Chapter 62: A Good Start
Inside the small office.
Zhang Ren looked at the young man sitting opposite him, with black short hair and dressed in a white T-shirt and casual trousers, his face not bearing the typical marks of societal hardships.
Instead, he seemed somewhat immature.
“Lin,” Zhang Ren said gravely while setting down his teacup, “It’s not that I don’t trust your computer skills, but Jintang is a major network security company. Their technology and equipment are the finest in Anling City, and even the police are willing to collaborate with them.”
He wasn’t looking down on Lin Chuan or trying to discourage the youth.
Just recently.
His older brother, Zhang De, had reached out to him, mentioning that Zhang Xinxin and Lin Chuan had started a cybersecurity workshop and were hoping he could help them oversee it.
That’s why Zhang Ren had agreed to meet with Studio 720.
As for the abilities of Studio 720.
Zhang Ren chuckled to himself; the capabilities of an individual are limited and truly incomparable to a large network security company.
It was tough for independent cybersecurity workshops to compete against big companies.
Zhang Ren couldn’t put the cybersecurity protection of Forbidden Summit Esports Internet Cafe in the hands of Studio 720 without reservations.
However, he would consider them for minor, general computer maintenance.
After all, Xinxin was his own niece.
Lin Chuan nodded slightly, his fingers interlaced on the table, body leaning forward, “Director Zhang, Jintang indeed has strength, but before we met today, I performed a vulnerability check on the internet cafe’s firewall.”
Obviously.
Lin Chuan was thoroughly prepared for this first major client.
Workshops like Lin Chuan’s actually survive in the gaps between major network security companies.
But as large companies continue to expand, the survival space for small dealers and workshops is squeezed, a predicament Lin Chuan had foreseen from the start.
Embarking on a side venture for the first time, Lin Chuan still hoped to make a good start.
Zhang Ren gazed at Lin Chuan and smiled, “What do you think of this firewall, Lin?”
“The firewall is completely sufficient against ordinary technical attacks,” Lin Chuan smiled, but then he shifted gears, “However, recently, many companies and internet cafes have been facing large-scale network attacks by hackers from abroad. I think, this firewall is not enough for complete protection.”
“Not enough for complete protection?” Zhang Ren’s expression changed slightly as his brow furrowed.
Currently.
Anling’s internet cafes indeed faced the predicament of cyberattacks by hackers from abroad.
The servers of these internet cafes contained a massive amount of personal information.
Such as game accounts, bank card numbers, address details, phone numbers, communication records, and so on.
These were one of the sources of profit for hackers.
Of course, some shady internet cafes willingly sold personal information, which was terribly illicit.
Besides, some technically advanced hackers would infiltrate an internet cafe, using it as a pivot to carry out cyber invasions and attacks on other targets.
“Yes,”
Lin Chuan nodded gently, smiling, “If Director Zhang is interested, I can simulate a foreign hacker’s cyberattack, and within half an hour, take control of all the devices in this internet cafe.”
“Uncle, let me show you the capability of Studio 720,” said Zhang Xinxin, pursing her lips and nodding in agreement.
Zhang Ren looked at the two, skeptical but after pondering briefly, he said, “Then let’s give it a try.”
Lin Chuan, Zhang Xinxin, and Li Qing exchanged smiles.
Li Qing quickly pulled out a pink laptop from his black backpack, an ultrabook adorned with SpongeBob stickers.
The laptop was equipment provided for Studio 720 by Zhang Xinxin.
Lin Chuan took the laptop and opened it.
On the laptop.
Lin Chuan launched a program called ‘***’ and then typed in a series of IP addresses.
Zhang Ren’s brow furrowed slightly.
He wasn’t an expert, but he recognized the string of IP addresses; they were those of ‘Forbidden Summit Esports Internet Cafe’.
“Lin was well-prepared,” Zhang Ren said with a smile.
Lin Chuan replied with a smile, “For a tech person working in the cybersecurity field… acquiring an Internet cafe’s IP address is not a difficult task.”
“Then I will watch with interest.”
Zhang Ren took a sip of Pu’er tea and smiled with great interest.
He was also curious to see the level of expertise of this young man who was collaborating with his niece.
Lin Chuan smiled and then focused on accessing the ‘Forbidden Summit’ server.
Under normal circumstances.
Most hackers would use ‘vulnerability systems,’ ‘phishing emails,’ ‘cracking backend account passwords,’ and other methods to break in.
But how could Jintang Network Security Company not have considered these methods?
The firewall and system constraints of the ‘Forbidden Summit’ server could prevent the intrusion of the vast majority of hackers.
However, it couldn’t stop Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan began by testing the Jintang firewall.
Jintang’s firewall was a software program, reinforced on the Internet cafe’s equipment, combining to form a strong defense.
But as long as it was a software program, there would be vulnerabilities.
With sufficient technical skills, infiltration could be achieved.
Lin Chuan first used a top-level disguise technique to mask his laptop’s IP address as one from within the Internet cafe, deceiving the firewall and gaining the necessary permissions and information from the server.
He then performed another deceitful operation.
…
About ten minutes later.
Lin Chuan turned to Zhang Ren and smiled, “Director Zhang, it’s done.”
Zhang Ren was not an insider.
All he saw was that the codes had stopped scrolling on Lin Chuan’s pink laptop, and he was somewhat puzzled.
Suddenly.
The cafe’s front desk attendant hurried in, her face anxious, “Boss, the system is out of control.”
Zhang Ren’s eyebrows furrowed, and he immediately turned his gaze to Lin Chuan.
“Director Zhang, don’t worry.”
A smile appeared on Lin Chuan’s face.
Next, he pressed the Enter key on his laptop, and the screen displayed the administrator system interface of the ‘Forbidden Summit.’
Zhang Ren’s brow furrowed tightly as he stared intently at the pink laptop screen, his mouth agape with disbelief.
Not just Zhang Ren, but Zhang Xinxin and the front desk attendant were also in shock.
They didn’t have much understanding of computer technology and couldn’t imagine how Lin Chuan had managed to take control of the ‘Forbidden Summit’s’ administrative system with a few keystrokes on his laptop.
As someone with a computer science background, Li Qing was even more astonished than the others.
The expert appreciates the nuances.
In just ten minutes, Lin Chuan had bypassed Jintang Network Security Company’s firewall, penetrated the server, and taken control.
This level of technical skill was beyond what Li Qing could express.
Lin Chuan’s hacking expertise completely exceeded his expectations.
At this thought, Li Qing became even more excited.
Because he had followed the right person!
“Director Zhang, this is our studio’s partnership proposal, which includes a detailed protection plan. Please take a look,” Lin Chuan said, seizing the moment and handing over the proposal he had prepared in advance to Zhang Ren.
Zhang Ren took a deep breath and accepted the partnership proposal.
His fingers gently flipped through the pages, his gaze focused, not willing to overlook any detail of the collaboration.
After a long pause.
Zhang Ren looked steadily at Lin Chuan, and then at Zhang Xinxin, a satisfied smile on his face, “I think we can talk about the details of the partnership.”