As soon as they entered with Joe Murphy, the sound of typing was heard.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
The source of the sound was Ahn Soon-hyung.
Had he only been building finger strength in the gym?
His fingers were moving so fast on the keyboard that they were almost invisible.
Unlike the busy Ahn Soon-hyung, Oh Min-woo spoke in a relaxed tone.
“He’s a smart guy.”
“Really?”
“Yes, he’s so good at preventing backtracking that we can’t catch him unless we track him in real-time.”
“So, does that mean we can catch him now?”
“Of course.”
“But does he know he’s being chased?”
“Yes, he knows.”
“He knows?”
“Yes, he knows very well.”
“Ha…”
Lee Hyun-woo opened his mouth and looked at Joe Murphy beside him.
Until now, they had been intentionally conversing in English, so Joe Murphy also looked bewildered.
“You know, competition is a basic measure of desire.”
“So? Are you saying he’s competing with us?”
“Yes, it seems that way. We’ve actually failed a few times.”
“Oh, really?”
“By failure, I mean we failed to backtrack. We defended well, but when we followed, he disappeared without a trace.”
“He must be very skilled.”
“Yes, it’s kind of embarrassing to say this myself, but he seems to be the best in this field. People like him usually have an intense competitive spirit.”
“I suppose so.”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded.
In any field, if one believes they’re the best, their competitive drive skyrockets.
Even Oh Min-woo, who was speaking in a calm voice, had a similar character.
“So, I practiced really hard with Soon-hyung. I would be the hacker, and he would backtrack me, or vice versa. Oh, I didn’t explain the concept of backtracking.”
“Isn’t it roughly about tracking the hacker’s location?”
“That’s right. Backtracking is a technique to track the real-time location of a hacker attempting a hack.”
“Not everyone can do it, right?”
“Of course not. Only experts like Soon-hyung and me can. It’s even more difficult because of the internet’s anonymity and diversity. You can’t catch them unless you manually follow the hacker’s traces.”
The word ‘never’ is not used lightly.
Lee Hyun-woo nodded, thinking it was easier to understand it as ‘for now’.
Moreover, from this point on, he couldn’t understand much of what was being said.
“To directly find the hacker’s actual location, you need to analyze not only the log records of the system being attacked but also the log records of the system performing the attack.”
“Really?”
“Yes, for example, if there are Hosts A and B…”
Lee Hyun-woo forced himself to memorize the explanations he needed to know.
Then he spoke.
“Try to make an automatic backtracking system later.”
“Haha… Do you think it’s that easy, sir?”
“It’s difficult, but you once said there’s nothing you can’t do with programming.”
“…”
Oh Min-woo was momentarily at a loss for words.
It was true, but to eliminate that limitation, he needed the right environment and equipment.
Explaining all of this would take a long time and would be a headache to start from some point.
Fortunately, Ahn Soon-hyung’s voice was heard at that moment.
“Got it!”
“Really?”
“Yes! I found the IP!”
Oh Min-woo looked at Lee Hyun-woo with a triumphant expression.
“So, what should we do now?”
“What else? We hand it over to the police.”
“…”
“We have no choice. Instead, let’s also contact him and see who he is. If he has skills and character, let’s recruit him.”
“He has skills, but what about character? A guy who hacks recklessly can’t have good character.”
“We don’t know that. Have they ever demanded money?”
“No.”
“Have they ever planted a virus?”
“No…”
“Then the next thing to check is whether they sold the data they hacked.”
“Yes…”
“I don’t think they intended to sell the hacked data. If so, there is only one purpose. Self-display?”
“That’s not exactly a healthy mindset either.”
“Didn’t you once dream of being a hacker?”
“…”
“Don’t be prejudiced. Got it?”
“Yes…”
Lee Hyun-woo smiled as he looked at the powerless Oh Min-woo.
But he felt this couldn’t end here.
“Min-woo, and Soon-hyung, you really worked hard.”
“No, please, speak comfortably.”
“No, we all worked hard. We even stayed up several nights.”
Oh Min-woo, stuttering in the middle, glanced from Ahn Soon-hyung back to Lee Hyun-woo.
Lee Hyun-woo smiled and nodded.
“Alright, then we should get a hefty bonus.”
“What? From whom?”
“You know where to get it. The place that requested this job should cover the cost. I’ll give you half.”
“Wow…”
“Wow…”
“And since it was tough, take a few days off.”
“Really?”
“We don’t have to.”
“It’s fine. Take a few days off and then come back. After that, we might need to create a dedicated team.”
Oh Min-woo asked with wide eyes.
“A dedicated team?”
“How many people in the world have the ability to backtrack hackers?”
“Hardly any.”
“So we should create a dedicated team and promote it. Not just in Korea, but globally.”
Flash.
At that moment, Joe Murphy, who had been silent until then, raised his hand and spoke up.
“There’s one customer here.”
The remaining three people smiled.
Due to this event, the hacker backtracking team would likely become another weapon for Jungle.
At that time, the police didn’t have a cyber investigation unit.
However, there was a computer crime team organized since 1992, which included a hacker investigation team. Oh Min-woo and Ahn Soon-hyung set out to cooperate with them, while Lee Hyun-woo finished the remaining conversation with Joe Murphy.
The remaining conversation was about Jungle Music, which they had been discussing before Oh Min-woo entered.
After discussing various other topics, Lee Hyun-woo went straight to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Professor Geum Sang-jun greeted him with a bright smile.
“I got a call from the police. Fortunately, they said they caught him?”
“They said they found the IP address, but they need to confirm the actual home address and catch the suspect. We don’t know yet.”
“No, they said they’ll probably be able to confirm the home address soon.”
“Really? That’s fast.”
“It’s because you made the world so fast. The police’s hacker investigation team was also well-prepared.”
Though he said that, it was clear that it would take time to identify the actual suspect.
However, if the hacker was confirmed as a suspect, Lee Hyun-woo had a lot of work to do in advance.
“You said there were no damages to any government agencies?”
“Yes, but the intrusion itself is damage. Also, your company needs to be paid.”
In fact, designing and installing a program to defend against hackers was highly valuable.
Although there was no need to backtrack, they could demand additional costs since they had caught the hacker.
As of now, Lee Hyun-woo was in a dominant position.
“We also need to settle accounts. You said 50 million won if we successfully defend?”
“I felt it was quite a high price, so I apologize.”
“No, no. Each department will pool money together to pay that amount. It’s the price for hiring the best in the country.”
“And since we caught the hacker…”
“Yes, we need to pay extra for that. We can confirm what data the hacker has.”
“Yes, so it would be good if you could match it to 100 million won.”
“Haha… Alright, I’ll take responsibility for that.”
“We’ll also be responsible for the defense shield afterwards.”
“You seem to have taken your economics classes seriously. Trying to squeeze out monthly fees.”
“If possible, we recommend using our cloud services. That way, there will be no more hacker damages.”
Professor Geum Sang-jun nodded.
Since they had caught the hacker, Jungle’s capabilities were proven.
To prevent future hacking damages, it would be wise to invest in their praised security.
“And we’ll contact the hacker first.”
“Huh?”
“Of course, they will be investigated and detained. But afterwards, we’ll contact them.”
“Don’t tell me… you…”
“We’ve confirmed their skills, so we want to recruit them.”
“Haha…”
Professor Geum Sang-jun made a face that said, “You win.”
After assigning this job to Jungle, it felt like they were taking everything.
“You’re taking both money and practical benefits.”
“To ensure the cyber security of Korea, we need to gather skilled people in one place. Don’t you agree?”
“Your words have become more polished than before. Were you always like this?”
“Maybe I was hiding this personality back then.”
Lee Hyun-woo smiled brightly at Professor Geum Sang-jun.
This way, Lee Hyun-woo successfully completed the government’s first order.
‘I wonder if this will be reported in the media.’
He couldn’t force it.
If the government wanted to keep it quiet, it would have to be an undisclosed investigation.
But things in the world don’t always stay quiet just because someone wants them to.
After meeting Professor Geum Sang-jun and stepping outside, he received a call.
(President.)
It was Oh Min-woo.
“Yes, speak.”
(Something interesting happened.)
“What is it?”
(It seems the hacker is a high school student.)
“What? Did they catch him already?”
(He turned himself in.)
“Haha…”
(But before he turned himself in, he seems to have posted on a cafe he created. Actually, it wasn’t just a cafe; it was a hacking cafe where he detailed which government departments he had breached. It was private, but for some reason, he made it public today.)
In other words, it could be seen as a childish boast by a high school student.
Lee Hyun-woo laughed helplessly and spoke to Oh Min-woo.
“Is he at the police station now?”
(Yes, he turned himself in just a while ago, and I confirmed his face.)
Although he had told him to just deliver the materials and rest, Oh Min-woo must have been curious to see the face of the hacker.
Furthermore, he confirmed what Lee Hyun-woo had said earlier.
(When I asked why he hacked, he said he wanted to test his skills. We’ll need to check further if he used it commercially, but he said he didn’t share the information.)
“I see.”
(So I asked if he would like to work at our company later.)
“And what did he say?”
(With a gaze that seemed to respect me, he said ‘Okay.’)
Lee Hyun-woo chuckled.
Indeed, Oh Min-woo was a guy who thrived on his own brilliance.
