Owning a business leaves a big paper trail, it requires the creation of shell companies if you want to hide who you really are...it's a lot of work and it can all easily unravel. What's less work? Owning the guy that owns the company. Some of them can be converted into true believers, we have them in places across the world, some of them are members of Congress. For the rest though, for the rest we have good old fashioned ownership via blackmail. The obvious answer to blackmail is to simply say no and let the damage be done...but people are easily frightened and most will do anything to save their skins, figuratively or otherwise. Most people give in to blackmail and everyone...I mean everyone...has something to hide.
So how do you find it? The internet of course. You want to talk about a paper trail, nothing leaves a paper trail like the internet. If you know where to look, who to talk to and what parts of the Dark Net to trundle through, you can learn almost anything. A good Librarian with some experience using Social Media can probably find out most of your life in a matter of minutes using Face Book and a name. It's funny because the more powerful someone is, the easier they are to control. The power they feel they have is real, right up until you threaten to bring it down on their head.
I sit quietly, stirring my free drink its it cheap Styrofoam cup while the CEO of Security Systems Corporation's face grows steadily whiter as he flips through pages in a neat folder. I smirk a little.
"Do you want the other folder?"
"The...the what?" He asked, his voice shaky.
"The other folder." I say with a smirk. "Or does that one suffice?"
"Uh..I..uh...I get your point."He stammered.
I smile and stand up, taking the folder from him. I close it neatly and put my cup on his desk. "We're in agreement then? You insert the code?"
"I uh...yeah. I'll take care of it."He managed to gain some smattering of self control back.
"Great. Do that and we're good, screw up and we release every single bit of information we have on you. The first person it goes to is your wife."I take a drink from my cup and then crumple it when its empty, tossing it into the nearest waste can. "We'll be in touch."
I turn and leave him in stunned silence. Security Systems Corporation is a relatively small company with only one real specialty. They produce and maintain security system software typically used on computers and even nighttime security systems. These systems are purchased by several firms around the country and a few are run by the US Government. The system is kind of like dominoes, everyone else that has ever attacked it has treated it like a big giant fort, but it's much more like dominoes. Line everything up correctly and you can knock it all down with a little push. Or in another way of putting it, it's also like an already stressed computer, give it enough to do it and it will crash on its own.
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