"Jen, you're our resident computer expert. We leave these things hooked up all the time. I know we have a firewall, but what are the chances that somebody could defeat it somehow and hack into our computers?"
Jennifer was a software whiz and she had all the designs for all the clients on their CAD system, which they used to create a virtual‑reality space and allow clients to "walk" through.
"Well, that's entirely possible. Our firewall software is over a year old. Let me take a look. Maybe I can reverse‑engineer what happened. If somebody went through pulling up files, I might be able to figure it out."
Ally relinquished her chair and stood staring as Jennifer started checking the firewall.
It was scary to think that some stranger could know everything about you. But on the other hand what difference could it make? She had nothing to hide. Still, it was creepy. Her Social Security and credit card information was in that file. Could that be—
"Shit. Ally, you're not going to believe this. Whoever did this was damned good. We've been seriously hacked."
"How do you know?" She bent over to look.
"Our firewall software has been disabled. In fact, the actual program was uninstalled. Jesus, that's cool. I think we'd better shut down everybody's Internet connection right this minute, till we can get some new software."
"That's incredible. You mean somebody—"
"Honey, hackers have gotten into Microsoft's own site. Even the Pentagon, so I've heard. Anything is possible."