Chapter 9 - The Missing YubiKey
|
I traced my finger over the printed photograph of my father's journal. The ink was faded, but the words were clear:
“In the event of my incapacitation or death, full administrative override of Vanguard Systems shall revert to the Primary Trustee, provided the dual-key authentication protocol is satisfied by Holder A and Holder B.”
Holder A was Mary.
Holder B was Arthur Vance—my father’s younger brother, who had vanished from our lives fifteen years ago after a bitter falling out over company equity.
"My uncle Arthur?" I gasped, looking up at Officer Thompson. "Arthur died in a car accident in Europe ten years ago!"
"Did you ever see a death certificate, Sarah?" Claire asked gently, her analytical mind immediately seizing on the gap.
I shook my head. "No. My father just told me Arthur was gone, and we never spoke his name again in the house."
"Officer Thompson," I said, my voice hardening with newfound resolve. "To execute a hardware key transfer on Vanguard's network, someone needs physical access to the encrypted YubiKey my father carried on his keychain. When he died at the hospital, his personal effects were handed directly to Mary."
"Which means Mary has had your father's physical security key for four years," Thompson concluded, taking notes. "She was just waiting for the right moment to use it."
"She couldn't use it alone," Claire added, pointing at the code terminal on her laptop. "The protocol required two physical keys pressed simultaneously at the exact same server location. That's why the transfer was executed at the Oakridge estate two days ago!"
"Beckett strangled me last night because they thought the share transfer was already complete," I realized, anger burning through the fog of my injuries. "They were clearing the board. Once I was dead or locked in an asylum, nobody would ever audit the master ledger!"
I pulled the IV needle from the back of my hand, ignoring the sharp sting as a drop of blood welled up on my skin.
May you like
"Sarah! What are you doing?" Claire exclaimed, reaching out to stop me.
"I'm leaving this hospital," I declared, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. "We're going to the Oakridge estate before they wipe that server."
