ethan said, guessing at the contents of the USBs. That stood for "The Mujahid's Security."  
    "Yup. Latest windows revision."
    The Al-Fajr Technical Committee was established by jihadis in September 2012. Affiliated with Al Qaeda, the group produced encryption software to help mujahadeen communicate "safely and effectively." The latest incarnations of the software could be installed on Windows desktops or Android phones and used to send and receive encrypted emails, texts, videos, and so forth. The nice thing about running the same software other jihadis did was that if the sticks were confiscated, no one would think twice about the contents—he loved the irony of using their own tools against them.  
    "There's also software included on the USB to remove any stealth key loggers or screen recorders," Aaron continued. "And any other tracking malware the Islamic State or cafe owners may have installed on their computers. Plus, there's a little goodie called readme.txt.exe you may be familiar with."
    "Regin?"
    Aaron nodded.
    Ethan had used that specific malware before. All Windows computers were set to hide file extensions by default, so that particular executable would appear as readme.txt, a text file. Most people clicked on text files named readme without thinking, and once that nasty file was clicked, it would infect the target computer with a modular cyberespionage tool known as Regin, developed and maintained by two full-time teams working for the NSA and MI6.
    Remote operators could tailor the software to specific targets in real-time, as long as the target system had a working Internet connection. It could capture screenshots, take control of the mouse and keyboard, log keystrokes and passwords, monitor web activity, retrieve deleted files, and so forth. Regin made use of several state-of-the-art stealth techniques to stay under the radar, such as encrypted virtual file system containers and payloads, and it had the ability to infect and store parts of itself on other machines in the same network. It could even embed itself in the firmware of certain commercial hard drive brands. It also had an auto-update feature, facilitating long-term intelligence gathering—it's ever-evolving footprint allowed it to continually evade virus scanners.  
    "Check it out." Aaron indicated a collapsible button on the topside of the USB that blended seamlessly with the black surface. "A hidden button that saves your current GPS location to a custom folder on the stick for later retrieval. Also includes a mini Laser Target Locater Module. Hold down the button and after a second it emits a visible spectrum laser. Use it like a laser pointer to identify any nearby target you want to acquire—hold it steady, and the built-in laser range finder will compute the GPS coordinates of the target and record them."  
    "And who says we never get James Bond stuff?" William said.
    Ethan shrugged. "Repurposed cellphone technology."
    "Well, there's more," Aaron said.
    "Don't keep me in suspense," Ethan mocked.
    Aaron winked. "Squeeze the middle like this." He pinched the center portion. "And yank the top." He pulled the tip: the end telescoped