Chapter 84: A Counter-Trap?

Xu Yuxian was browsing the official website. He was responsible for the company’s security maintenance. Some time ago, there were many attacks on the company, but recently, the number of attacks on the company’s servers had decreased a lot.

They were all unimportant attacks that did not break through their firewall.

Today, he was in charge of website maintenance. There was nothing major; he only needed to refresh the backend and check for any unusual data.

Just as he was checking the website backend, suddenly, a warning message popped up on the screen.

“Warning, a hacker is invading the company’s server.”

Xu Yuxian’s pupils shrank. After saying this, he began switching pages to defend against the intrusion.

This statement made everyone on the security team tense up. Not only him, but the members of the company’s cybersecurity team around him all sprang into action.

“Inform the supervisor, a hacker has invaded the company’s server.”

One minute later, all the computer screens in the entire company froze, and the office area became restless.

Xu Yuxian clicked the mouse a couple of times, unplugged the mouse, and plugged it back in, but there was still no response. When he looked at his colleagues beside him, he found that others were just like him—their computer screens were all frozen and out of control.

The next moment, a smiling face appeared on everyone’s computer screen.

“The other party has taken control of our computers. Computers with important data should immediately disconnect from the network and shut down.”

The faces of the cybersecurity team were gloomy and as dark as soot. Their team could not withstand the other party’s attack for even two minutes before their computers were taken over.

The entire company’s network was paralyzed. Not long after, Zhao Min appeared in the cybersecurity team’s office area.

“What happened?” Zhao Min asked.

“A hacker has invaded and taken control of our computers. We are trying to break through.”

Xu Yuxian and the others had dark expressions. Now that all the company’s computers were controlled, their security team was useless. They were probably going to be scolded, and they might even lose their jobs.

“How long will it take?”

“Not sure. None of us have seen this kind of attack method before. It might be a new type of Trojan horse program.”

The cybersecurity team was sweating and anxious. No matter how hard they tried, they could not break through, which made them feel extremely frustrated.

“Notify everyone that there has been a hacker attack, and we are looking for a solution. Everyone should wait calmly.” After saying this, Zhao Min left the cybersecurity team’s office area with Xiaoyu.

At this time, Chen Mo was sitting in his chair, his expression calm.

Something like hacking into his own company’s server was truly unprecedented.

“Change the official website to a smiling face too, and by the way, post this smiling face on the official Weibo, with the caption ‘Smile!'”

“Okay, Brother Mo.” Ink Girl did as Chen Mo ordered.

The official website turned into a smiling face, and Weibo updated with this smiling face. The strange actions of Legion Ant Company immediately attracted the attention of netizens. Just a moment ago, the official Legion Ant Weibo had clarified the rumors, and now they updated with this smiling face. What did it mean?

“It looks like Legion Ant Company was hacked!”

“Possibly hacked. A new logo, with a smile tinged with bitterness. Does it mean finding joy in hardship?”

“It means telling Legion Ant Company to keep smiling and survive.”

…

Zhao Min and Xiaoyu were just about to head to Chen Mo’s office. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, they received a call from Li Lingfeng.

“General Manager Zhao, the official Weibo account password was stolen. A hacker updated Weibo.”

“Understood. We’ll ignore it for now.”

Right now, the company’s computers were under control, and it was still unknown what had been lost. After clarifying the situation, Zhao Min hung up the phone and quickened her pace toward Chen Mo’s laboratory.

“Make a copy of the recording of my last call with Zhao Min yesterday, the recording of the company’s internal teleconference about the Butterfly Eye product, and the Butterfly Eye advertising plan and a few other product advertising plans.”

“Okay, Brother Mo.” Ink Girl said, “The copying is complete, Brother Mo. Xiaoyu and Zhao Min have entered the experimental zone.”

“Alright, end the prank. Restore everything else to its original state.” Chen Mo said.

“Ink Girl understands.”

…

The cybersecurity team was almost crying from anxiety. They still had no leads and could not break the other party’s intrusion. If this continued, their team would face more than just a scolding—they might lose their jobs.

This was a company that could rival the giants, with huge development prospects. If they were kicked out, it would be almost impossible to find another company like this.

Unless the giants or unicorn companies were willing to take them, but if they failed this time, the chances of going anywhere else were slim.

Just when they were at a loss, the smiling face on the computer screen suddenly disappeared. All the computers in the entire company returned to normal.

Everyone on the cybersecurity team was stunned. From the start of the attack to the end, it had not even been fifteen minutes. Did it just end like that? What was the meaning? What had the other party taken?

After Zhao Min and Xiaoyu verified their identities, they passed through a long corridor and entered Chen Mo’s office.

“Chairman, the company was hacked.” Zhao Min said urgently as soon as she entered the office.

“I know. The crisis has been resolved. Have someone issue an announcement saying that Legion Ant Company was hit by a large-scale hacker attack today but did not suffer major losses.” Chen Mo said.

“Resolved that quickly?” Zhao Min walked over to Chen Mo’s computer in surprise. Sure enough, it showed a normal desktop. “Did you handle it?”

“More or less.” Chen Mo laughed.

He couldn’t say that he was the one who hacked in, otherwise Zhao Min might come at him with a knife.

“Then I’ll go and give the instructions.” Zhao Min breathed a sigh of relief. Since everything was fine, she felt at ease and turned to leave.

“Ink Girl, package the files we just copied and put them on a foreign social media forum. State that they are materials obtained from hacking into Legion Ant Company’s database. Use a fake IP and highlight the recording of my call with Zhao Min yesterday.”

“Okay, Brother Mo.”

Zhao Min quickly had someone delete the smiling face Weibo post from earlier and released an announcement saying that Legion Ant Company’s servers were hacked, resulting in the loss of some important teleconference recordings and recordings of high-level communications.

This stirred up a storm. This incident brought Legion Ant Company, which was already in the spotlight, back into focus.

Being smeared and now having their servers hacked—aside from jealousy, people could not think of any other explanation.

At the same time, it was nighttime in the West. On the most famous foreign social forum, a user with the screen name “Smile” uploaded several files, titled as materials obtained from hacking into Legion Ant Company.

Recently, Legion Ant Company had been a topic of discussion in the West as well. As soon as this post appeared, it immediately attracted a lot of attention.

“It is all in Chinese. Who can translate it?”

“This is the hardest language to understand…”

“Chairman, am I disturbing you? Is there something? (Apple’s) Cook invited us to talk tonight. Talk at night? Has he adjusted to the time difference? Tell them if they want to cooperate, come to the company to talk…”

“Cook? Tim Cook?”

“Cook? They want Cook to go there himself to discuss business? Who is that impressive?”

The translated recording of Chen Mo and Zhao Min’s call quickly caused a stir. Many people knew about Cook’s visit to China, but they did not expect that Cook was going to Legion Ant Company to discuss business.

Abroad, people were just briefly surprised and then moved on.

But domestically, the reaction was different.

Soon, all those materials and recordings were transmitted back to the country, and the media that knew the truth went wild.

The recording was an internal conversation between Legion Ant Company’s President Zhao Min and the Chairman. It was not Legion Ant Company inviting Cook to discuss business; it was Cook who took the initiative to approach Legion Ant Company.

Many people had fiercely criticized Legion Ant Company over this matter earlier today, and now the plot had taken an incredible turn.

During his final interview, Cook said he was invited. Who was lying? All journalists with a nose for news had a huge question mark in their minds.