“But isn’t that why hackers attack banks, to steal money? I mean why else…” Amy’s voice trailed off with sudden understanding.
Nate was squeezing her hand, his grey eyes flashing with deep concern, and not only for their own future. They had just witnessed in real time the advent of an economic recession. Maybe a depression. Irrespective of that, the United States along with the rest of the world would feel the effects of this attack for years to come.
“This wasn’t a money grab,” he said, his voice tinged with icy anger. “Wasn’t a bunch of greasy Eurotrash millennials or even a four-hundred-pound guy sitting on his bed. What happened was far too big, far too sophisticated, for that.”
She stared at him and swallowed hard. “You mean like a state-sponsored attack?”
“Maybe even bigger. To pull off something like this, it would take more than one of our enemies acting in concert.”
As former head of cyber-security at Byron Nuclear, cyber-attacks had been one of the many contingencies he’d planned for. Thankfully the plant itself was cut off and largely safe from any internet attack. Nate had quickly learned how the power company executives preferred electrified fences and guards with guns as a deterrent from the most likely attack, a physical one. They were so confident that when Nate had aggressively pushed them to wargame a cyber-breach, they had decided instead to send him packing.
But unlike the power plant, the banking system was infinitely more vulnerable. Even with their active measures in place, someone had still managed to get inside several key financial institutions. He had read a report back in his days at the plant that speculated foreign powers had already inserted malicious code into key industries and infrastructure throughout America. Likewise, our cyber-command had done the same to our enemies. It was the twenty-first-century version of mutually assured destruction. You hit us, we’ll hit you. But it was one thing to trace the ballistic trajectory of an incoming missile back to its launch site and another entirely to trace the origin of a cyber-attack. The internet was a murky place. Uncovering the perpetrators and striking back would take weeks, maybe even months.
The next few hours were spent watching cable news and speaking to friends and family. There was still no clear indication of the extent of the damage that had been done. The banks themselves were remaining surprisingly tight-lipped. But each new “expert” they trotted out only deepened Nate’s already acute sense of urgency. The government had bailed them out once before. Nate wondered if they’d have to do it again. That was likely the best-case scenario.
After the first half hour, Nate had finally set his phone aside. His brother’s wife Lauren was freaking out. It didn’t help that Evan was currently working at the plant and might not know what was going on. There were too many unanswered questions, that was the problem. That was what made it so difficult to know the best way to react.
About a year ago, someone had managed to gain access to Amy’s bank account and empty her checking accounts of the three thousand dollars she kept there. It was never made clear how it had happened. For days, she had wondered whether she’d clicked on an email or a link she shouldn’t have. Amy was sharp when it came to technology. Wasn’t her style to fall prey to the typical ruses—Nigerian princes desperate to offload their millions or fake lottery scams. Even the fake IRS calls so popular of late were given a quick and rather curt piece of her mind before she hung up. Through it all, the bank had remained silent. Ninety-nine percent of the time, when customers were the victims of fraud, they would launch a brief investigation and ultimately replace the funds. The question was: would the same thing happen now? Or was this particular hack simply too large and devastating to overcome?
Nate had been careful to spread his money around to a few of the major banks. That way if, God forbid, one of them happened to go down, he wouldn’t be left completely penniless. Of course, he had never imagined an attack sophisticated enough to bring down all the major institutions at once, not to mention the major credit card companies.
“How long do you think it’ll take them to fix this?” Amy asked, chewing at her lip like she intended on boring a hole right through it.
“Soon, I hope,” Nate replied. He glanced down at his silenced phone and saw six more texts had come in.
Amy drew in a deep breath. “I can’t shake this terrible feeling that we’ve lost everything.”
Nate leaned in and hugged her. “Not everything,” he said and kissed her forehead. “I’m a hundred percent sure this’ll all be resolved in a matter of days. There’s simply too much on the line for too many people.” A heavy weight pressed on his chest with just how easily the little white lie had come off. “Besides, we have more than enough stocked here at the house for the next few weeks or even more, if need be. I just hope our people are busy figuring out who did this and hitting them back ten times harder.”
Not long after, Nate brushed his teeth and got ready for bed. Normally the pistol would go back in the safe down the hall, but given the present uncertainty, he thought it best to keep it in the nightstand by his bed. He plugged his phone into the charger and scanned through the newest messages he had received. Most of them were nearly identical. Just about everyone he knew was losing their minds. Working in finance was a high-pressure job, anyone he’d known in the industry would be the first to admit it. No one had a sense of humor when it came to their own money. During the Great Depression, a number of folks who had lost everything ended up stepping off the edge of a building. Steal a man’s money, you might as well have taken his soul. It was a sad truism, but for many, there was hardly a graver wound one could inflict.
But there had also been other texts on Nate’s phone. One or two had been about work. Clients asking about surveillance jobs and whether he’d found any proof of infidelity. Those were some of the lucky few who hadn’t heard the big news yet. What they also didn’t realize was that with no guarantee of being paid, Nate was putting everything on hold. Another reason was the weather. No one would be stupid enough to rendezvous with a lover during a blizzard. Especially not one like this.
Amy was still in the bathroom when Nate stood and went to the window. Much of the ground was already blanketed in several inches of snow. Down it came, fat flakes driven hard by the wind. He could hear it pushing against the house, making the windows creak and the joints moan. Not to mention his own human joints. There would be a major run on the banks tomorrow in Byron, Rockford and probably every other city in America. It didn’t matter how much snow fell tonight. Plowed or not, the roads would be busy.
“It’s really coming down,” Amy said, coming up behind him, her belly pressing against the small of his back.
Nate nodded, but couldn’t quite bring himself to say anything. The two of them were on the cusp of bringing a child into the world—their first. And a girl, no less. He should be ecstatic, and yet Nate couldn’t help but wonder what sort of world would be here to greet her when she finally arrived.
Chapter 6
Day 2
The next morning, Nate lay in bed, staring down at the text message his brother Evan had sent him less than an hour ago.
POWER OUT. SUSPECTED CYBER-ATTACK.
EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN PROCEDURES NOT WORKING.
He propped himself up on one elbow, rereading the message over and over, his chest growing tighter with each reading, his pulse galloping faster until he could feel the blood thumping in his neck.