Free Breaching His Defenses (Love Hack #1) by Allyson Lindt Page A

with what he thought about her. This all centered around how much respect she had for the legend. If he said something was the case, he either knew more than she did about the subject, or would figure it out on his own later.
    “Please.” There was no condescension in his tone. Only confidence and curiosity. “If you’ve got a different opinion, I’d like to hear it.”
    Great. Now he’d backed her into a corner. Either way, she’d lose. She forced herself to look him in the eye, took a deep breath, and let the words flow. “That’s the problem with industry standards. They only matter to the people who are using them, and just because you’ve standardized something doesn’t mean everyone is complying.”
    He shifted in his chair, turning more toward her, and rested his arms on the table. “It’s true, but offering standardization up front gives people a certain level of expectation. They know they’re getting specific services and that they can take that technology elsewhere if they need to expand or add on new components.”
    He didn’t see it. The surprised realization sparked a new kind of confidence. She recognized the feeling inside—it was the same one she’d had six months ago when she’d breached the security on his network. The knowledge that for as much as this individual knew, he wasn’t perfect. She felt surer of her response this time. “Which is great, I agree. Standardization makes business run smoother.”
    He smiled, nodded, and turned away.
    “Except.” She spit out the single word and once again felt every head swivel in her direction. Having their attention is a good thing. Remember that. You don’t care if they don’t like what you have to say, as long as you state your point clearly. She had this right. “When it comes to security.”
    Jared raised an eyebrow.
    She leaned one arm on the table, directing her statements at him. “Some bored chaos hacker stumbles on your website and decides they want to leave a little ‘I was here’ note. Or even worse, they want access to your customer database. They’re not thinking, ‘Oh, I need to use industry standards to break in.’”
    “But why are they doing it in the first place?” Jared countered. “Why are they even there? That scenario doesn’t make any sense.”
    “Chaos hacker. The explanation is in the name. They don’t need a reason besides boredom. But if you’d prefer, let’s make it more personal.” She barely registered the hush in the room. Something in the back of her mind told her it was significant, but she was too focused on the debate. On making her point.
    “Are we talking vengeful ex kind of personal?” Jared’s attention was all on her now, never wavering. “Because it’s true, that happens, but things like a girlfriend stealing your administrative password are a little harder to code for.” He turned his attention back to the room. “Not that measures can’t be put in place. Once again, industry standards dictate things like IP checking for logins. Trusted computer settings. There’s an intensive list of things that prevent the up-close and personal violation from becoming an issue.”
    Vengeful ex. She hadn’t even thought about that. Something to add to her ever-growing list of possible loopholes she tucked away for work. “I’m not talking about the trusted friend, loved one, or family member. Though there are things to be concerned about there, too.” But that was a different conversation. “Everyone has beliefs, right? Something at their very core that they hold true?” She couldn’t help her satisfaction when he shrugged in agreement. “With today’s instant access to all things news—whether it’s really news or not—more and more people’s beliefs go on trial on social media every day.
    “Suddenly, regardless of what you think or believe, someone decides they disagree with you, and they take it out on your business’s online presence. Graffiti on the website, maybe? Or