Behind Locked Doors: Part 1

It all started when the phone rang, which was typical.

Typical in the days when I was a security manager…

“Information Security, Mack here,” I said, as I continued to read the magazine in front of me.

“Hey Mack, this is Leeda. I need your help,” the voice said, as my mind started coming back online.

Leeda was a manager in Internal Audit; when I heard from her, it usually meant I had to carve a few weeks out of my schedule. Fast.

“Hi, Leeda, what adventures did you have in mind?” I looked at the next two weeks of my calendar with dismay: they were full.

“I need access to someone’s email, but I need to limit who knows that I’m looking. We’re following up on some items that fell out of an audit. Can you get me that access without anyone knowing?”

“No, I said, but only 1 other person needs to know. He owes me a favor big time.”

“OK, Mack, that’s good enough,” Linda said. “How soon can you do it?”

I chuckled. “How soon do you need it?”

“Today would really help,” Leeda replied, giving me the name. I looked at my watch and saw it was already 3 PM.

“Not a problem,” I promised. “As long as I get the usual approval signoffs by 3:30 PM today, I’ll call you when everything’s ready. Do you know how to attach to another person’s email?”

“Yes, I monitor the whistleblower emails, so I know how,” Leeda assured me.

I had one last question to ask. “Leeda, can you tell me what this is about so I know what’s coming and how much time I’ll need to plan for?”

“No I can’t,” she said. “But if our suspicions are correct, we’ll be talking again real soon.”

Read Behind Locked Doors: Part 2

Advertisement