As John Doe pushes Alice to her limits, she begins to question the true nature of their mission. The Hacker Chronicles Presented by Tenable. Learn more at Tenable.com/Alice
As John Doe pushes Alice to her limits, she begins to question the true nature of their mission.
The Hacker Chronicles
Presented by Tenable. Learn more at Tenable.com/Alice
Vote for The Hacker Chronicles in the 2nd Annual Signal Listener's Choice Award.
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Credits:
Starring Michael C. Hall as John Doe
And Chloe Taylor as Alice
Executive Produced by Michael C. Hall, Jerome Robert, Skyler Schmanski and Ian Faison
Directed by Rex New
Written for Audio by Rex New, Jerome Robert, & Skyler Schmanski
Story based on the Novella The Hacker Chronicles created by Jerome Robert and written by Skyler Schmanski
With
Nicole Britton as Katie
Jaz Zepatos as Victoria Waterstreet
Jimmie Yamaguchi as Ryan
Paul Coltofeanu as Andrei Novikov
Skyler Schmanski as the host of the Tenable Research Podcast
Jerome Robert as the Angry French Driver and the Angry French Man on the Street
The Hacker Chronicles is produced by Caspian Studios.
Produced by Taylor Brim & Rex New.
Produced by Dane Eckerle
Supervising Creative Producer: Landon Pontius
Sound Design and Mixing by Dan Scott
Associate Producer: Mark Wolf Roberts
Dialogue Editing by Nick Canepa and Scott Goodrich
Production Support by SJ Nichols, Bradley Glanzrock, Jon Libbey
and Dani Godard.
Marketing Support from Dino Pasalic, Kyle Rusca, Dylan Langlois and Rockable
Additional Production Support provided by Echo Mountain Studios
Voicemail: To play your messages, press one.
Katie: Alice. Hey, uh, I'm at the Gowdy House Museum.
Voicemail: Next message.
Katie: Hey Alice, um, here at the restaurant in the 11th, you got us the reservation to, they won't seat me without you. Where are you? Well, I'll wait for you. By the way, I am looking at my calendar and I would really love to go to Copenhagen next. I know you said it's too cold for you right now, but if you're just gonna be working, then why can't we just go? At least you can get cozy. Bye.
Voicemail: Next message,
Katie: Alice, this is the fourth time you've canceled plans on me this week. We haven't hung out since we had wine night and Valencia, that's like three weeks ago. I'm really trying to be understanding, but this, it's just, I'm struggling, Alice, I'm struggling. I'm struggling to find empathy and I just don't think that's a good sign. You can't let your boss make you work like this. I know you're good at setting boundaries and I would really appreciate it if you would set one with him.
Alice: Three weeks had passed since I navigated my way around those honeypots. During this time, John Doe had given by my count five gifts to people close to me. Trekking poles for Arthur. Three very difficult restaurant reservations for Katie in Barcelona and Madrid, and a coffee grinder for Ryan and Natalia. I was suddenly so giving except with my own time. John Doe had me working every single day and night. Katie and I had gone to Barcelona in Madrid, but I hadn't done anything. I worked the entire time. I couldn't get a single day or night off. Now I was in Paris. I could see the canal, St. Martin, whatever it's called, from my window. I could hear the ambulance sirens all hours of the night. I could smell the trash trucks from my window, but I couldn't feel Paris. I could have been anywhere. I might as well have been at my old place in Lake Placid. I know what you're thinking. I'd been this guy's digital hostage for over a year and I'm just complaining now. Yeah, I guess that's literally the definition of Stockholm syndrome. My captor had done just enough to make me comfortable. For the most part. He'd let me live my life. Until now. I had no idea why I was working so hard to learn about Andre Novakoff and his businesses, and I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find out why or if I was just gonna be. John doe's Prisoner forever.
Tenable Research Podcast Host: Today on the Tenable Research podcast, we've got a real whopper to discuss, or maybe it's a Big Mac. I'll let you decide. Uh, now you might remember this from your social media feeds three weeks ago, the Climate Change activist group, no MAs faas launched a protest outside the Port of Valencia, shutting down the port for about eight hours. Just a bit of activism, right? But apparently someone took it personally. Yesterday, the group's website was hacked on the homepage, an image of Nomas faas founder, Juan Gonzalez's, private jet, the caption climate hypocrite, and a lot of other things I've been told, I can't say on a corporate podcast, but you know, you can Google them. Gonzalez has also claimed that his cryptocurrency holdings have been hacked and stolen.
Katie: Hey Alice, could you turn that podcast down please?
Alice: Ugh, sorry. Sorry. I am so tired working. Nothing is adding up and it just never stops. I gotta stop falling asleep at my desk like this.
Tenable Research Podcast Host: Now listen, I'm not gonna get into crypto investments, but authorities suspect this hack is the work of electronica. A Russian cybercriminal group believed to have ties to Russian intelligence agencies. The mystery though, what does the Port of Valencia have to do with electronica? Electronica has taken the side of Russian business and government interest over the last two decades, and many suspect the group might have some sort of immunity agreement with Moscow allowing the Kremlin to communicate with electronica while the country itself maintains deniability. But no one has ever been able to prove there's any real connection between the two. Which brings us to today. If you have a business that's in the public eye, you're bound to have enemies. How can you keep your business or charity or even your bank accounts safe from bad actors like electronica? Today we're talking to cybersecurity expert.
Alice: What? What? Oh God, why is he calling so early? Oh God, where's that burner? It's gotta be in this pile of clothes. Ugh. Well, okay. It would help if I could find my glasses. Ah, shut up phone. Oh, found them in three pieces. Great. There you are. Am here. I'm here.
John Doe: Took you long enough.
Alice: Yeah, it just broke my freaking glasses.
John Doe: Yeah, and I spilled coffee on my favorite t-shirt yesterday. It has a picture of a bear, but the bear has deer antlers. So underneath the drawing it says beer. Ugh, no. Yeah, I guess you're more of a wine person.
Alice: I'm not in the mood.
John Doe: So tell me something that matters.
Alice: Look, we've been in these systems for three weeks and we have nothing that is seven of Andre's businesses and zero links to Russia, or even money laundering or anything remotely shady.
John Doe: If it was easy, someone would've done it already.
Alice: I'm just saying, I stayed up all night last night creating like two dozen fake yet plausible social profiles we could use for spearfishing. Last week you had me, Coda Scanner. I go through terabytes of emails and corporate docs and calendars and freaking pictures we stole from these businesses and we found nothing. There's just, there's no indication that Andre is half the criminal. You say he is. I am tired. Look, what if your contact at Interpol is just wrong.
John Doe: She's not, you know, if you were really so tired, you would've taken one of your hard-earned vacation days.
Alice: I was saving them
John Doe: Then. Work
Alice: Goodbye to you too, bud. Okay, fine. According to Andrei's schedule, he's working out with the Wakefield City trainers right now. So we have a few minutes. Hmm. Andrei just sent a new email. Wait, that's strange. It's in Russian. He usually sends his emails in English. So what have we got here? A spreadsheet. Let's throw this in. Google Translate. What did you type? Andrei.
Andrei: Victoria. This is the list I was discussing with you last night. Cowboy emoji, cowboy emoji, cowboy
Alice: Emoji. That's an excessive amount of emojis for a businessman of your caliber. It's for anyone. But what is this list? Not exciting. It's an inventory of his assets. Nothing you can't find on Wikipedia. Wakefield city a sailboat. Three cars, some houses…wait. Andrei has an 11% stake in the port of Valencia? And he has stock in the Marquez Maritime Corporation, which owns the HCV Orca. Hold up. Are we even working for Interpol at all? Say that sentence out loud again, Alice. Of course you aren't. Oh God. Wait, wait, wait. Let's wind that podcast back.
Tenable Research Podcast Host: Authorities suspect this hack is the work of electronica. A Russian cybercriminal group believed to have ties to Russian intelligence agencies. The mystery though, what does the port of Valencia have to do with electronica? Electronica has taken the side of Russian business and government interest over the last two decades, and many suspect the group might have some sort of immunity agreement with Moscow, allowing the Kremlin to communicate with electronica while the country itself maintains deniability.
Alice: Okay, let's recap. Andre very publicly, severs ties with Russia years ago, which allows him and his businesses to thrive in the West. But he owns a boat that might be smuggling band electronics, and he owns the port from which that boat departs. Now, when climate activists protest at Andre's Port, a hacking collective named Electronica Humiliates, the protesters online. What country is electronica linked to? Russia, Andre Electronica, Russia. It actually makes some sense and I don't like it. Remember Jeanie's first rule? Don't go for the biggest fish. They'll pull you off the deck and swallow you hole Shit.
Alice: This might be the biggest fish there is. Who'd you send this email to? Andre Victoria Water Street. Wow. Tell me you're British without telling me you're British. So according to her email address, Victoria works at Brasier Construction. That's one of Andre's holdings. What do you do there? Victoria? Help me out. I'm gonna ask LinkedIn. Huh? Victoria Water Street Junior Accountant. Brahe Construction. It's always a junior accountant, isn't it? Oh wait, he just deleted the email. Hey Andre, are you afraid someone will seize your computer for a forensics investigation? Hmm. Okay. You probably didn't mean to send it from this account, but it's definitely a little suspicious. Hey, Victoria, do you have something to hide too? What's your role in all this? Okay, here's how I'll find out. I'll adapt to my script to search through all the data we gathered for comms with Victoria. Maybe something will turn up and away we go. Aha. There. I got you. Wakefield City is paying Brashear construction 75,000 pounds a month for consulting a company. Our dear Andre owns, well if that doesn't scream money laundering, what does his businesses are paying each other still. I have nothing besides a few invoices. If I'm gonna get any closer, I need to get something out of Victoria. We've been in here for weeks and she's our only lead
Victora: Victoria Water Street speaking.
Alice: Hello, I'm Helen Roberts, so great to meet you. I'm the newest hire in accounting at Wakefield City.
Victoria: You sound a bit posh for Wakefield.
Alice: Oh, thank you.
Victoria: Unfortunately I don't have time for formalities. Helen, I have a Sunday roast buffet on my desk today and my MacBook has decided it would like to take the day off, so let's get to it.
Alice: Okay. I'm looking at these invoices for the upcoming scoreboard project on our home stadium,
Victoria: And…
Alice: I'm just doing a little audit. You know, the first week of work is busy work and as I got to looking, it made me wonder if some of these invoices I'm looking at are missing a few line items.
Victoria: Which invoices?
Alice: Uh, 0 6 3 3 0 7 1 3 0 9 3 6.
Victoria: We charge a 75,000 pound consulting fee that we bill monthly to the club. The scoreboard installation will occur after the team finishes its Premier League season. What exactly is the question?
Alice: Well, I think it's absolutely remarkable that you remember the invoice numbers. Exactly.
Victoria: Can you get to the point?
Alice: Of course, I understand Mr. Novakoff owns Braier Construction as well, and I get that we likely do things with an understanding, but I think a bit more detail would be best for this paperwork. I just think that people might assume irregularities,
Victoria: Rash construction has worked on four other stadiums in the Premier League.
Alice: Of course, of course.
Victoria: What did you say your name was? Heather?
Alice: Uh, Helen
Victoria:
Alice:
Victoria: Tell me, Helen, I'd love to start by and have a couple with you to discuss this. Are you working in the open office overlooking the pitch or are you in the annex?
Alice: Uh, well, I've got a clear view of the pitch right now. Just wish it was a touch quieter
Victoria: There is no annex and there is no office overlooking the pitch at all. Much less an open office. Oh,
Alice: I thought you said something.
Victoria: Listen up your little tougher, I dunno who you think you are, but I know you don't work for Mr. Novaka and you better hope I never figure out who you actually are because if no, when I do, I'm -
Alice: God. Hey shit.
Katie: Hey, Alice.
Alice: Hey, um, Katie, what are you doing in here? You can't come in here while Im working. Everything Okay.
Katie: I'm just Checking, checking on you.
Alice: It’s kay. It's just, it's work stuff, Katie. Okay. I gotta work.
Katie: Wanna talk about it?
Alice: No, I don't wanna talk about I'm good.
Katie: I mean, you just look and you sound really, really tense. Maybe you could just take some deep calming breaths and focus on being present and just work yourself through whatever is going on.
Alice: Katie, Katie, I know you're trying to help, but I don't have time for wellness or huga or whatever you've got going on. This is an emergency and I have to fix it. All right. My job is stressful. I'm sorry. You gotta go. I have to call my boss. Can you please step out? I need some privacy. I need to set a boundary right now. Okay? Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Katie: You are welcome.
Alice: Let's just hope she can't hear John screaming at me through my burner.
John Doe: Yes.
Alice: So don't yell at me.
John Doe: All my favorite conversations have started with Don't yell at me. Tell me what happened.
Alice: Okay. I saw that Andrei sent an email to a junior accountant at Brashear Construction in Russian,
John Doe: What was it?
Alice: A gigantic spreadsheet that lists all of his business holdings and get this, he deleted it five minutes after sending it.
John Doe: And what did you do instead of sending this spreadsheet to me?
Alice: Well, I ran a script to see if
John Doe: Answer the question.
Alice: I called her the junior accountant
John Doe: And you messed it up. No,
Alice: I, I used a V O Y P through v p n phone with a disposable number. I've never used it before. I will never use it again. And I paid for it with crypto.
John Doe: You messed it up. You're going to begin countermeasures to flush us out of their systems. Your recklessness exposed us. I,
Alice: No, I swear I can help. Make sure we aren't flushed out.
John Doe: No, I'll handle it. You're done. I'll make sure we're still able to stay inside their endpoints. Maybe I was wrong about your potential.
Alice: No, John, you're not.
John Doe: Send me the spreadsheet now.
Alice: Yeah, yeah. You got it.
John Doe: Remember Alice? I can always find a
Alice: New Hello? John? Hello. Oh, god dammit,
Katie: Alice. Deep breath.
Alice: I know, I know, I know.
Katie: Are you sure you don't wanna talk?
Alice: No, I just need some air. You know, Katie, I haven't even seen Paris yet. I've just been working so much.
Katie: Want some company?
Alice: No, no, not right now. Katie.
Katie: Hmm? Have fun.
Alice: God, this traffic. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I mean, um, excuse
Ryan: I can't, Alice, I need your help.
Alice: Are you okay?
Ryan: Yes. And that's the problem.
Alice: Well, you're gonna have to be a little clearer. Hey, Ryan. Hold on for a second. Cuomo. What? You're talking too loud. Shh. It's a public sidewalk. Dude. Whatever. Sorry about that. I'm back. Europe is great. It's also a little weird. So where were we? Apparently everything's okay. And that's a problem.
Ryan: Basically, Alice, everything is too. Okay. Natalia and I have been engaged for only a few weeks and it's, it's amazing.
Alice: Okay. I think that's how it's supposed to be.
Ryan: And, and, and get, get this Arthur set us up with some caterers in Lake Plaza and all three of our top choices are available. We got the hotel we wanted to. It's, it's all just too good to be true.
Alice: Wow.
Ryan: And things that are too good to be true usually are, it's starting to freak me out any second Now Natalia's gonna change her mind. And, and then I'm gonna have to go back to the dating apps and watching Netflix all by myself. And it, it's, it's to come before the storm and I just can't.
Alice: Okay. Ryan. Ryan. Ryan. Ryan. Dude. Okay. I know what's happening here. You're catastrophizing. You gotta calm down. Deep breaths. Yeah. Yeah. I hear you. Yes. Good, good, good. You're
Ryan: Right. You're right.
Alice: You gotta let yourself learn to be happy because not every day is gonna be good. In fact, there are some days that are gonna be like, and then there are some days that are gonna be like totally the opposite. You gotta learn to roll with it.
Ryan: Yeah. But it's easy for you to say, look at you Alice. You, as soon as you, you, you recovered from the accident. You landed that awesome job, and now you're living in
Alice: Europe. Hey, trust me, my life is not too good to be true. Don't believe everything you see on Katie's Instagram. Look, if you ask me, I think you need a mental health day. Just, you know, take a day off, get a massage. Ooh. You could watch a game of soccer or football as they call it here. I heard that Wakefield City team has been pretty good lately.
Ryan: What, what do you know about soccer?
Alice: I don't know. I just heard some people talking about it in a bar. I'm getting to the point that I can understand like every fourth word in French. Now
Ryan:
Alice: Well, there's something for the mental health day. Fill your cup bro. Get your head right. So when the storm actually comes, you'll be okay.
Ryan: What's, what, what, what's so funny?
Alice: Uh, I just, I have this like, regular tech support guy. Um, long story, but he believes that we live in a simulation and it's really been getting to him. So I told him to take a vacation. I'm like a mental health person. I'm like a therapist now. And I'm telling you to take a day off too. And it's probably 'cause I need a day off. I don't know.
Ryan: Yeah, that's probably just because it's your subconscious speaking
Alice: Or the simulation.
Ryan: Yeah.
Alice: Yeah. Yes. Just added it to the self-care list. Check.
Ryan: Thanks Alice. Love you. Miss you.
Alice: Love you too.
Ryan: Mm. But you don't miss me.
Alice: No, I don't.
Ryan:
Alice: Bye. Hey, John, I'm gonna take one of my vacation days tomorrow, so I guess if you have a problem with it, let me know. To John Doe, I was his burned out hacker taking the day off, but me, well, I was a burnout hacker, wondering what the hell I'd been doing the last three weeks. I was used to operating on a need to know basis, but there was something about the last few weeks that wasn't making sense. It was just weird. Even from my life. I needed answers to learn the truth about the man I was working for. Thankfully, I had a plan and I'd been working on it since I stepped onto the H C v Orca,
The Hacker Chronicles, presented by Tenable. Learn more at tenable.com/alice. Starring Michael C. Hall as John Doe and Chloe Taylor as Alice Executive, produced by Michael C. Hall, Jerome, Robert Skylar, shaky and Ian Faison, directed by Rex New, written for audio by Rex New Jerome, Robert and Skylar sch Mansky story based on the novella, the Hacker Chronicles, created by Jerome Robert and written by Skylar Shaky with Nicole Britton as Katie Jazz. Zapatos as Victoria Water Street, Jimmy Amag. GCI as Ryan Paul Cole. Tofi as Andre Novakoff. Skylar Shi Mansky as the host of the Tenable Research podcast. Jerome Robbert as the angry French driver and the angry French man on the street. The Hacker Chronicles is produced by Caspian Studios, produced by Taylor Brimm. And Rex New, produced by Dan Ackerley. Supervising creative producer is Landon Pontius. Sound Design and mixing is by Dan Scott. The associate producer is Mark Wolf Roberts dialogue, editing by Nick Cana and Scott Goodrich. Production support by SJ Nichols, Bradley Glands Rock, John Libby and Danny Goddard. Marketing support from Dino Polich, Kyle Raska, Dylan Langley and Rockville. Additional production support provided by Echo Mountain Studios. Learn more at tenable.com/alice.