The Boards

The Boards

By Toren L.

Part 1 (Raindrop)

A Warning

You life is in jeopardy. As you read this, you are within r= each of a murderer. Death stands b= ehind you, silent and unseen. At any moment you may feel its chill breath on the = back of your neck as it reaches to tap your shoulder…

&= nbsp; In a short time someone within the reach of this message will die horribly at = my hands. Maybe it will be you.<= o:p>

&= nbsp; You tell yourself: impossible, not me.

&= nbsp; For you believe that you are unknown and unnoticed. You feel the buffer of distance be= tween yourself and the creator of this message.&= nbsp; You are comforted by your privacy.

&= nbsp; There is no buffer. The fact this t= ext has reached you is proof that wherever you are, I may be.=

&= nbsp; As to privacy, it exists no longer. We have sacrificed it to the cause of convenience; it is our burnt offering to Lord Electron. The digitized details of your existence are in the public domain, available to anyone wit= h a modicum of intelligence and expertise.&nbs= p; You are exposed. You a= re as open to me as a naked whore manacled to the four posts of a bed. At leisure I will probe you. Carefully and unhurriedly will I d= issect you and examine you and pick you apart.&nb= sp; You are at my mercy.

&= nbsp; You are KNOWN.

&= nbsp; Knowledge is power.

&= nbsp; The power is mine.

&= nbsp; You cannot hide.

&= nbsp; Reactions?

This was how the killer announced himself, at seven forty-eight PM on a Friday evening during the last week of March. He uploaded the text t= o the public board of the Jabber Interchange.

&= nbsp; Jabber was one of many thousands of online services available to computer users. A few, like the commercial giants = AOL and MSN, were vast bazaars of data and information that served millions of paying customers.

&= nbsp; Jabber was far from that scale. It w= as a free service sponsored by a social research foundation in Baltimore, which in turn was endowed by= an informal group of software authors and others who owed their prosperity to computers and the electronic revolution.&n= bsp; Yet for online cognoscenti, it was a popular gathering place. Its users tended to be well educat= ed, at least reasonably affluent, and under the age of fifty. Nearly all of them shared a zeal f= or the electronic future and a confidence about their own place in that future. This trait alone separated them fr= om most of humankind.

&= nbsp; In physical terms Jabber consisted of a rack of computer hardware connected to= a trunk of T1 lines in the foundation’s office in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor district. More then half of Jabber’s u= sers were Baltimore-area residents, for whom the service was just a local call.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> In a sense, though, online network= s like Jabber made geography moot. F= or someone with a computer and modem, the internet is as close as the nearest phone jack.

&= nbsp; Every week Jabber logged about eight thousand log-ins. Users met one another within Jabber’s system where they chatted, argued, discoursed, speculated, a= nd flirted through the digital medium of computer keystrokes.

&= nbsp; Messages posted to the public message board, and elsewher= e in the service, were neither screened nor approved. Jabber had been conceived = as a truly open medium. It’s only prohibition was against posting of copyrighted materials and that was strictly for legal reasons.

&= nbsp; While nearly all online services allow informal nicknames most require users to register their addresses and true names.

&= nbsp; Jabber did not. Many users did regis= ter, to gain exclusive rights to a chosen handle and the use of an email address= to receive and store personal messages. However, even registered users sometimes logged in with new nickname= s so as to assume different personas and roam the system as unknown newcomers.

&= nbsp; In essence, Jabber was a gigantic masquerade party where anyone could enter, leave, or change costume at will.

&= nbsp; Thus Raindrop was completely unidentifiable.

&= nbsp; Jabber’s records would show only that his call had lasted for less then two minutes, just long enough for him to log in and post the message.<= /p>

&= nbsp; Raindrop could have been anywhere.

&= nbsp; Raindrop could have been anyone.

&= nbsp; Jabber’s public message board was its most popular area. Superficially, at least, Raindrop’s warning resembled many of the other crank postings that of= ten appeared there. It provoked no alarm.

&= nbsp; At first, five different users responded to the warning. Although their messages were addre= ssed to Raindrop, they were posted to the public message board and thus were ope= n to anyone.

&= nbsp;

&= nbsp; TO: Raindrop

&= nbsp; FROM: Boytoy

Let me = get this straight, you intend to kill somebody and you announce it to the world ahead of time. Yeah, right.

Also le= t me offer a bit of literary criticism. I mean, “…death stands behind you, silent and unseen…” Aren’t you a little over-wrought?

Nice ha= ndle btw. You’ve almost got = it right, maybe Raindrip, or just leave off the ra= in and just go with “DRIP” it would fit.

&= nbsp;

TO: Raindrop

&= nbsp; FROM: TweedleDumb

&= nbsp; You are known. You are exposed. As an ASSHOLE!!!!

&= nbsp; TO: Raindrop

&= nbsp; FROM: Charly

You are typical of the amoral trash who pollute this oth= erwise upstanding institution. I sug= gest that an ad hoc censorship committee institute a method by which such materi= al be screened before it reaches decent and impressionable central processing units.

In fair= ness, I must admit that I am much intrigued by the image of the unclothed slut. In bondage. Being leisurely probed. Sure gets a rise out of me.

&= nbsp; TO: Raindrop and Charly

&= nbsp; FROM: Isis

I remin= d you both that today’s sexist pigs are tomorrow’s pork chops.

&= nbsp; TO: Raindrop

&= nbsp; FROM: Scion

&= nbsp; This is a rather interesting post. You make some excellent points.

Re: privacy. We are indeed vulnerab= le, and I am certain that sometime, somewhere, someone will take advantage of o= ur vulnerability just as you describe.

&= nbsp; Whether you are that person is highly unlikely.

&= nbsp; You talk the talk, do you walk the walk?

The derisive tone of most of the replies was not unusual. Jabber’s serious users had little patience for puerility. In the jargon of the net, Raindrop= was being flamed.

Raindrop logged into Jabber for the second time at five forty-eight the next morning. He immediately went to the public message board, where he browsed the messages that had been posted to his na= me.

A few minutes latter he uploaded hi= s second text.

TO: Flamers

FROM: Snowflake

&nb= sp; Allow me to reply.

&nb= sp; TweedleDumb – Your sarcasm is a dagger in my heart. I’ll have to ret= urn the favor.

Isis –= ; When the cleaver falls, remember: You were the one who suggested the slaughterho= use metaphor.

&nb= sp; Charly – Great joke, you might say it’s t= o die for.

&nb= sp; Boytoy= – Overwrought? Just wait= ; you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

&nb= sp; Scion – I’ll take that as a friendly challenge. You can judge my effo= rts for yourself: I don’t believe you’ll be disappointed. Your thoughtful reply is refreshing. Unfortunately, it grants you no immunity. As wi= th the others, you have been noticed.

Raindrop did not leave the system immediately. He remained onli= ne at the public message board. A f= ew moments later the system received a new message.

&= nbsp; TO: Raindrop

&= nbsp; FROM: Ziggy

Please stop. Everyone enjoys a good = prank, but you are injecting a tone of thuggishness th= at has no place on this board. It is= all the more disturbing because you do it so well. Clearly you are a very clever and intelligent individual. You a= re capable of much better then this ugly charade. It is a waste of your own abilitie= s and of this wonderful resource.

&= nbsp; Raindrop responded at once. Because of= the low traffic at that hour, Jabber’s computer, a Sun Sparcserver 1000, was able to post messages to the board almost instantaneously. Raindrop and = Ziggy had begun a cumbersome dialogue.

&= nbsp; TO: Ziggy

&= nbsp; FROM: Raindrop

&= nbsp; This is not a joke.

&= nbsp; TO: Raindrop

&= nbsp; FROM: Ziggy

&= nbsp; Perhaps we should chat, forum?

&= nbsp; Ziggy was suggesting one of Jabber’s most popul= ar services. In a forum they wou= ld converse in real time, that is, keystrokes made by each of them would appear instantly on the other’s screen.

&= nbsp; Others could sit in on the conversation and add their own comments. In effect, Jabber would create and electronic meeting room for a discussion between Ziggy= and Raindrop with the door wide open for anyone else to enter.

&= nbsp; TO: Ziggy

&= nbsp; FROM: Raindrop

&= nbsp; Let̵= 7;s back channel.

&= nbsp;
&= nbsp; This was a method of sending instant messages back and forth that would be restricted to just the two of them. No other user would eavesdrop. In effect Raindrop was suggesting they enter the room and lock the d= oor behind them.

&= nbsp; TO: Raindrop

&= nbsp; FROM: Ziggy

&= nbsp; Why back channel?

&= nbsp; TO: Ziggy

&= nbsp; FROM: Raindrop

&= nbsp; Let̵= 7;s say I’m the shy and retiring type.

&= nbsp; Ziggy was silent for several minutes.

&= nbsp; TO: Ziggy

&= nbsp; FROM: Raindrop

&= nbsp; Still there?

TO: Raindrop

&= nbsp; FROM: Ziggy

&= nbsp; OK back channel.

&= nbsp; Individually they left the public message board and requested the private connection, wh= ich was automatically created.

&= nbsp; Raindrop> You= ’re a woman.

&= nbsp; Ziggy> = My gender is beside the point.

Raindro= p> A man would deny it. Yes, definitely a woman. For one thing, you show a feminine indirectness, a feminine hesitancy to engage. A feminine cau= tion. That’s good.

Ziggy> = Why so?

Raindro= p> Caution is appropriate.= Out there is a cold, cruel world. In here too. Especially now= that I have decided to assert myself.

Ziggy> = Please stop that nobody is amused.

Raindro= p> I repeat – this i= s not a joke. But you don’t b= elieve me.

Ziggy> = Pretend I do believe, are you willing to talk to me about this?

Raindro= p> Keep it interesting.

Ziggy> = Why would you want to kill someone?

Raindrop> Because I can. To make a point. To show that it can be done. Also, there are plenty of smart people on this board. I am especially interested in smart ones.

Ziggy> = Why?

Raindro= p> Bec= ause they think they’ve got all the angles covered.

Ziggy> = So you’re smarter then everyone else?=

Raindro= p> Smart does not even beg= in to describe me.

Ziggy> = Ah, you’re in a league of your own, a genuine mastermind.

Raindro= p> Tha= t’s a fact, take it as you will.

Ziggy> = How do you plan to go about this?

Raindro= p> You’= ;re asking me to spoil some great surprises.

Ziggy> = Surprises? Plural?

Raindro= p> I set no limits.

Ziggy> = I suppose you plan to just reach through the internet and just commit a few murders.

Raindro= p> Tha= t is much closer to the truth then you think. The internet serves my purposes up= to the moment of the coup de grace. Then some personal contact is necessary for the handy-work.

Ziggy> = How can you touch us, we are anonymous here.

Raindro= p> Anonymity is only good = until the moment one is noticed.

Ziggy> = I don’t like you very much I wish you would stay off the net.

Raindro= p> Sorry, that ain’t a-gonna happe= n. Actually I would suggest the same to you.

Ziggy> = Why should I stay off the net?

Raindro= p> Bec= ause it has become a dangerous place, and you would be so easy.

Ziggy> = Don’t tell me a super-intellect like you would s= ettle for an easy mark.

Raindro= p> This has been your seco= nd warning, that’s two more then most people get in this life.

Ziggy> = I am ending this conversation.

Raindro= p> Und= oubtedly the healthiest impulse you’ve had in a long time. However it comes up= a bit too late.

Ziggy> = Why’s that?

Raindro= p> You= have been noticed.

&n= bsp;

The young woman who uses the nickna= me Ziggy terminated her connection to Raindrop in an unu= sual way: she reached across her desk and turned of the power to her computer.

She watched the monitor screen go gray. The computer’s low background hum fell to silence.

She had logged hundreds of hours wi= th Jabber and other online services. Never before had she dumped out of a sess= ion so abruptly, so gracelessly. = But Raindrop repelled her. She ha= d felt an overwhelming instinct to be as far from him as possible. Turning off the switch immediately cancelled his existence in her universe.

Or so she believed.

Raindrop logged off Jabber shortly after he lost his online connection with Ziggy.= Then he immediately reached the se= rvice again, this time through an unlisted number that the system’s administrators reserved for technical use.= Although such numbers are supposed to be restricted, the may be uncovered by someone using a certain degree of canny persistence.

When he connected, the computerR= 17;s operating system asked for a password.&nbs= p; These, too, are obtainable by someone with a certain amount of canny persistence and guile.

Raindrop typed in a seven character string, and the computer granted him access.

This time there were no greetings, = he was past all of the public screens and into the system itself.

He went to work using the computer’s operating utilities to search for every message containing= the word “raindrop” and posted during the past fourteen hours.=

Changing or erasing the contents fi= les on the Jabber computer required the highest level of access: what is known = as root or super-user status. The password Raindrop used did not allow him those privileges.

He was, however, able to alter the label by which the system identified each uploaded message. This information included the date= and time on which the message entered the system.

Raindrop changed the date on each f= ile that the computer retrieved for him. These included every message he had posted, and all the responses to= his posts. He backdated these fil= es so that they appeared to be one week older then they actually were.=

&nb= sp; At six fifty-six he logged off.

Four minutes later, at seven AM Jabber’s powerful main computer began two of its daily housekeeping chores.

The first of these tasks was to scan its directories for text files that had been posted within the past twenty-= four hours, and to copy these new messages onto magnetic tape that a Jabber tech= nician would later place in a vault.

These files were one of the main reasons for Jabber’s existence. The network had been conceived as an ongoing social experiment: the directors of the sponsoring foundation belie= ved that someday the tape archive might provide future researchers with an evol= ving panoramic portrait of online computer users during the last decade.

This morning, as it scanned for new messages, the computer skipped past those that Raindrop had backdated. Neit= her the messages he had posted not he responses he had received were copied on = the archive tape.

The computer then executed the seco= nd of its daily tasks. During its scan through the directories, it had already marked all message files that had a date more then one week old. That morni= ng those files included the messages with the dates that Raindrop had altered.=

It now deleted all the marked files= , in keeping with Jabber’s policy that no post should remain on the system= for more then seven days. Instant= ly, every mention of Raindrop vanished form the system.

Raindrop had ceased to exist. But the man who had used that hand= le again entered Jabber shortly after seven AM this time logging in under a different nickname.

He had written a bot, a script prog= ram that would automatically dial and log into Jabber. Once it was online the b= ots actions were indistinguishable from those of a real person.

Its task was to watch for several u= sers logging into Jabber. The bot = would track these targets: It would= copy their messages so that Raindrop could read them later. If the target entere= d a forum, all activity in that forum would likewise be recorded for as long as that person was present in the group.

To avoid notice, the bot was instru= cted to remain online for no more then an hour at a time, after which it would l= og out. It would then redial the service, enter under a new name, and resume scanning the system. The bot was even capable of rudime= ntary conversation if addressed.

The bot allowed Raindrop to monitor Jabber almost constantly, even while he slept. His targets were six different nicknames, which he typed into the program’s instruction set.

The six targets were:

&nb= sp; TweedleDumb

Isis

&nb= sp; Charly

&nb= sp; Boytoy

&nb= sp; Scion=

Ziggy

&= nbsp; Noticed.

Part 2