Chapter 23 - The Cyber Breach
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The sanctuary that Clara had built for survivors faced a modern, invisible threat the following winter.
Maya, now the Chief Operating Officer of the Foundation, rushed into Clara’s office with a laptop, looking incredibly tense.
“Ms. Vance, we have a catastrophic security breach attempting to access our servers,” Maya reported, setting the laptop on the desk.
Clara immediately stopped reviewing her contracts.
“What kind of breach?”
“A coordinated ransomware attack,” Maya explained, her fingers flying across the keyboard. “They are trying to bypass our firewalls to access the confidential database containing the physical locations of our domestic safe houses.”
Clara’s blood ran cold.
If the locations were leaked, hundreds of women and children would be in immediate, physical danger.
“Disconnect the server from the external grid. Now,” Clara ordered.
“If we do that, we lose communication with the field advocates,” Maya warned.
“Do it anyway. I will not risk their safety.”
As Maya initiated the emergency shutdown, Clara picked up her phone and dialed the head of Vance Technologies’ Cybersecurity Division, a brilliant former hacker named Jax.
“Jax, the Foundation is under attack,” Clara said without preamble.
“I see it, boss,” Jax replied, his voice calm and focused. “It’s a brute-force attack originating from a proxy server in Eastern Europe, but the code signature looks domestic.”
“Find the source,” Clara demanded. “I don't care what it costs. Trace it back to the person who paid for the hit.”
For forty-eight agonizing hours, the Foundation operated on analog backups.
Daniel stayed at the office with Clara, bringing her coffee and forcing her to eat while she paced the floor.
On the third morning, Jax walked into her office.
“We found him,” Jax announced, dropping a printed dossier on her desk. “The attack was funded by an American real estate developer. His ex-wife is currently residing in one of our Boston safe houses. He hired a mercenary firm on the dark web to find her.”
Clara looked at the name in the dossier.
A cold, calculating fury settled over her.
“Did you secure our servers?” Clara asked.
“Airtight,” Jax confirmed. “They didn't get a single byte of data.”
“Good.”
Clara looked at Maya.
“Call Sarah Lin. Tell her to prepare a massive civil lawsuit against this developer for cyber-terrorism and attempted endangerment. Then, call the FBI cyber-crimes division and hand over Jax’s dossier.”
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“We are going to destroy him,” Maya realized, a fierce smile appearing on her face.
“We are going to make an example of him,” Clara corrected softly. “I want every abuser in this country to know exactly what happens when they try to break down our doors.”
