Chapter 123 Caught Red-Handed: Do you know why we arrested you?
The physical access records of the abandoned training room at the Chengnan branch were urgently retrieved; these few thin pages carried immense weight. Li Bin, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, stared intently at one of the records, his fingers trembling slightly with excitement:
“Found it! At 2:40 PM on July 12th, the access control record for the training room showed Wei Gaoli! The reason for registration was ‘retrieval of personal belongings left behind,’ but the system shows that he stayed inside for a full forty-five minutes. At that time, the TRN_OLD_07 terminal was in that room.”
Almost simultaneously, Li Zhenliang rushed into the technical team's temporary office, waving a list he had just urgently compiled from the personnel files and the bank. His voice was hoarse but filled with excitement: "Team leader, the list is out! There are seven people in Yancheng who have left their jobs in the last two years for various reasons, have technical backgrounds, and are strongly dissatisfied with the bank."
He slammed seven sets of personal information documents onto the table in front of Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling picked up Wei Gaoli's file. A photo was attached to the upper right corner; it showed a thin man with black-rimmed glasses and a somewhat gloomy expression.
"Wei Gaoli, male, 32 years old. Former key member of the technical maintenance team at the Chengnan branch. Six months ago, he caused a brief system crash due to a major operational error, resulting in severe punishment and eventual dismissal from the bank. According to his then-direct supervisor and several colleagues, he was aloof, technically skilled but extremely arrogant, and extremely dissatisfied with his dismissal, publicly declaring, 'The bank will regret this,' and..."
Li Zhenliang took a breath and emphasized, "His job duties before leaving included cleaning up and scrapping outdated equipment. He had full authority to access and be familiar with the status of this terminal that we found, which should have been scrapped!"
All the clues, like scattered pearls, were instantly strung together.
The abandoned training room at the Chengnan branch, the terminals that should have been scrapped but were used, the precise exploitation of access loopholes, the extreme familiarity with the bank's internal processes, the intense resentment at being dismissed... the vague figure sketched in the psychological profile perfectly overlaps with the gloomy face in the file photo.
"Address?" Jiang Ling asked without hesitation.
Liu Haoran handed over a slip of paper with an address in a suburban area: "This is a temporary rental place I just found. The landlord said that the tenant rented it half a year ago. He is a tech guy. There are a lot of telephone lines in the room, so the electricity bill is very high. He usually stays at home and doesn't have many friends."
"It's him!" A cold glint flashed in Jiang Ling's eyes as he turned his gaze to Li Bin, who had been watching the screen. "Old Li, please immediately lock down all possible external communication lines to this address, especially traces of dial-up access to the bank's network, and secure the evidence."
With a breakthrough in the case, Li Bin shook off his previous dejection and excitedly replied, "Okay, no problem!"
Jiang Ling turned to Liu Haoran: "Notify Captain Zhao and request SWAT support! Target Wei Gaoli, highly dangerous, suspected of using computer technology to commit major financial theft."
Liu Haoran's voice rang out: "Yes!"
Jiang Ling looked at Liang Jiushan, who was staring intently at Wei Gaoli's file and typing rapidly on the keyboard, and said, "Jiushan, I need you to be on standby at all times. Once the other party enters the scene, immediately verify the electronic evidence."
"Understood!" Liang Jiushan replied immediately, quickly connecting the computer to the main network switch port of the technical team, and bringing up several monitoring interfaces. His clear voice carried a maturity beyond his years, "Don't worry, Sister Ling, as long as his equipment is still online, he definitely won't get away!"
The afternoon tranquility of Yancheng was shattered by police sirens as several police cars sped towards the outskirts of the city. The destination was an old three-story residential building, where Wei Gaoli rented a single room in the corner of the top floor.
The walls of the old residential building have begun to weather, the stairwell is piled with all kinds of clutter, and you can smell the damp and musty smell as soon as you walk in.
The special police officers, as silently as cheetahs, took control of the building's entrances and exits.
Jiang Ling, dressed in plain clothes, stood in front of the rusty iron gate, with Li Zhenliang, Liu Haoran, and Zhou Wei standing on either side, their expressions grim.
Downstairs, Liang Jiushan sat in the temporary office of the technical team, wearing headphones and staring intently at the constantly refreshing data and several small light icons representing network connection status on his laptop screen. He whispered into his headset, "Sister Ling, there are at least three active dial-up connections in the target room, one of which... is frequently accessing the back-end server port of the Chengbei branch. It is attempting to delete login records."
"Understood." Jiang Ling's eyes sharpened, and he nodded to Zhao Tiezhu.
Zhao Tiezhu waved decisively!
"Bang--!"
With a dull thud, the old iron door latch snapped open! SWAT team members charged in like tigers!
"Police! Don't move!"
The small room was instantly filled with harsh shouts and chaotic footsteps.
A strong, murky smell of heat from electronic components, dust, sweat, and cheap instant noodles hit me.
The sight in the room shocked all the police officers who rushed in.
This doesn't look like a place where people live at all.
Apart from a cot and a table piled high with fast food containers, the entire space was almost entirely occupied by machines. An old monitor flickered, its eerie green light illuminating the mottled mold on the walls.
Below the monitor was a server chassis with its casing removed, exposed wiring, and a roaring fan. Thick telephone and network cables, like tangled vines, extended from a large junction box in the corner, connecting to the machine.
A gaunt figure was huddled in fear in front of the flashing terminal, his fingers still hovering above the greasy keyboard, his black-rimmed glasses slipping down to the tip of his nose, and his face as pale as paper.
It was Wei Gaoli!
He was clearly terrified by the sudden breach, and instinctively reached for the mouse to click something, but a large hand wearing a tactical glove had already firmly gripped his wrist like an iron clamp.
"Don't move!" The stern shout from the SWAT officer sent a shiver down his spine.
Jiang Ling's gaze quickly swept across the entire "computer room".
A corner of a blue-covered booklet peeked out from under the pillow of the cot.
She stepped forward and lifted the pillow, revealing a copy of "Yancheng Commercial Bank Internal System Operation Manual (1995 Edition)". She randomly flipped to a page; it was covered with annotations written in red and blue ink.
"What a stupid design! It's the default password!"
"There is a loophole in the process here; the review can be skipped!"
"Maintaining the account sys_maint_bak with permissions equal to the peer's level? What a joke!"
"The TRN_OLD_XX series terminals have a completely ineffective disposal process, leaving them wide open to loopholes!"
...
The text is filled with technical contempt and mockery of the bank's chaotic management.
The table drawer was pulled open, revealing several bank savings cards, bundles of unopened hundred-yuan bills, and scattered loose change.
"Report! A large amount of suspected stolen money and bank cards used in the crime have been discovered."
"Report! Handwritten notes documenting vulnerabilities in the banking system have been found."
"Report! An account is logging in and performing abnormal operations on the target terminal screen," a technical officer shouted, pointing to one of the screens.
The perpetrator was caught red-handed.
As Wei Gaoli was led out of his rented room with his hands cuffed behind his back, his body trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind. But upon closer inspection, one could see that deep in his eyes, besides fear, there was also a trace of resentment and anger.
Interrogation room of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.
The fluorescent light shone on Wei Gaoli's face, making his ashen complexion appear even more pronounced, and his thick black-rimmed glasses could not hide the panic in his eyes.
Jiang Ling sat in the presiding judge's seat, her expression calm.
Liang Jiushan sat quietly behind a recording table in the corner, his laptop open in front of him, his eyes focused, ready to provide technical support at any time.
Zhao Tiezhu sat beside Jiang Ling, his eyes fixed intently on Wei Gaoli. This case made him realize the impact of new technologies; traditional economic crime investigation experience was somewhat outdated. Therefore, he deliberately gave the presiding judge position to Jiang Ling, wanting to give more young people the opportunity to gain experience.
"Wei Gaoli," Jiang Ling began, her voice low and calm, as if neighbors were greeting each other while having breakfast, "Do you know why we arrested you?"
Wei Gaoli's lips trembled slightly, his eyelids lowered, and his voice was dry: "I...I don't know."
Jiang Ling picked up a blue manual sealed in an evidence bag on the table, turned to a page, and saw the words "Idiot design! It's the default password!" written in wild red handwriting.
She read the sentence slowly, her tone calm and even.
Wei Gaoli's body tensed up suddenly, but he remained calm.
Jiang Ling put down the manual and leaned forward slightly: "You're very technically savvy, Wei Gaoli. More so than the experts at the Chengnan branch, or even the information department of the city branch, right? You saw the loopholes they overlooked, you offered suggestions for improvement, and what was the result?"
Wei Gaoli suddenly raised his head, his eyes instantly igniting with humiliation and anger at being hit where it hurt: "The result? The result is that they said I was alarmist, that I was unrealistic, that a mere maintenance worker like me didn't know anything! That system failure wasn't my fault at all! It was their own chaotic process that made me take the blame! They kicked me out like trash!"
He was fired from the bank even though he had spotted the problem and pointed out the loopholes. This was his greatest pain. He became agitated and his words became sharp when Jiang Ling mentioned it.
"Why? Why are they treating me like this?! Do you know what being laid off means?"
Wei Gaoli's words were filled with self-loathing and frustration: "There's no income at home, and my wife complains every day, calling me useless and saying I don't know how to scheme. She says that so-and-so next door made a lot of money doing small business, and that so-and-so in the building across the street became a section chief. She says that other men can give their wives and children a good life, but I'm just a good-for-nothing!"
Mentioning his wife, Wei Gaoli's gaze towards Jiang Ling unconsciously carried a hint of contempt: "You women are all terrifyingly pragmatic! You can only share the good times, not the bad. Indeed... husband and wife are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately!"
Jiang Ling's voice remained steady, but carried a hint of sarcasm: "So, after being called a good-for-nothing by your wife, you're thinking of getting revenge?"
Wei Gaoli didn't speak, but his increasingly rapid breathing betrayed his inner thoughts.
Jiang Ling stabbed him in the heart: "So, because your wife despises you for being useless, you want to use your best methods to get back at them, to prove their stupidity and your greatness? Exploiting the loopholes you know, like a ghost, you sneak into their supposedly impregnable banking system, take the depositors' money, and watch them run around like headless flies. Doesn't that give you a huge sense of satisfaction? Don't you feel that you've finally used technology to crush those who once looked down on you and trampled on you?"
"Oh, by the way, when you got the money and handed it to your wife, did she look at you with any respect? Too bad, no matter what you did, she didn't even glance back at you, because she knew the money wasn't cleanly earned!"
Wei Gaoli's wife, or rather, his ex-wife, filed for divorce shortly after Wei Gaoli was fired from the bank and returned to her parents' home with their child.
Jiang Ling's voice wasn't loud, but it pierced Wei Gaoli's heart, which was filled with resentment, like a knife.
His breathing became heavier and heavier, veins throbbing on his forehead, and he gritted his teeth as he said, "That woman! That damned woman, she took my son away. She said she wished she had never met me. She's heartless and has no conscience!"
Jiang Ling continued to provoke him: "The person who knows you best is probably your wife. She probably saw through your true colors, knew that you are ambitious but incompetent, and always blame others for problems, so she left in disappointment."
Wei Gaoli kept his lips tightly closed, trying hard to control his urge to curse.
Jiang Ling glanced at him: "So, you want to prove to your ex-wife that you're not a good-for-nothing? So..."
"I didn't!" Before Jiang Ling could continue, Wei Gaoli finally broke down. He knew that if Jiang Ling continued, he would really be so angry that he would vomit blood and shorten his lifespan by a few years.
He couldn't wait to defend himself, trying to grasp at the last straw: "My operations and records were all normal. It's the bank's own mismanagement that's the problem, it's a system bug!"
"Normal?" Liang Jiushan, who was in the corner, suddenly raised his head. His clear voice stood out in the oppressive interrogation room. He looked at Jiang Ling, who nodded slightly.
Liang Jiushan opened the laptop he had brought with him, turning the screen towards Wei Gaoli, where the highlighted record was clearly displayed.
Liang Jiushan pointed to the record on the screen: "This 9-second test login, you did it, didn't you? Before you officially transferred 5,000 yuan from the account, you used this stolen electronic key to sneak into that terminal that should have been scrapped, just to check the time and your own permissions?"
Wei Gaoli's pupils suddenly contracted, and his face turned deathly pale.
This detail... this little trick that he thought was done secretly and to ensure absolute safety was actually discovered so precisely?
“Also,” Liang Jiushan’s finger slid across the touchpad, bringing up another set of data, “you like to try deleting a temporary log file on the terminal after you’ve finished transferring money, right? Like this one. Unfortunately, you don’t have enough command permissions, or the file is locked by the system process, so it fails to delete every time, leaving a clearer record of the deletion failure in the system log. This kind of blatant attempt to cover up your mistake exposes your technical limitations and your inner insecurity.”
Wei Gaoli, who considered himself a technical expert, immediately straightened up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on when Liang Jiushan pointed out his weakness. He roared at Liang Jiushan, spitting everywhere.
"You're talking nonsense! That was automatic system cleanup, it has nothing to do with me! The deletion failure was a permissions issue, that file should have been deleted! What do you know? The password for sys_maint_bak is not as simple as you think, it's..."
It's not the default 123456! You don't even know this, so what gives you the right to say...?
Wei Gaoli suddenly realized something was wrong, and his roar stopped abruptly.
The interrogation room was deathly silent.
Wei Gaoli seemed to have all his strength drained away in an instant. He slumped into the interrogation chair, his face ashen, his lips trembling, unable to utter another word. Even if he was stupid, he knew that his hasty explanation had inadvertently confessed, revealing the most crucial operational details.
Jiang Ling slowly stood up, walked to Wei Gaoli, looked down at this self-important technician in the electronic world, and said in an icy voice:
"Wei Gaoli, thank you for providing the password. Now, the witness testimonies, physical evidence, electronic records, and your own statement are all complete. Your retaliation ends here."
Wei Gaoli slumped in his chair like a lump of mud, his eyes unfocused, the last ounce of strength drained from his lips. He stammered for a long time, managing to squeeze out a few broken syllables from deep within his throat: "I...I confess..."
Stepping out of the interrogation room, the bright lights in the corridor dispelled the oppressive atmosphere.
Liang Jiushan silently closed his laptop, packed his backpack, and walked to Jiang Ling's side.
"You must be exhausted?" Jiang Ling asked, her voice softening slightly as she looked at the faint dark circles under the young man's eyes. The continuous high-intensity technical analysis and on-site support were quite a burden for a twenty-year-old.
Liang Jiushan shook his head, revealing a clean smile with a hint of relief, "I'm fine, it's good that the case is solved."
He paused, looked at Jiang Ling, his eyes clear: "The vulnerability exposed this time is too typical. The access control and log auditing of the bank system are like sieves. Sister Ling, your data center concept you mentioned before is very necessary. With the popularization of computers, there will only be more and more complex cases like this in the future."
Jiang Ling gazed out the window at the deep night, her eyes filled with a profound sense of urgency: "Yes, times are changing, and crime is escalating. We police officers cannot afford to slow down even a moment."
She turned her gaze back to Liang Jiushan, her voice warm and gentle: "Thanks to you this time, Jiushan."
Liang Jiushan's ears burned slightly, and he grinned, "It's good that I can help you."
Sister Ling praised him! A secret joy quietly spread through Liang Jiushan's heart.
Li Zhenliang, Liu Haoran, and Zhou Wei, who were waiting outside, came over, their faces showing both excitement and exhaustion after solving the case.
Zhao Tiezhu smiled broadly: "Goodness, we finally caught the mole in the banking system. The profiling team has done a great job this time. Xiao Jiang, your data center will be up and running soon. Oh, and Xiao Liang, you're so promising at such a young age. Come on, let's go to Director Zhong's office to report."
Jiang Ling nodded and looked at Liang Jiushan standing beside her, as well as Li Zhenliang, Liu Haoran, and Zhou Wei who had gathered around.
"Let's go." Her voice was calm as she took the first step.
The group walked down the bright corridor, their footsteps echoing in the empty space.
Liang Jiushan quickened his pace, silently standing half a step behind Jiang Ling. His young figure carried an unwavering strength.
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