The Steel Kiss

No pause this time. Just a laugh. “Well. Okay. About the Internet of Things—a phrase I completely detest, but there it is. Can I give you a brief lesson?”

“I like the brief part, Rodney.”

“Smart products from household lights all the way up to the ones I just mentioned are quote ‘embedded’ with wireless connectivity circuits.”

Rhyme recalled this from Williams’s blog.

“Now, embedded devices use special protocols—rules, let’s call them—which govern how computer devices talk to the cloud and to each other in the networks. ZigBee and Z-Wave are the most popular protocols. The DataWise controller and some other companies use Wi-Swift. The protocols provide for encryption keys to make sure only legitimate users and devices are recognized but there’s a moment of vulnerability when the stove or webcam and the network try to shake hands, and hackers can sniff that out and get the network key.

“To make matters worse the manufacturers are, well, don’t be shocked—greedy! New software takes time to write, and that flies in the face of the time-to-market issue high-tech companies face. The longer it takes to start selling a product the greater the risk that somebody’ll beat you to it. So what’s happened is these smart controller companies use existing software for their embedded products—and I mean old, ancient software. Dinosaur-ware. Early Windows and Apple operating systems and some open source code, stripped of gingerbread like the Solitaire game and PaintShop. The software is more vulnerable to security exploits than if the company wrote new code that was specific to the products the smart controller’s installed in.”

“Exploit?” From Whitmore.

“Hacking. Finding a weakness and, well, exploiting it. You know the refrigerator hack? This was epic. A product line of smart fridges was running some old software written for PCs. Hackers got inside and turned the controller into a spambot. Refrigerators around the world were writing and sending penis-enhancement emails and vitamin offers to millions of addresses. The homeowners never knew.”

“The companies that make these smart controllers? Can’t they protect against hackers?” Archer asked.

“Well, they try to. They’re always sending out updates with security patches. Ever logged onto your PC and you have to wait because Windows is installing updates? That’s probably a security patch. Sometimes you have to install them yourself. Sometimes—like with Google—they’re downloaded and installed automatically. The patch’ll usually do the trick…  until some hacker comes up with a new exploit, of course.”

Rhyme asked, “Can he be traced when he’s online and controlling the product?”

“Possibly. You’ll have to talk to the controller maker about that.”

“We’ll do that, Rodney. Thanks.”

They disconnected.

Sachs said, “I’ll have somebody at One PP get us the number of a contact at the controller company.” She stepped away to make a call. She completed it and said, “They’ll get back to us ASAP.”

Then simultaneously three phones in the parlor sounded. Sachs’s, Whitmore’s and Cooper’s.

“Well,” Sachs said, reading. “Looks like we have our motive.” Her face glowed from the phone screen as she read.

“What?” Rhyme asked.

Whitmore said, “My paralegal has sent me a text. A posting on several newspapers’ online editions in the op-ed sections, claiming credit for the escalator death.”

“It’s up here,” Cooper said. They all turned toward the display.

You’re lust for things, for objects, for trinkets will be the death of you all! You’ve abandoned true values and in doing that lost your precious ‘control’, that happens when you don’t use your data wisely. You have rejected the love of families and friends for the addiction of belongings. You must own more and more and more until, soon, your possessions will possess YOU and, with a cold, steel kiss, send you to hell.

—The People’s Guardian

Rhyme mentioned that the unsub’s email to Todd Williams was signed P. G.

“Legit?” Cooper asked.

Curiously many people took credit for crimes that they had nothing to do with.

“No, I’m sure it’s from him,” Rhyme said.

“How do you—?” Archer started. Then: “Sure, the word ‘control.’ It’s in quotation marks. And the reference to ‘wise’ and ‘data.’ ”

“Exactly. Hacking the DataWise isn’t public information; only our unsub would know about it. And some of the same intentional grammatical mistakes, the Y-O-U-R-E. And the incorrect use of ‘that’ for ‘which.’ ”