I Became a Genius Engineer

Soldier Lee Cheol-woo (2)

What is a vulnerability contest? I had never heard or seen that a contest was held in the military.

“What is that? Can we participate?”

“Yes. With the permission of the unit commander, all soldiers who can use an intranet PC can participate.”

“Ohh. So?”

“I’d like to participate as well.”

“you?”

“Yes. I also majored in information security when I was in society.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“How is it? Corporal Lee was also studying computer science?”

“Do you want to participate together?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Um… so what’s the prize for the contest?”

“First of all, they say they’ll give you a cyber commander commendation and a reward vacation.”

“Ohhh!! Reward vacation! How many nights and days?”

“It’s 8 nights and 9 days.”

“Wow, crazy 8 nights and 9 days?”

Perhaps because it was a Commander’s Commendation Vacation, the barrel was huge.

“Yes! It is given directly by the Commander. It’s no joke.”

“It’s crazy, really. So the reason we’re holding this contest is because of that hacking commotion?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Some madman hacked the Gan Big Army?”

“Well, I’m not sure about that. Maybe he’s a good outside hacker? So, Cert is on fire right now.”

Seriously, what kind of madman hacked the military?

“Do you know exactly which security program was breached?”

“Hmm… I heard, what was it? NAC, probably. Network Access Controller.”

“……. huh?”

Did I not hear you? Apparently, I hacked it a while ago… … .

“It’s called NAC.”

“No…… no. Other than that?”

“Aside from that, the web firewall was also breached.”

If it’s a web firewall, aren’t you referring to the one that was bypassed through a proxy?

“…”

A cold sweat started to break out on my back.

What I’ve done is that there’s an uproar in the concert right now. enough for the commander to move directly.

‘Ha, what kind of wealth did I really have that accident to enjoy?’

It was regretful.

“How about it? I’ll ask Master Kim.”

“Are you going to participate in the contest by team?”

“That’s not it.”

“then?”

“Still, it’s better if we put our heads together and think about it.”

“…… Okay, okay. Let’s try it.”

The vacation was also a vacation, but I needed to rectify what I had done.

* * *

The underworld across the Samdocheon.

“Hey, inspiration!”

“Why do you call me, old man Cha?”

At Cheol-woo’s grandfather’s house, Min-seok’s grandfather came to play.

“Are you looking in the underworld mirror again?”

“I see you all the time, I mean. Are there any interesting incidents?”

“Oh, he’s really… he’s using his talents in strange places, so it’s a big deal~”

“Have you had an accident?”

“No, this time I spent some money and made him fall into a good military place. Well, this guy’s mental state is rotten. You can just drink honey and get discharged, hack the security system or something. Oh, my man.”

“hahahahaha, that grandfather and that grandson.”

“…… What, did you get into a fight? Shall we have a fight?”

“Wah~ Whoa~ Calm down. I just came here because I was bored.”

“A rotten bastard.”

“No, is it something to be insulted that much?”

“Not you, my grandson.”

“hahahaha, but I think you’ll be able to get over it without too much trouble?”

“I guess that’s the case this time.”

“I just need to get over this one. What’s the problem?”

“I don’t know how I’m going to live in a rough world in the future, I don’t know if I’m still thinking about it. I’m going to get a big nose injury while installing it by trusting only my talent.”

Cheol-woo’s grandfather was worried about his grandson even in the underworld.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll take good care of me in the future, right? You must have a lot of money. Why, sooner or later, I’ll come back to you in my dreams and give you sharp advice.”

“I’m still thinking about that~”

“And there’s our Minseok. Did you have a proper friend this time?”

“Can you trust him?”

“What else can you not believe? It is trustworthy. Actually, and in fact, I tried my hand to get close to Cheol-woo.”

“huh?”

“That professor appeared in my dream and I did a little bit of work to make a team with Cheol-woo and Min-seok.”

“You bastard! To get your grandson on a free ride.”

“A free ride? Our Minseok isn’t as good as your grandson, but he has management talent.”

“Did you give me a scroll of talent? I bought it from Yeomra? Did you guys have that much money?”

“No, that’s not it. Unlike your grandson, our Minseok had a natural talent. That was the talent for management.”

“……. Yes, your grandson is handsome. Anyway, just act nonsense. I haven’t run out of bullets yet.”

“Ouch, why would you be so scared?”

“I spent 10 billion won and even gave me talent, but I shouldn’t ruin the future, right?”

“Don’t worry, old man~ But my grandson is really kind and loyal.”

“I’m watching with my eyes open. Be careful~”

Still, the two seemed to have a deep friendship.

“By the way, what happened to the last time you were taken away by the grim reaper?

“Well, after 10 days in the lava hell, I came back.”

“Crazy inspiration.”

“It’s no joke even if you say this, don’t sin too.”

“Draw it~”

“I’ll have to see what the Information Security Command is doing.”

“Me too, see me too.”

The two old men look in the mirror of the underworld amicably.

* * *

Conference room of Information Security Command, aka CERT.

“No, these people. Are you saying that you made it like that and delivered it to our military?”

Brigadier General Lee, the commander of the Information Protection Command, was talking to the president of a company in the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

“Sorry, I didn’t know there would be a vulnerability.”

“No, if you say you don’t know, that’s it? Then, if there is a cyberattack from North Korea, all our military secrets will be leaked. Are you saying that now?”

Although the exact vulnerability has not been confirmed yet, it was a weakness that could leak military secrets if applied as a result of log analysis.

“Sorry. We will proceed with patching the vulnerability.”

“So when will that vulnerability be patched?”

“Uh… I haven’t figured out the exact cause yet, so I guess it will take a little more time.”

“No! Are you saying that right now? You said you were going through a patch.”

“Sorry. We’ll do it soon.”

“Fu, please as soon as possible. If this is not resolved before the Incident Headquarters handles it properly, you and I should prepare to take off our clothes.”

“I’m doing my best.”

“Best! There’s no point in doing your best. Results matter!”

“all right.”

“And Colonel Choi!”

Then he called his aide, Lieutenant Colonel Choi Cheol-joon.

“Yes. Commander.”

“Do you have any news about the hacker?”

It’s already been about two weeks since I was hacked, but I haven’t even found a clue yet.

“Security experts invited from outside are looking for you 24 hours a day.”

“So you’re saying there is? Are you saying there isn’t?”

“……. Not yet.”

“No, what are they all doing! Can’t you find them quickly?”

“……I’m sorry. I’ll find it as soon as possible.”

“Really, there’s no one useful.”

The commander shook his head and spoke to himself.

“Oh, and how’s that going? Vulnerability contest. Seriously, you have to rely on the soldiers because there’s no one you can trust. Ugh.”

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration is diligently looking for vulnerabilities and has invited security experts separately, but there has been no news for a week.

So, in the end, the commander requested help even from the soldiers as a special measure.

“It’s going smoothly.”

“Are there any participants?”

“Yes. The number of soldiers is larger than expected, so there are quite a few people who participated. Among them, there will be security majors.”

“Hmm… Please prepare well.”

“Yes. I understand. Commander.”

* * *

“Corporal Lee. Are the preparations for the contest going well?”

“hahahaha, I’m just trying.”

In fact, I had already written a report on NAC and web firewall vulnerabilities, and now I just had to submit it.

Since it was a security program I had already hacked, finding a vulnerability was quick.

Not only the vulnerabilities there, but also how to supplement them were written in detail.

Probably, if there is no other reason, the target will be the right thing to do.

“I really don’t know what kind of vulnerability it is. What are the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and security experts doing and holding a contest for our soldiers?”

“Um… that’s right? Let’s see if there’s something wrong. Oh, and the hacker was caught?”

There was no way he would have been caught, but I asked just in case.

“Well, according to rumors, we haven’t even got a clue yet. There are even rumors going around that it might have been done by North Korea.”

“North Korea?”

“Yes. Things that have been working fine up until now have been hacked… Well, I don’t know the details of the internal circumstances either.”

“Right.”

“Anyway, I will continue to study. Loyalty!”

“Yes, it’s hard.”

A few days later I submitted a vulnerability report to Cyber Command.

I was going to tell Sang-cheol something, but I didn’t want to arouse suspicion. Of course, if I became the target, I would have known, but I was going to gloss over it then.

After another few weeks, the results of the contest were finally announced.

「Target: Corporal Lee Chul-woo of the Satellite Operation Bureau of the Armed Forces Status and Communications Command.

Gold Award: First Class Yoon Sang-cheol of the Satellite Operation Bureau of the Armed Forces Status and Communications Command.

Silver Award: … … .」

As expected, I was awarded the grand prize. However, the unexpected result was that the gold award was Sang-cheol, my successor.

“…?”

“…?”

Looking at the results, we were amazed at each other.

“No, what is it? Corporal Lee? Is Corporal Corporal the target?”

“…… No, then what are you? You are a gold prize?”

“Didn’t I keep telling you that I graduated from Korea University’s Department of Information Security?”

“Was that real? Wasn’t that a gura?”

“Yes, I am. I’m a pretty good hacker.”

“…it was real.”

“Well, don’t trust what people say.”

Come to think of it, why didn’t that guy go to Sir?

than that.

“Ugh, look at the way you talk to the senior?”

“sorry.”

“No, I’m kidding. Anyway, it’s great? A gold prize.”

“No, isn’t it more amazing that Corporal Lee is the target? What the hell happened?”

I can’t honestly say… … .

“What’s going on, I just hit it roughly where there was a weak point. But is that right?”

“Crazy, wouldn’t that just be a rough hit?”

“Um, well?”

“Wow, do I really have to say this is amazing… I graduated from Korea University and worked as an information security expert for quite a while. It doesn’t make sense to lose to Corporal Lee.”

“What? Losing to me makes no sense? This guy?”

“… But obviously, the university is, um, not.”

“Die.”

“Sorry. That’s because it’s so hard to believe.”

“Why? You know what I said before, CAK and the hair shop. They made stuff like that too.”

“That’s it, wasn’t it?”

“It’s real, I can’t believe it.”

“… you’re really amazing.”

I’ve been saying that for a while, but I didn’t believe it, but now I seem to believe it.

Well, I didn’t believe that guy was a hacker, so is he?

I should have known from the time I said there was someone I knew at Cert.

“The ceremony is tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. That’s right. I think we need to get permission from Major Kim.”

“Hasn’t the official notice come down already?”

Sure enough, our unit commander, Major Kim, allowed me to attend the conferment ceremony outside of my daily routine tomorrow. The unit commander laughed at what was so good about it.

The very next day, we arrived at Cyber Command and finished the ceremony.

After that, the commander asked to see us separately, so I was hanging out in the cyber command commander’s room.

Soon after, the commander of the Cyber Command came in.

‘One Star!’

It was the first time seeing a star up close.

“Loyalty!”

When I saluted, the commander accepted my salute with a casual gesture and sat down.

“Are you Corporal Lee Cheol-woo?”

“Yes, it is.”

“That’s great, you did something that even outside security companies couldn’t do. That’s great.”

“No! I just got lucky.”

“Ha ha, humble.”

“…”

I don’t know what to say.

While I was dumbfounded, the commander spoke again.

“Hey, do you want to come to our Cyber Command?”

huh? What else does this mean?