Chapter 23
Ellie's POV
"That's still unauthorized access," Megan pointed out, though she looked more impressed than concerned.
I shook my head, already typing an email on my phone. "Not if we report it properly. Remember Professor Paulsen's lecture on ethical hacking? He specifically said security researchers have a responsibility to identify and report vulnerabilities."
Lily caught on immediately. "The Responsible Disclosure Protocol! We document the vulnerability, report it to the system owner—"
"—and give them time to fix it before going public," I finished. "Professor Paulsen will back us up. He's always talking about how theory needs practical application."
Just as I finished drafting the email, my phone buzzed with a message from Professor Paulsen himself: Ms. Green and Ms. Wang, please come to my office immediately regarding unusual network activity.
Lily's face drained of color. "Oh god, he knows already. We're so busted."
"It's okay," I reassured her, though my own heart was racing. "We were about to report it anyway. And it's not like we used it for personal gain or anything malicious."
"Except for investigating who tried to kill you with a silver candelabra," Megan pointed out helpfully.
I shot her a look. "Not helping."
Twenty minutes later, we were sitting in Professor Paulsen's cluttered office. With his salt-and-pepper beard and perpetually rumpled blazer over a Star Wars t-shirt, he looked more like a tech startup founder than the head of Computer Science—except for his unusually stern expression.
"I've received an alert from campus IT about unauthorized access to the security system," he said without preamble. "The trace led back to your student accounts. Care to explain?"
Lily and I exchanged glances before I took a deep breath. "Professor, we were actually about to report this to you." I showed him the drafted email on my phone. "We discovered a serious authentication bypass vulnerability in the security system and were documenting it according to the Responsible Disclosure Protocol you taught us."
"We even implemented that object recognition algorithm from chapter 14 to help filter through the footage," Lily added quickly.
Professor Paulsen's eyebrows rose slightly. "Chapter 14? That's next month's material."
"I read ahead," Lily admitted.
His expression remained stern. "And why, exactly, were you attempting to access security footage in the first place?"
I hesitated before explaining about the silver candelabra incident and our suspicions about Samantha.
As I spoke, Professor Paulsen's expression gradually shifted from disapproval to concern, and finally to something like admiration.
"So you identified a security vulnerability, documented it properly, developed an advanced filtering algorithm to analyze the data, and uncovered evidence of a potentially serious assault?" He leaned back in his chair. "That's... actually impressive work. Especially for freshman students. Most seniors in my program couldn't pull this off."
Relief washed over me. "So you're not mad?"
"Mad? No. Concerned about the proper procedures? Yes." He sighed. "I've already had to report this incident to Vice President Hargrove, but—"
The door swung open without warning, and Vice President Hargrove herself entered, her steel-gray bob and pressed navy suit as immaculate as ever.
"Dr. Paulsen," she said, her voice crisp and cold. "I understand you've identified the students responsible for the security breach."
Professor Paulsen's demeanor changed instantly. "Ah, Victoria! Yes, I was just debriefing Ms. Green and Ms. Wang on the results of their authorized penetration test of our campus security systems."
I blinked in surprise, but managed to keep my expression neutral.
"Authorized?" Vice President Hargrove's thin eyebrows arched higher. "This is the first I'm hearing of any such authorization."
"It was part of my Advanced Computer Security special project," Professor Paulsen replied smoothly, pulling up a document on his computer. "University policy section 7.3.2 grants department heads discretionary authority to authorize internal security assessments without prior executive approval. I've been documenting their progress since the beginning."
I fought to keep my expression neutral as he pulled up a backdated project authorization form that he'd clearly just created.
"Furthermore," he continued, swiveling his monitor toward Vice President Hargrove, "they've uncovered something disturbing that requires immediate attention."
At his encouraging nod, I explained again about the attack with the silver candelabra, and showed her the footage we'd discovered using the object recognition algorithm.
"This is precisely why we need these security tests," Professor Paulsen added. "Our current system is so outdated that students had to develop custom algorithms just to make the footage usable. Imagine if this had been a more serious incident."
Vice President Hargrove's expression remained stern, but I could see her calculating the political implications. A security breach would reflect poorly on her administration, but improved security measures would look good in her next report to the board.
"I see," she said finally. "In that case, I'll expect a full report on the security vulnerabilities by the end of the week, and I want these issues addressed immediately." She turned to us. "As for the assault, I'll speak with campus security about pursuing this matter further."
After she left, Professor Paulsen leaned back in his chair with a sigh of relief. "That was close."
"Professor, did you just lie to the Vice President for us?" Lily asked, wide-eyed.
"I prefer to think of it as 'retroactively authorizing an innovative student initiative,'" he replied with a wink. "Sometimes the most valuable lessons happen outside the syllabus. But next time, come to me first, alright?"
He started typing on his keyboard. "Now, I'm recommending both of you for the Cybersecurity Excellence Award. That system was actually my design from three years ago, and I'll admit it's gotten a bit outdated. I've been meaning to update it, but with all the departmental responsibilities, it keeps slipping my mind. This incident provides the perfect opportunity for a much-needed upgrade."
As we left his office, clutching official letters documenting our "authorized security assessment," Lily nudged me. "That was brilliant, Ellie. And did you see how Professor Paulsen covered for us? Like a boss!"
I smiled. "Sometimes the best defense is a good offense."
And now we had legitimate access to the evidence against Samantha, backed by one of the most respected professors on campus—and, reluctantly, by the administration itself.