Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 406 - 402: Uncontrollable Power, Sense of Crisis, Echoing Each Other

Chapter 406: Chapter 402: Uncontrollable Power, Sense of Crisis, Echoing Each Other

Liu Xiaotao, the prosecution’s tainted witness in this case.

But everyone knew that he was actually an informant for the CSB.

And from the last gathering, it seemed likely that he had defected to Zhang Lang quite some time ago.

Now, it was his turn to take the stand!

As Liu Xiaotao took the witness stand, his expression was very calm.

It looked like Zhang Lang had probably coached him, and these past few days he must have been asked a lot of questions.

"Hello, witness."

Qin Yang approached the witness stand and greeted him.

"Hello, prosecutor," Liu Xiaotao replied, also ostensibly calm.

However, after he finished speaking, he glanced over at the defense bench, and the look he gave Zhao Xiaoxiao and the other two carried a subtle sneer.

It was as if to say, "See? I’m now the prosecution’s man!"

"Your name is Liu Xiaotao, but I know you have another identity, could you please tell everyone?"

"Yes, prosecutor."

Liu Xiaotao didn’t hide anything, spilling it all, "My name is Liu Xiaotao, but in the hacker community, I have a codename called Venom, and they all call me Venom!"

"They?" Qin Yang quickly caught the emphasis.

"Yes, other people in the hacker community refer to me this way, including the three sitting at the defense bench!"

"So they have similar nicknames as well?"

"Yes!"

Liu Xiaotao pointed directly, "The chubby one is called PigMan, nickname Zhuzhu Xia; the one with glasses is called Keyboard, nickname Keyboard; the girl sitting next to the lawyer is called TheGhost, her nickname is Ghost!"

"Oh, so they have these nicknames as well."

Qin Yang revealed sudden comprehension, walked over to the defense bench, and pointed at Zhao Xiaoxiao and the others.

"Ghost, Keyboard, and Zhuzhu Xia?"

The three, of course, did not respond.

"It seems, these nicknames don’t have anything special about them."

Qin Yang shook his head and said indifferently, "After all, I too had registered some chat tools back in the day and had casually come up with some not-so-serious names for myself."

The jury and the audience in the gallery tended to agree with this point.

Codenames were something they all came up with casually when messaging others using instant messaging tools.

"I believe these young friends must have chosen their nicknames in a similar casual manner, with no other implications, correct?"

Qin Yang muttered this, but Zhang Wei sitting at the defense bench was somewhat speechless.

If you have something to say, just say it, why beat around the bush?

"However, these nicknames do frequently appear in some foreign media reports!" Sure enough, Qin Yang’s tone shifted.

He gestured to someone at the prosecution bench.

Tan Yingying sighed internally, the inevitable had finally arrived.

She expertly opened her laptop in front of her, connected to the courtroom projector, and then clicked on a folder on the desktop.

On the projection screen behind the witness stand, many media report screenshots appeared.

"Everyone, please look. Here are many foreign articles where the frequency of keywords PigMan, Keyboard, and TheGhost are very high?"

In article after article, the nicknames representing Zhao Xiaoxiao and the others were circled in red.

"The content of the reports, let me briefly tell everyone, comes from international renowned media exposés. They reveal that databases of major financial institutions and tech companies were breached by hackers, and while some of these hackers quietly retreated, others left behind their codenames."

"Included are the codenames of these individuals present in the courtroom. Their names appear frequently in these reports, identified by the media as dangerous figures on the internet."

"Speaking of which," Qin Yang shook his head and said, "It’s a pity that the anonymity of the internet has provided them with the convenience of hiding their true identities."

"According to these reports, just from the hacking activities overseas, these individuals have directly or indirectly caused tens of billions in property damage."

"Furthermore, due with databases being breached and core secrets leaked, these companies suffered a loss of competitiveness and came close to bankruptcy, resulting in severe social problems. We are talking about tens of thousands of families losing their support," he sighed.

In the hearing seats, many people were curious.

They couldn’t understand how these four young people in the courtroom could have caused such a huge incident.

In the jury box, several people also showed signs of feeling uncomfortable.

They had thought it was just some minor mischief by a few youngsters, but it turned out to have such severe consequences.

Were these young people being too reckless?

"Objection, unsubstantiated allegations, hearsay evidence!"

Realizing that the jury was starting to have "bad" thoughts, Zhang Wei immediately stood up to interrupt.

"Objection sustained!" Old Li also nodded.

Zhang Wei’s interruption was expected by Qin Yang, who smiled indifferently: "Does the defense attorney think my statements are unfounded?"

"I believe that many reports by foreign media have a strong tendency to blame-shift, and it’s possible that these companies did not implement adequate cybersecurity measures on their own. After data loss and other issues arose, they shifted the blame onto hackers from Dragon Country!"

Although it wasn’t yet Zhang Wei’s turn to speak, since the other party had asked, he also took the opportunity to explain.

The effect was quite good; hearing his explanation, several jurors nodded their heads.

This explanation had some merit. After all, it was not our own media, so the accuracy of the report was questionable.

It’s also possible that it was their own fault, but they were too embarrassed to admit it, so they blamed us instead.

Media, especially foreign media, who knows how much truth there is in what they say.

Seeing that Zhang Wei’s question had changed the initial thoughts of the jury, Qin Yang thought to himself, "Good kid."

However, he was not the least bit concerned and instead approached the witness stand to continue questioning: "Liu Xiaotao, please tell everyone, those hacking actions I just reported, did you participate in them?"

"Yes, I was part of them!"

"What about the three sitting at the defense’s table?"

"They were also involved!"

"Are you sure?"

"I’m sure, because I have kept screenshots of the chatroom conversation from that time."

Qin Yang signaled to Tan Yingying again, who then displayed another piece of evidence.

The projection screen showed a long string of chat logs with black background and white text. The contents were extensive, but Qin Yang had highlighted the key information for everyone.

He circled in red the several important nicknames, which included the names of Zhao Xiaoxiao and the other two, and in this long string of chat logs, the number of times Zhao Xiaoxiao and the others were highlighted in red was quite high.

"Please look, this is a chat log, which is the hacker chatroom mentioned by the witness Liu Xiaotao. In many of the chat contents, they mention the overseas hacking incidents, and the timing all matches up perfectly!"

"The number of times the defendants’ codenames appear in this chat log suggests that they were the masterminds behind these actions, as they were primarily leading the hacking incidents!"

Pointing towards the defense, Qin Yang continued, "It was their impulsiveness, or perhaps premeditated long-term planning that led to countless people losing their jobs, countless families losing their source of income, and even countless children losing the wonderful childhood they deserved."

"I know some may question how these attacks are related to today’s case since they are reports from abroad, and the attacks targeted foreign companies."

"But have you considered a question, namely that wealth and power can sometimes lead to one’s downfall."

Qin Yang raised a finger to emphasize: "Self-control!"

"Just look at who is sitting at the defense’s table, they are young people!"

"The defendants in this case, Zhao Xiaoxiao, Zhu Erdan, and Liu Dashun, none of them are over 30 years old. They are quite youthful, representing people who are new to their careers."

"However, once these young people have the power in their hands to influence the lives of countless others, do you think they will behave themselves, abide by their duties, or will they suddenly get carried away and stir up some trouble?"

At the mention of this, many jurors looked at each other.

Young people with such technology in their hands, isn’t that too dangerous?

Among them, several jurors who valued a sense of security, which were among those initially screened by Qin Yang, looked towards the defense with a strong sense of hostility.

Zhao Xiaoxiao and her group mastered top-notch hacking technology. If they casually hacked into my information, wouldn’t all my secrets be exposed?

They were individuals, not protected by the massive firewalls and cyber defenses that large companies had.

If big companies couldn’t resist, it was obviously even harder for them as individuals.

A sense of crisis struck, and their hostility towards Zhao Xiaoxiao and her partners multiplied at a geometric rate.

"I believe everyone can imagine what it would be like when your personal secrets are no longer safe, when everything about you online is exposed,"

"Even if that hasn’t happened yet, what if the defendants suddenly took it into their heads to hack your company’s data and drive you to bankruptcy? What would you do?"

As soon as these words came out, the courtroom was in an uproar.

That was a possibility.

And Zhao Xiaoxiao and her group had the capability to do such a thing.

Hostility!

The hostility coming from all directions grew more intense.

"Objection, an inflammatory statement!"

Zhang Wei naturally could not let Qin Yang continue like this and immediately stood up to interrupt.

"Objection sustained. Please, jury, disregard the prosecution’s last statement, and do not consider these comments as a basis for judgment in the deliberations..."

Old Li naturally warned, but it was clear only the jury knew how effective that would be.

As for Zhang Wei’s interruption, Qin Yang was well prepared.

"Lawyer Zhang, do you think what I’ve said is just alarmist talk?"

He walked to the witness stand and asked, "Witness Liu Xiaotao, please tell everyone, is it possible for the three defendants to do such a thing?"

"Yes!"

Liu Xiaotao naturally nodded, "If they wish, it would only take them five minutes to find out all your information, including your social security account, your identity ID, even your browser search history, online shopping orders, transaction and spending records, and so on!"

"Have they ever done such a thing?" Qin Yang asked immediately.

"Of course!"

Liu Xiaotao looked towards Zhu Erdan among the three and pointed accusingly, "He does it all the time!"

Zhu Erdan panicked, he indeed often "helped others," and Liu Xiaotao knew all about it.

"Oh, could you tell us in detail what defendant Zhu Erdan often does?"

"What the defendant likes to do the most is to steal information from internet celebrities and then sell it to fans, collecting compensation for it,"

Liu Xiaotao recalled and said, "Sometimes he also digs up dirt to sell to paparazzi, to various media outlets. So, in the world of internet celebrities and the entertainment industry, his nickname Zhuzhu Xia has a bad reputation, and many people gnash their teeth in hatred for what he does!"

"Defendant Zhu Erdan’s actions were obviously done without the other party’s consent, weren’t they?"

Qin Yang teased, then analyzed, "He bypassed network security and used his exceptionally advanced hacking skills to do so."

"That’s why I say that great power can have frightening consequences, especially when that power is unrestrained. When a young person suddenly finds out they can control everything online, what kind of things might they lead to?"

"I believe defendant Zhu Erdan’s behavior has shown everyone that when someone can commit many acts that are not permitted by law, the harm they cause is absolutely terrifying."

Qin Yang gestured towards Tan Yingying again, and the projector screen displayed another series of reports.

This time the reports all focused on the entertainment industry, mainly detailing incidents where internet celebrities’ scandals leaked, or they experienced harassment by fans near their homes, leading to police reports or even suicidal actions.

There were many reports, and the PowerPoint could only show a small part of them.

But everyone in the courtroom could tell from the slides there was an issue.

While not all these reports were necessarily caused by Zhu Erdan, it could be said that his actions were the chief instigator behind everything.

"It is precisely because the defendants repeatedly crossed the legal red line and circumvented the stringent online security measures, bypassing so-called firewalls and computer security monitoring, to step by step obtain others’ privacy. It is these powers, these abilities to control others, that have led to these consequences, even driving internet celebrities to take their own lives under unbearable online harassment."

"I can say this, the actions of the defendants must be regulated; the indirect impact of their actions on many people is very substantial."

"Otherwise, not only will individuals be affected, but as everyone has seen, the hackers’ attacks by the defendants even targeted our Dragon Country’s national security."

At this point, Qin Yang knew he needed to get to the heart of the matter.

"Witness, please tell us, when the cyber attack on Yuanfeng Chemical and Yuanfeng Shipyard’s confidential data occurred, were you involved?"

"Yes, I was involved."

"What about the three defendants there?"

"They were involved too, just like me. They participated in that attack."

"Are you sure? I’m afraid that during cross-examination, the defense lawyer will insist that you provide crucial evidence."

As Qin Yang spoke, he cast a meaningful glance at Zhang Wei.

Everyone knew what the defense lawyer would do, and Zhang Wei was well versed in these tactics.

Therefore, it was necessary to set things up in advance.

"I have evidence to prove their involvement in those cyber attacks. In fact, each computer that each of us used, every hacking program we employed, left behind a distinct network signature. All you need to do is search the data using a special method, and you will find this signature."

As if in sync with Liu Xiaotao’s words, the projection screen shifted, revealing code-level information.

Qin Yang pointed at the projection screen: "Witness, are these what you refer to as network signatures?"

"Yes, if you look at the suffixes of these codes, you will recognize their respective handles. These are the signature evidence collected through a special algorithm."

"Is this signature unique?"

"Yes, it’s absolutely not possible to fake. Only a special algorithm can detect it, and there can’t be any mistakes. Whoever’s handle is in the suffix was the one who breached the system."

The suffixes in the code were highlighted and circled in red again.

The entire audience saw the code suffixes displaying handles like "TheGhost," "PigMan," "Keyboard," "Venom," and so on.

"Oh, these handles, why do they look so familiar? As I recall, they belong to the witness and those three, right?" Qin Yang gestured towards the defendants and smiled.

Similarly, the jurors and the audience, upon seeing this data, started whispering among themselves.

They might not understand the intricacies of code, but convinced by the witness’s confident explanation, they found themselves believing.

"Oh, speaking of the last cyber attack on Yuanfeng Chemical, I heard that the CSB Department also found something else."

At this moment, Qin Yang suddenly cut in, as the projection screen shifted once again.

An image of a woman in revealing clothing appeared, with content somewhat out of place.

"This is a picture, but it’s also evidence of how Defendant Zhu Erdan managed to infiltrate Yuanfeng Chemical’s database. The defendant used such a seemingly insignificant image posted on a webpage to launch a hacking code and breach Yuanfeng Chemical’s database."

While saying this, he looked at Liu Xiaotao, "Witness, can you tell us how the defendant operated?"

"Quite simply, he sent a link containing this photo to all employees of Yuanfeng Chemical. As soon as someone opened the picture, the virus hidden in the image would infect their phone or computer to obtain employee information."

"If an employee was connected to the company’s internal network at that time, then the virus would spread through the network to invade Yuanfeng Chemical’s system, find a vulnerability in the protection system, and then use that vulnerability to breach the firewall and finally infiltrate the database."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yang pretended to be greatly alarmed, "A mere picture, just an ordinary picture, can break through a firewall?"

"Because it’s an attack from inside, and firewalls generally defend against outside attacks!"

"I see!" Qin Yang nodded before asking, "Are you sure this was done by Defendant Zhu Erdan?"

Liu Xiaotao raised his hand, pointing towards the image, "In this picture, there’s a network signature with the handle PigMan. Who else could it be but him?"

Qin Yang immediately signaled to Tan Yingying.

She reluctantly opened the next piece of evidence.

The image was magnified countless times, and many pieces of code appeared within.

Tan Yingying advanced the PPT slide, and a section of code was circled in red, just as Liu Xiaotao had said—Zhu Erdan’s network signature.

The moment everyone saw this signature, they understood.

So it was you, you plump fellow!

At the defense table, Zhang Wei felt the piercing stares from around him. Although his face remained impassive, his mood plummeted.

He was well aware of what Zhu Erdan had done, but what frustrated him more was the choreographed interaction of the two on stage.

Were these two planning to take down Zhu Erdan first?