Rebirth of the Rich Second Generation's Growth Diary

Chapter 159 Attack and Defense
Half an hour before Li Xu was awakened by the phone call.

The lights in the computer room were dim, with only the computer screen emitting a faint blue light.

Liu Yunfei was sitting next to the computer, as usual, holding a bottle of iced cola in one hand with a straw, sipping it slowly, and operating the computer keyboard with the other hand, his eyes flickering across the blue screen from time to time.

He looked at his watch. Although it was already past three in the morning, the bottle of Coke gave him a lot of energy.

Although the work has become very simple and repetitive over the past period of time, Liu Yunfei will never be careless when performing maintenance.

He would carefully check every abnormal data. While doing this work boredly, he would look at the scenery outside the window from time to time.

Outside the window, the campus was completely silent, with only the pale yellow streetlights still on, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The trees along the roadside stood silently, without a breath of wind, and the leaves were motionless.

I have to say, Peking University and Tsinghua University are really beautiful, Liu Yunfei thought leisurely.

His current life is like heaven to him, and he can't help but think of the life he lived before he met Li Xu.

It wasn't like I was living hand to mouth. After all, even though things seemed to be going awry during those two years, I was still making some money. It was just that, overall, I was incredibly lost.

I might still get orders today, but what about tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? And many things are shady, after all. I even worry about the possibility of being handcuffed by the police one day.

Looking back now, not only are the things I do great, but I am also full of hope for tomorrow and the future.

Liu Yunfei knows very well that given his background and experience, such a life is hard-earned, so he cherishes what he has even more.

After following Li Xu to Peking University and Tsinghua University, he never stopped learning and improving himself.

The fact that he could achieve that level as a technical secondary school student was enough to show that he had a good IQ and was quite talented in this area.

At Peking University and Tsinghua University, although you are not a formal student, many resources are free and open to the public. There are so many conditions that you can use to make progress and improve yourself.

Liu Yunfei can confidently say that his level is now more than two levels higher than when Li Xu first met him.

And this job is already very simple for him.

Originally thought it was just a routine inspection and maintenance, but at a certain moment, Liu Yunfei frowned slightly.

He grabbed the Coke on the table, bit out the straw and spit it into the trash can, then took a big gulp from the can.

The cold and stimulating cola flowed down his throat, instantly clearing his mind.

Then he deformed the Coke and threw it into the trash can. He changed his sitting posture and stared at the computer screen.

Two hands quickly tapped on the keyboard.
One piece of data caught his attention.

He originally thought that there might be no problem, but after he discovered it two or three times in a row, he became keenly aware that something was wrong.

He then began to search carefully, and the results of the screening made him more and more shocked.

"Calm down, calm down." He took a deep breath, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it for himself, and took a deep puff.

The smoke was slowly exhaled from his chest. He knew very well that he must not panic at this time.

Of course it needs to be dealt with, but the more important thing at the moment is to let Li Xu know immediately.

So he processed the data from the first phase and immediately called Li Xu.

……

The night had not yet faded, and the chill of the early morning filled the air.

Li Xu received the call at 4:00, and when he arrived at Liu Yunfei's place it was 4:20. He was wearing a single layer of clothing, but he didn't look tired at all.

When he arrived at the computer room, Liu Yunfei was a little surprised to see Li Xu and asked, "Why are you in such good spirits?"

Li Xu said unhappily, "If something this serious happened, I would definitely wake up in shock."

However, he went to bed early. Although four o'clock in the morning was the time when many people were in deep sleep, Li Xu had already slept for six or seven hours, so there was nothing wrong with getting up now.

Li Xu walked to the computer, squinted his eyes, and said, "What exactly is the situation?"

Liu Yunfei displayed the results of his inspection and maintenance. He opened a txt file and said, "This is the abnormal data I extracted. Today, while I was doing system maintenance, I suddenly discovered over 30,000 false consumption records in the credit scoring system. These 30,000 consumption records aren't a large number, but I discovered them so quickly because they were all concentrated between 1:00 and 3:00 in the morning. These 30,000 consumption records will have a significant negative impact on our credit scoring system."

Although Li Xu was deeply shocked, he didn't show the slightest expression on his face. He simply asked sincerely, "How serious is the current danger?"

Liu Yunfei spread his hands and said, "I discovered it in time. I have marked the data and removed it from the credit score calculation, but I haven't deleted it."

Li Xu was silent for a moment, then asked, "Have you located the source of the attack?"

Liu Yunfei felt a little admiration in his heart. Although Li Xu was not a technical person, he knew very well the key points whether it was technical matters, finance, or even sales.

Although he did not understand the in-depth details, he was very familiar with the content framework of this part, so every question he asked was to the point.

Therefore, leaders must understand the talents under them in order to get things done. It will be easy to work with a boss like Li Xu.

After being attacked by hackers, the most important thing, in addition to reducing the negative impact of the attack, is to locate the source of the attack and take protective measures.

Liu Yunfei said: "The attack method is to implant a Trojan horse, and the attack mode is a distributed counterfeit terminal. The attack should be carried out using a zombie computer. I have also found the IP address of the attack, which is the Internet cafe outside our school."

Li Xu nodded slightly, and then said in a deep voice: "First of all, the other party has implanted a Trojan horse, which means there is a loophole in our system. We must accurately patch the loophole!"

Liu Yunfei nodded and said, "I understand. I've already started the upgrade today. Also, since they're exploiting the Heartbleed vulnerability, I suggest asking Ye Ruida and the people at the School of Computer Science to help develop a vulnerability monitoring system that compares updates to the global vulnerability database in real time and automatically generates a patch priority list."

Li Xu thought it made sense, so he immediately took out his cell phone and called Ye Ruida.

At this time, Ye Ruida's room was pitch black. Ye Ruida was also sleeping. He just answered the phone and scolded Li Xu.

Li Xu was not angry, but just said softly: "Something happened, hurry to the computer room."

Ye Ruida's temper improved immediately after waking up. He quickly calmed down and said, "I understand. I'll come right over."

When Ye Ruida came over, the lights in the computer room were still dim. Li Xu told him what had happened in the briefest terms.

Ye Ruida, usually composed, narrowed his eyes upon hearing this news, his expression turning furious. He took a deep breath, quickly suppressed his emotions, and said, "Li Xu is right. We need to fix the vulnerability first. There's no need to develop a vulnerability system as Liu Yunfei suggested. Our college already has a system with similar functionality. We can just modify it slightly and use it directly."

Then Ye Ruida said solemnly, "It's not enough to just fix the loopholes." He looked at Liu Yunfei and said, "The over 30,000 pieces of abnormal data you compiled are not comprehensive enough."

Liu Yunfei hesitated for a moment and said, "I searched based on the time the anomaly occurred."

Ye Ruida shook his head and said, "No, that's not enough. We also need to use timestamp cross-validation, retrieve the campus card reader's hardware clock data, and compare it with the server log to thoroughly identify any abnormal data. There's also the blockchain-based verification chain that Li Xu suggested earlier. Each express locker operation record generates a hash value and synchronizes it to the library's electronic reading room server. This will prevent single-point tampering. The data must be cleaned. The other party's goal is clearly to contaminate our data."

After saying that, Ye Ruida looked at Li Xu and asked, "Boss, what do you think of this arrangement?"

Li Xu touched his chin and said, "You two can discuss and decide on the technical matters. I have no objection."

Ye Ruida nodded and said, "Let's make this arrangement now. Liu Yunfei, you have to work hard for a while and do a good job of maintaining our server. I will also use the resources from the Computer Science Department."

As he spoke, Ye Ruida's eyes revealed a hint of coldness, "I want to see who dares to touch our project."

He already had a plan in mind, and Liu Yunfei acted extremely quickly, locating the source of the attack to be the Internet cafe near the school.

Then no matter where the opponent's upstream server is, it is possible to technically reverse the attack source by using this clue!

Ye Ruida had never been so angry before, because no matter who the other party was, this behavior had violated the law and was likely to destroy all their hard work on this project.

Although Ye Ruida usually looks amiable, except for occasionally joking with Li Xu, he is very polite and calm in front of other people. But when something touches his bottom line, it is a different story. He has made up his mind to find the culprit!
……

The early morning attack has not yet been made known to more people, especially students.

The campus was quiet, and students were moving between teaching buildings and dormitories as usual, completely unaware of the crisis occurring in the server background.

After all, most students don’t understand Internet technology. If they knew that their consumption records had been tampered with, it would definitely cause huge unrest.

The server was only suspended for one day, ostensibly for maintenance and upgrades, during which time the offline function could be used.

A system maintenance notice was posted on the campus bulletin board, but students just glanced at it as they passed by, and it didn't cause much of a stir.

After all, similar system upgrades have existed. In the final analysis, the intelligent system of Peking University and Tsinghua University does not rely heavily on the Internet.

In the library, students are still studying quietly, and the offline function of the smart borrowing system is operating normally; in the cafeteria, students swipe their cards to get meals, and although the consumption records cannot be synchronized in real time for the time being, it does not affect normal dining.

On the other side, Li Xu had called all the team members to the company's conference room for a meeting.

The lights in the conference room were pale and the atmosphere was depressing.

He told everyone about the attack in a serious tone.

Li Xu knew very well that this cyber attack could not have been the work of a single individual, be it a company or an organization.

After this attack, there will definitely be other means later.

Li Xu said in a deep voice: "Brothers and sisters, I know that you all still consider yourself as students, but today I have to tell you the seriousness of this matter."

“We have to change our identity. Although we are still young people in our early twenties, or even younger, the resources we have now and may have in the future mean that we can no longer regard ourselves as mere students.

"So the opponent will definitely use all kinds of tactics that no one can imagine, so everyone must be mentally prepared."

After Li Xu finished speaking, everyone's expressions became very solemn.

The conference room was silent, with only the ticking of the clock on the wall.

Xia Xiaohe said firmly: "No matter what difficulties we face, we will face them together."

"Yes, let's face it together!" Others also echoed.

Li Xu raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said, "No matter what difficulties we will encounter next, please remember the atmosphere and experience we faced together."

Li Xu's words made everyone passionate and excited.

Strike while the iron is hot, Ye Ruida stood up and said: "We have urgently dealt with the system loopholes, but if we don't find the mastermind behind the scenes, I think not only me, but everyone else will definitely feel uneasy.

"Next, I will ask students from the School of Computer Science to help."

"Xue Xue, you will lead the team to deploy honeypot images at the Dongmen Internet Cafe. Pre-install tracking programs disguised as plug-ins on the zombie computers to capture hacker keystrokes."

Xue Xue also understood technology, and she quickly understood Ye Ruida's counter-measure logic.

Multi-layer springboard attacks through the Internet cafe's botnet network are common methods, but anti-tracking requires the integration of network forensics, hardware feature analysis and offline investigation.

She stared at the documents on the table, quickly sorting out the steps to take in her mind.

After hesitating for a moment, Xue Xue asked, "But can we really find each other this way?"

Liu Yunfei nodded and said, "This type of attack isn't something your average hacker could pull off. I suspect it's likely an order-based attack on the dark web. The source of the attack might not even be in China, and finding the financial backer behind it would be even more difficult."

He frowned and tapped his fingers unconsciously on the table.

Ye Ruida, however, had a cold expression on his face. He said, "No matter who they are, if they dare to attack us, they must pay the price. Even if we can't find the mastermind behind it for the time being, we must let the person who took the order know that they can't come and go freely in all places."

He looked at Li Xu and said, "Li Xu, what do you think?"

Li Xu has always been a man who will avenge his enemies and believes in "I will not offend others unless they offend me."

But the other party had already used such a dirty trick, Li Xu wanted to catch him and give him a beating of the An-style Eighteen Throws.

But as a leader, he must remain calm right now.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

Taking a deep breath, Li Xu continued, "Ye Ruida is fully responsible for the anti-tracking matter. I don't expect things to be peaceful during this period. Besides cyberattacks, the enemy may have other means of attack. Everyone should be prepared, and the most urgent task is to find out who is behind this!"

(End of this chapter)