Chapter 22 AES-256 Encryption And Obfuscation Server

The nonstop grind had my nerves frayed to the max. My eyes were burning, and my eyelids felt like lead, but I couldn't afford to slack off.

This "The Catcher in the Rye" was like a sneaky snake, lurking in the shadows, ready to strike at any moment.

"Hold up!" I suddenly shouted, my finger hovering over the keyboard. "This IP address looks fishy."

Isabella leaned in, curious. "What's up?"

"This IP." I pointed to the string of numbers on the screen. "It's routed through a suburban villa, but it's bouncing through servers in like, five different countries, all with crazy-strong encryption. No way some average Joe has access to that kind of network."

Isabella's eyes widened. "You mean he's masking the IP with proxy servers and a VPN?"

"And not just any VPN," I added, my voice low. "This screams military-grade encryption."

"Seriously?" Isabella looked stunned. "How could a regular network engineer get their hands on tech like this? This is Tor network stuff, with multiple proxies, AES-256 encryption, and even obfuscation servers. This is spy-level tech!"

My fingers flew over the keyboard, pulling up more data packets. The screen filled with dense hexadecimal code, making Isabella's head spin.

"Tor network is already a beast, and he's added so many relay nodes," I said, frowning, my finger pausing on a data packet. "Look here, the TTL value is off, clearly disguised. This means he's probably using hacker-controlled servers to hide his real IP."

Isabella's eyes lit up. "You mean those computers hackers use for DDoS attacks or forwarding illegal stuff?"

"Exactly." I explained, "He's using these servers to create a complex network maze, making it super hard to trace his real location. And look."

I pointed to another data packet. "He's using 'onion routing' tech. The data packet is encrypted layer by layer like an onion, decrypting one layer at each node until it reaches the final destination, making tracking a nightmare."

My heart raced as the trace deepened.

Every step felt like walking a tightrope; one wrong move could blow everything and even expose us.

"Wait!" I suddenly called out, my finger hovering over the keyboard. "Check out the MAC address on this data packet."

I quickly entered the MAC address into the database, and the result made my heart skip a beat.

"This MAC address belongs to a military-industrial company!" I said, my voice trembling with excitement. "This means he might have access to military-grade encryption tech!"

"This is nuts!" Isabella was just as shocked. "How could a regular network engineer get this kind of tech? Unless..."

We exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing—The Catcher in the Rye must have some serious backing!

I kept tracing, my fingers dancing over the keyboard, the data on the screen updating rapidly.

"Got it!" I yelled, pointing at a domain name on the screen. "This is the source of the IP address—a dark web forum called 'Shadow'!"

"Shadow?" Isabella's face turned serious. "I've heard of it. It's super secretive, like an underground black market for illegal stuff. You need a special key to log in, and its servers are all over the world, making it tough to trace."

"Exactly," I said. "It uses the I2P network, which is even more secretive than Tor. It doesn't rely on fixed exit nodes but sends data through 'tunnels,' making it even harder to track."

My heart sank. "The Tragedy of the Red Rose, Scarlett, The Catcher in the Rye, Hecate organization, 'Shadow' forum... All these random clues are coming together like pieces of a puzzle. A massive conspiracy is emerging. We need to get into the 'Shadow' forum to find more clues."

"But that's not easy," Isabella said, frowning. "'Shadow' forum's defense system is super strong. We've tried hacking it before and failed."

I took a deep breath. "But this time, we have to succeed!"

I pulled up the info we had on the 'Shadow' forum and started analyzing its defense mechanisms.

The forum used multi-factor authentication, dynamic verification codes, and IP address restrictions. The servers changed their IP addresses periodically, making it really tough to break in.

"Looks like regular hacking methods won't cut it." I thought for a moment, then had a sudden idea. "We could try a social engineering attack."

"Social engineering attack?" Isabella asked, confused.

"Yeah," I explained. "'Shadow' forum members are super cautious, but they have weaknesses too. We can exploit those to gain their trust and get the login key."

I started digging online for info about the 'Shadow' forum members, hoping to find a way in.

I pulled up the info we had on the 'Shadow' forum and started analyzing its defense mechanisms while gathering more data.

The forum used multi-factor authentication (MFA), including time-based one-time passwords (TOTP), pre-shared keys (PSK), and biometrics. It also had behavior-based intrusion detection systems (IDS) and web application firewalls (WAF). The servers changed their IP addresses periodically and had DDoS protection measures.

This made breaking in super tough.

"Regular hacking methods, like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, or even zero-day exploits, probably won't work."

As I typed on the keyboard, I explained to Isabella, "'Shadow' forum's defense system is highly sophisticated and updates fast. We need to think outside the box."

Isabella stared at the scrolling log files on the screen, frowning. "So what do we do? We can't just give up."

I thought for a moment, then had a sudden flash of inspiration. "We could try a social engineering attack combined with a side-channel attack."