Samuel and his father were sure Jessie was aware of the facts herself. They saw no need to call her back or send a depressing email. She would be experiencing these things first-hand and they were both confident she was well equipped to deal with them. Arthur was an intelligent and useful man. He worked in marine research and Samuel was sure he would do his best to take care of his sister. In the few times he had met him, he’d come across like a reliable man who loved Jessie very much. That was all Samuel needed to know to be happy she and his nephews were in safe hands.
“They might do better there despite that. I think the smaller communities might cope better than the big cities now. There’s very little left around here that doesn’t rely on mass funds of some description.”
“True,” Samuel agreed. New York was going to bear the brunt of this disaster and they were going to be forced to live right through it. “I’m kind of glad I got out of the city. Things were getting pretty dicey back there.”
“Charles! Samuel! Turn on the television!”
Addison’s cry came from the hallway, the sound of her making her way down the stairs to her husband and son overriding their conversation. Samuel looked at his father with a confused expression, reaching for the television remote as his mother burst into the room.
“Turn it on! Turn it on! They’re saying it’s all been a ruse. The ransomware statement isn’t true!”
“What?” Samuel gasped, frantically turning on the large television set and waiting for it to power up. “What do you mean? So, the money isn’t gone at all?”
“No,” Addison shook her head. “It’s gone. Gone for good. People are saying the statement was just a fake to buy Trident some time.”
“Oh no.” Samuel’s heart sank. His worst fears about the money were true. At the same time, he felt a huge pang of disappointment for the company he had worked for all his life. Surely, they wouldn’t have released a deliberately false statement. The people in charge knew better than that.”
We come to you live from outside the Trident HQ, where reports have been circulating of activity on the top floor of the building and a rumoured false statement that was released earlier today. We are yet to hear from an official representative of Trident, but numerous members of the public are now claiming that they know the ransomware statement to be fake. We’re here with Taylor Winnipeg, a cyber security specialist from The Dorchester Group who tells us it simply isn’t possible for a ransomware attack like this to take place. Taylor, could you please explain why you’re so confident this statement issued by Trident some hours ago is untrue?
Samuel looked at his mother and father in horror as the camera panned away from the news reporter to show another woman standing by her side, dressed in a sharp suit, her hair combed back neatly out of her face. She had to be the smartest dressed person in the entire tri-state area, representing a rival bank proudly outside the crumbling Trident building.
“Of course,” Taylor replied. “It’s quite simple really. With ransomware you only gain entry to the outer layers of the account. You can leave breadcrumbs and infiltrate parts of the software and then have the ability to make threats or – as the name suggests – demand a ransom.
“What has happened here clearly goes beyond just the outer-layers of the accounts. For money to have disappeared on such a large scale, the hack has to go beyond what ransomware is capable of. It just isn’t enough to have caused this much damage. All the money in Trident is gone and it’s not coming back. What we’re dealing with here is much more serious than just a threat or a ransom, this is a bankruptcy. Trident is broke and that means everyone who banks with them is broke as well. Your money is gone,” Taylor Winnipeg gave her final statement to the camera directly, looking at it in a sympathetic manner. “And there’s no hope of getting it back.”
Samuel let out a huge breath of air, pressing two fingers up against each of his temples and massaging them. Now that The Dorchester Group was getting involved, this was going to get nasty. They were the bank that a few years ago had sabotaged one of their marketing campaigns by stealing their idea. The rivalry between the two companies ran deep, any communication with someone from the opposing side strictly forbidden by both banks. The people at the top in Trident were not going to like this.
Samuel wondered who was left on the top floor of the company. The fact the reporter had highlighted that at the start of her speech had stuck with him. He suspected the nineteenth floor was still in operation already, with the elevators all being stopped up there. Who was in charge of Trident now? He knew a few names on the board but couldn’t think who had been in the building that day. Whoever was there would have to respond now that The Dorchester Group had gone public with their dismissal of the ransomware statement. This disaster was turning out to be so much more than just financial. The company name was being dragged through the dirt with it and the entire organization brought to the ground.
“I’ve got to go back,” Samuel announced suddenly, shocking both his parents with his revelation. “I need to see this for myself.”
“What do you mean?” Charles questioned his son, surprised by the outburst. Samuel was never normally a spontaneous person; this
