Chapter 22- Strike Two

Zain's laptop's screen flickered again.

All three men had their eyes glued on Zain's laptop screen.

It turned black and then lit up again.

After a few minutes, a 'ding' sound came.

The screen was split into two sections.

One section displaying advertisement of Viagra with laughing emoticons and the other section displaying two words in bold.

[Hey. there!]

Below those words, there was a small signature.

'Dark Web Masters'.

"What the fuck!" Assistant Han blurted out.

Francesco and Zain glanced at each other.

[LOL]

Another line appeared on the screen.

The Assistant Han was shocked to see that the Hacker not only hacked his Big Boss's laptop but was hearing them right now.

After a couple of minutes, Francesco's asked in a serious voice. "Why did you attack us again?"

No response.

"We already paid you ransom. It was agreed you will not breach us again. What do you want?" Francesco asked another question.

[Fun. :D]

quickly a response appeared on the screen.

The Office sank into an eerie silence.

What the hell is happening!

After couple of seconds, screen lit up again.

[See you soon]

another response appeared.

"What do you mean?" Francesco asked instantly.

However, there was no further response from the other side.

In the next second, split-screen converted to a single screen, the chat window was closed from the hacker's end.

The only thing playing was a viagra advertisement.

"Your laptop is hacked!" Assistant Han looked at Zain and then Francesco.

As compared to Assistant Han who was still lost in bewilderment, Zain and Francesco both were calm and composed in the physical appearance. However, the sudden incident had caused a storm deep inside them.

"They are indeed genius!" Francesco commented.

Zain turned towards him and handed his laptop quickly over to him.

Francesco nodded.

They both have a tacit understanding among them.

Francesco placed the laptop on his lap and his slender fingers started typing and dancing across the keyboard.

"Thank god. There are no signs of files being corrupted. Looks like they just did it for fun. Strange!" Francesco breathes the sigh of relief.

Dark Web Masters had not shown any malicious intent. Neither did they ask ransom, nor they have copied any file. They did not delete any information and they did not even tamper any applications.

They just came by, had chat, and disappeared leaving this small virus!

Francesco was confused. After all, the ordinary user will not understand, but Dark Web Masters are highly skilled and they just installed some virus for fun. That's unlike them.

Did they install any other software or program or malware secretly?

Francesco immediately ran the full scan on Zain's laptop to ensure the nothing was compromised.

Then, he started decoding the virus. There was an encrypted hidden code that had been inserted into Zain's laptop and the normal detection system would not be able to locate or find it.

Many skilled coders and developers, would miss it if they are not observant enough.

He quickly plugged his portable harddisk and copied the virus code to study it later in detail.

After copying the code, he unplugged the cable.

"Why they targeted you? Only your laptop was compromised. Maybe, because you are the CEO. But still, that's not a satisfying conclusion!" Francesco muttered as his brain started evaluating possibilities and reasons.

"Well, we have many rivals and enemies. It can be anyone who must have paid these notorious folks." Assistant Han chimed in.

Zain leaned back on the sofa and sank into contemplation.

Francesco worked in decoding and removing the virus from Zain's laptop. He tried tracing down IPs address again but was in vain. There were only a few virtual IP addresses from foreign countries.

Not a single trace or footprint,  he was able to find!

He removed the virus and its relevant footprints. He re-installed the secure program again and restarted the laptop.

He placed it in front of Zain and exclaimed. "It's clear now."

"Grazie Fratello!" Zain thanked him.

Francesco nodded in acknowledgment.

"Remember their last words, SEE YOU SOON. I think they meant by Hackathon BugHackX. There's no other possibility that I can think of."

Zain stood up from his chair and spoke in a calm voice.

"Let's go to the event!"

In Springrock city:

Sitting in front of his multiple computer screens, wearing a signature hoodie,  Zack suddenly laughed out loud.

He had just sent a message couple of seconds back.

[Hey. there!]

Instantly a strange male sound came from the other side.

"What the fuck!" 

Zack throated laughter echoed in his study.

He cleared his throat, summoned the virtual screen, open the chat dialog box, and typed another message.

[LOL] hit send.

After a couple of minutes, he heard another voice  which sounded dead serious.

"Why did you attack us again?"

Zack rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue.

Ask your ancestor's dude.

What all bad karmas you did!

He decided to ignore this question and took a sip of hot chocolate and tapped on his desk in a rhythm.

He was waiting for them to say something more.

Indeed after a while, the same voice asked another question.

"We already paid you ransom. It was agreed you will not breach us again. What do you want?"

Zack raised his eyebrows and smirked.

He quickly typed in.

[Fun. :D]

After a while, he decided to gave them a hint. With a smug look on his face, he typed and sent a final response.

[See you soon]

"What do you mean?" The same voice asked frantically.

Zack chuckled and logged out.

He did not install any advanced virus. The one he infected Zain's laptop was his most easy creation and was easy to delete & deal with.

He logged out of the system.

His virus was still there giving a treat to their eyes displaying advertisement about Viagra.

He laughed again thinking about faces of people in Bennetti Group.

He got this funny idea from one of the most notorious hacker group of all time who wears signature mask of Vendetta.

He thanked them inwardly for this genius evil yet hilarious trick.