Noblesse Oblige [Chs. I & II -- Shane Keenan's Office]

[AmusingSN]

Shane Keenan's Office

(Reply here with In-Character posts taking place in Shane Keenan's Office)

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Shane Keenan


Shane Keenan's Office

Shane Keenan oversees your I.T. support at the Boston Office. He maintains your mundane computer system, your corporate broadband access, and all your mundane workstations. His office is a cramped space overlooking the parking lot, there is seating space for himself and one other person, with cramped standing space for two or three more people in claustrophobic conditions -- a couple of more people could also be present if they stand in the doorway, just outside the office.

Shane Keenan has sent out an intra-office memo to inform all members of the Collaborative of recent threats to computer security, and that he is going to be in his office for a few hours today if anyone wants to speak with him about it. Also in the memo was a request for a temporary increase to his funding so that his company can contract computer security specialists to shore up some holes in your computer security.

Shane Keenan is sitting at his desk, playing solitaire on his computer.

Synopsis Thread

OOC Thread

[Fishy]

Talia, in a rumpled suit half a size too big for her, and armed with a vaguely laptop-like device tucked under her arm, raps one knuckle on the door to Shane's office. "Knock knock?"

Talia liked the techie, but dealing with him without exposing him to the shattering light of pure madness was always tricky.

"I saw your memo- I think everyone's attention is on the new contract right now, but I might be able to talk some money over your way. What's been going on?"

[AmusingSN]

"Have you tried restar-...." Shane Keenan twitches as he is surprised by the light walking Genius who stands in the doorway of his office. "Oh, Ms. Kean, sorry." He seemed somewhat relieved. She was definitely one of the more computer literate people around, so he hardly ever had to talk down to her.

"The memo. Right. Well ..." He closes the solitaire window and then opens up his email. He looks at one of the letters from his home office and then spins his seat around to face Talia. "There have been a lot of unauthorized log-ins in from off-site locations. I tried to figure out where they were all coming from but its clear they are masking their IP addresses. I guess I could sum it up by saying that we're being hacked. Mainly here in Boston, but there has been an uptick in attempts at London as well."

He picks up a Subway napkin and smeers it over a grease stain on his t-shirt. "They've gotten through a few times, and it looks like they've just been poking around the system without leaving footprints, but its hard to tell for sure. My company wants to bring in some experts to have a closer look, and to shore up the security here."

[ninja_penguin]

Cara

The sound of soft measured footsteps can be heard in the hallway a moment before Cara makes her way into the office. She steps with a professional manner, grabbing a chair and sitting in it, crossing her legs. "Dr. Zaloom suggested that my capabilities would be better spent here instead of critiquing architectural design." she said in a matter of fact manner. "Do continue."

[Fishy]

This, of course, takes up the only other chair and displaces Talia out towards the doorway. She continues nevertheless. "That's not good. Do we know which machines they were trying to access?"

"And more importantly, who were you thinking of bringing in? What sort of budget are we talking about?" Are we sure they're not saboteur agents from the snake-people from an alternate earth, she doesn't say out loud.

[AmusingSN]

Shane nods to Cara. He didn't have much experience with this Zaloom fellow, but he heard him mentioned a few times.

"As far as I can tell, they accessed the whole network, but they didn't leave many footprints beyond their log-in attempts. We really need to bring in an expert, these hackers are good, whoever they are."

He turns to tap at his keyboard for a moment. "Looks like the home office wants to bring in AmeriTechnology Solutions, an independent computer security contractor here in Boston." Another few taps. "And it will increase your I.T. budget by 75% for about a month, and then will stabilize at a mere 5 to 10% increase afterwards if we want to keep them on consultation."

[ninja_penguin]

Cara

"What is the frequency of these attempts? Both Dr. Kean and I have experience with security systems and data retrieval. Perhaps we could try and obtain information on the perpetrators before the you hire the contractors. If we could provide them additional information your budget could be impacted less severely."

[AmusingSN]

"The log-in attempts come maybe a hundred times an hour, or so. They're probably using zombies for it. They're not hitting us fast enough to really affect other users, they seem to just be interested in getting in -- and watching." Shane turns to face the two Geniuses. "I can set up a work station so you can view the log-in servers in real time if you want."

[Fishy]

"That would be very helpful, actually. Even if we can't get their identities, the statistics would look great on a timeline..."

[AmusingSN]

Shane nodded, and then sighed deeply. He liked to do as little work as possible in any given day, but this did seem like it was important -- he'd have to suck it up and just get it done.

"Alright, I'll have it set up for you after lunch some time. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

[Fishy]

"Actually, yeah- do you know why my wireless is slow today?" Talia asks, struggling to keep a straight face.

[AmusingSN]

"Have you tried restarting?" Shane replies with his rote answer.

[Fishy]

"I'll go try that!"

((I think Talia's done here- If there isn't anything else, she's going to head out in the direction of the Rec room?))

[ninja_penguin]

Cara

"Thank you." Cara said, standing up and following Talia as she leaves. "We will return when the workstation is prepared."

[AmusingSN]

(( You can post in the rec room thread if you want, or move on directly to the conference room thread without passing go, so long as you don't mind skipping the normal 200 dollar pay-off.))

Shane Keenan returns to his solitaire game, figuring he'll have time to set up the workstation when he's through.