73. Sixty seven
Gangseo Police Station 6 years ago.
The press conference on the kidnapping case in Namseo-dong has begun.
Team leader Kim Jung-soo, who was in charge of the case, and the chief of the detective department and the chief of the police department were seated side by side at the press conference table.
The station’s camera turned on, and a reporter raised his hand and opened his mouth.
“I am very glad that the kidnapped child has returned safely. I heard that Team Leader Kim Jung-soo played a big role in solving the case. Were there any special difficulties in this investigation?”
After team leader Kim Jung-soo finished answering, questions and answers about the suspects’ motives followed, and after a while a young woman stood up and said:
“This is So-Jeong So, a trainee reporter for the Daedong Ilbo. Of the two suspects, is Choi Jin-soo the main culprit, not the accomplice?”
“We will have to investigate that part a bit more, but we see it that way now.”
“Is it true that Jinsoo Choi even made a detailed plan to kill his nephew himself?”
At the reporter’s question, the detective chief opened his mouth with a bitter expression.
“I can’t believe it, but it’s true.”
“Does the child avoiding this know?”
“I don’t know.”
“I know that in the case of simple kidnapping where the victim is not murdered, the sentence is only a few years. Shouldn’t the victim also know in case his uncle comes out after completing his sentence?”
“It’s up to the victim’s family to take care of. For reference, in the case of kidnapping, the statutory maximum sentence is 15 years. Moreover, in this case, there were threats, attempted murder, confinement, assault, and atrocities against children under the age of 13, and since it is a crime against an existence, the sentence is probably not short if you consider the aggravated punishment.”
three days later.
Room 405, 105, Namseo Apartment, Namseo-dong.
At the sound of the bell, Incheol’s mother slightly opened the front door, and a young woman’s voice could be heard through the narrow gap in the door.
“hello. This is reporter So-jung from Daedong Ilbo. We have come to the investigation regarding the kidnapping case in Namseo-dong.”
In-cheol’s mother said in a calm voice.
“You came to the wrong place.”
“I can’t. This is Choi In-cheol’s daycare center, right? I just came out of the police station to check now.”
The reporter pulled the door with force, but the front door was latched with a ‘click’ sound.
In-cheol’s mother still spoke in a calm voice.
“no. You really have come to the wrong place.”
In-cheol’s mother closed the front door, and the reporter who remained outside the door frowned with a displeased expression.
that afternoon.
Young In-cheol’s eyes were shaking violently when he returned from school.
In-cheol’s mother, who noticed In-cheol’s serious expression, said:
“In-cheol-ah, what’s going on?”
“… .”
In-cheol’s mother asked again, holding In-cheol’s hands.
“In-cheol? What happened at school today?”
“Mom… .”
“why? Does that friend named Jeong-ho don’t want to come to our house?”
Incheol shook his head and said.
“No, not that… .”
“then? What’s going on?”
Incheol opened his mouth with a weeping voice.
“uncle… uncle… me… .”
“… !”
“Are you really saying you did that to kill me?”
* * *
not on the bus.
I didn’t ask any more at In-cheol’s serious expression, and In-cheol spoke to me with an apologetic voice.
“That interview, I don’t have to go, right?”
I said with a smile on purpose.
“haha! It’s not like that. Me and Yunseok hyung, just the two of us will suffice. Don’t worry, ma’am!”
In response to my answer, Incheol smiled and said.
“Yeah, the two bosses are doing well. On Sunday, I have to watch ＜Synapse>!”
“ah… ! Did the next episode come up?”
In response to my question, Incheol shook his head and said.
“Silver Castle caught a cold, so it was only announced that I couldn’t upload it until now. Instead, I said I’d upload it at lunchtime on Sunday, but uh—! I hope Sunday comes soon!”
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Northwest High School.
As soon as the morning self-study was over, I went to the canteen.
I bought a bunch of high-calorie chocolate bars, shoved them into my pocket, and headed to the payphone booth with some change.
The voice of Yoon Seok-i hyung, who was tired from being tired, was heard over the receiver.
-uh… ! It’s Ho Jung!
“Hyung, did you receive the email I sent you this morning?”
-yes! well received I just showed it to Manager Kim Yeon-san, and he said that there doesn’t seem to be such an important file.
Your brother was right.
I also checked about 60 files included in 11 combinations, and there was no information directly related to bidding in those files.
“Yes, I will. In fact, I sent him not to look for combinations similar to that.”
-Yeah, it seemed like that. It’s really great though. How did you find it? I’ve been writing algorithms all night and running programs, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to find one by tomorrow.
“I guess I just got lucky.”
-By the way, what do you mean you can find 15-20 more?
“I have confirmed about 40% of the possible combinations so far. If you even check the remaining 60%, you can probably find 15 to 20 more.”
-ah… ! You are also looking for an algorithm.
“I’m not running a program… . Well, it’s similar.”
-what? Aren’t you running the program? How are you doing?
“haha–! That’s not important… It was hacked, did you find any other traces?”
-no. It seems like they came in really quietly and left only the files. If it wasn’t for the log file backup, I probably wouldn’t even have known that it was hacked.
“okay.”
I continued speaking in a cautious voice.
“Hyung, and you have an interview on Sunday, right? I talked to In-cheol, and In-cheol said it would be difficult.”
-ah… ! okay? I thought Incheol would like it… .
There was silence for a while, and after the silence, the older brother continued.
-Jeongho-ya, shall we cancel the interview then? I guess you didn’t like it too much… .
As he said, I didn’t really want to do an interview.
However, my brother’s words came to mind that it would be effective in promoting Yunseong Soft.
“But do I even need to cancel? I think we can do it together with my brother.”
-Okay, then, I’ll contact the reporter now, and I’ll set a time and let you know.
“Yes Yes! Brother, the class will start soon, so I think I should go.”
-Okay then, good job!
That night.
When I got home from self-study at night, I was literally exhausted.
My body seemed to have a little fever, but I couldn’t stand it because I was hungry rather than a headache.
I opened the refrigerator, briefly filled my stomach, showered and returned to my room.
Today at school, we’ve found a total of 11 file combinations, and with just a few more hours of work, we’ll be able to see all possible combinations of files.
Like yesterday, I felt like a chimney to lie in bed and work, but when I lay down, I feel like I will fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow.
The bid deadline is tomorrow, Saturday, 7:00 am Korean time.
Exactly 8 hours left.
Yeah, let’s get a little bit stronger.
I closed my eyes and started walking around the room.
When I was done checking all the folder and file combinations, I was able to find 6 more file combinations, and the clock was pointing to 4 in the morning.
A total of 17 file combinations came out.
read at noblemtl.com
Now we need to see what’s contained in the files in these combinations.
When I turned on the computer and connected to the Balhae Sports network, many folders were inaccessible.
what?
Did Yoon Seok-yi hyung release the administrator privileges?
I called the Balhae Sports computer room, and Yoon Seok-yi hyung’s voice was heard along with the ringing tone.
After a short greeting, my brother asked me.
-Did you find more combinations of files?
I know that Yeong-mi’s father, Kim Yeon-san, and the general affairs team leader work all night at the company.
If I tell Yoon Seok-hyung the combinations of files I found, Manager Kim Yeon-san will also know.
I opened my mouth in a cautious voice.
“I… I found it, but I don’t think I can send it to you right now because I have something to check first.”
-ah… ! so?
“Hyung, but my account has lost administrator privileges.”
-really? I didn’t change? I think Manager Kim Yeon-san probably reset it.
Also… ! there is something
I’m not sure, but it seems that Manager Kim Yeon-san is hiding something from me.
Balhae Sports started to build a network system for company administration in 1997.
Considering the fact that it is a small company that produces soccer products, computerization started really early, and at the center of this computerization process was Manager Kim Yeon-san.
Yes, I admit it.
During the difficult IMF foreign exchange crisis, the size of the company rather grew, which was greatly helped by the computerized corporate administration system.
This is because, by increasing the efficiency of the administrative system, most of the net profit could be invested in the automation of factory facilities rather than administrative support.
It was the computer system built by Manager Yeon-San Kim that made it possible with just 19 employees to manage more than 300 factory workers, export USD 8 million per year, and domestic sales worth KRW 170 million.
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Not only this.
Of course, there was full support from Yeong-mi’s father, but it was Kim Yeon-san who simplified inefficient administrative tasks a year ago and created a system that monitors the operation of the factory in real time at the head office.
As Yeong-mi’s father said, it was Manager Kim Yeon-san who helped Balhae Sports overcome the IMF crisis.
There is nothing to worry about as much as his outstanding abilities.
First, all information and important decisions of the company were being handled by one person, in fact, Manager Yeon-San Kim, and second, Manager Kim had the absolute trust of her father, Yeong-mi, the president of the company.
At an executive meeting earlier this year, when I pointed out the problem that Manager Kim Yeon-san was controlling all the company’s information, Yeong-mi’s father laughed at me saying it wasn’t a big problem.
Of course, Kim Yeon-san has never had a negative impact on the company so far.
But now, at an important time, the company’s computer network was breached, and the company’s computer network was managed by Manager Kim Yeon-san alone.
The fact that the log files were being automatically backed up as if they were expecting a hacker to come was also a little questionable.
I’m not suspicious of Manager Kim Yeon-san right now.
However, I think we need to be careful ahead of an important bid.
After finishing the call with Yoon-seok hyung, I asked hyung for administrator rights again.
After a while all the files and folders were accessible, and I started checking them.
Of the 17 file combinations I found, there were 3 combinations that the hacker would have stolen.
I opened the files included in these three combinations and started to analyze the contents one by one.
It was mainly data on company sales and factory operations on a monthly or quarterly basis.
By the time I finished reviewing the files, the clock showed 4:50 in the morning.
I called the Balhae Sports president’s office, and Young-mi’s father, who heard my voice, said in a surprised voice.
-Jeong-ho, what the hell is going on at this hour?
“I was helping CEO Joe.”
The CEO of Yun Seong Soft, Yoon Seok-yi hyung.
-No, it’s good to help CEO Jo, but what time is it now, are you still sleeping?
“Uncle, I found the file that the hacker took.”
-What? is that really
“Yes, there are three cases in total, but all three have similar results.”
The man’s excited voice came over the receiver.
-okay? What files were leaked?
“The domestic sales volume in the first and second quarters of this year, as well as export sales and operating profit data from 1998 to now were all leaked.”
A short sigh was heard, and I continued.
“And from 1997 to June of this year, a total of 13 raw material purchase contracts were also hacked.”
– Hmm… I see
“It seems to have taken everything from the current status of factory employees, employee wage data, to the amount of inventory for each product in the warehouse.”
The old man’s voice was heard along with a long moan.
-under—! They say you can calculate all of our production costs from there, but you must be looking at all of our cards.
“Yeah, but I don’t think I took one really important piece of information.”
– What do you mean?
“You know, this bid, I think we can take advantage of the current situation to eat.”
– Really?