authentication of the theme."
"Did you try different combinations of images?"
"Mr. Malik seems to be an avid photographer and a connoisseur of all types of art. He has snapshots of flowers, nature, wildlife, clips of historical places, countless portraits and god knows what else!"
"How many images are there?"
"More than a hundred thousand."The System Expert leaned and clicked on the keyboard, "To be precise 2,09,71,52."
"Interesting. It's two to the power twenty one."
"Exactly 2 21 . He seems to be not only a computer expert, but also adept with mathematical numbers. The results can run into sextillion or one thousand trillion of possible combinations in a 2X2 grid if a modified image file becomes the password."
"Can't our supercomputer find it in another twenty four hours?"
"I don't think so, sir. We don't have any program that can break an image-password. Even the cryptologist of the National Security Agency of the USA doesn't enjoy it. That is why the American government is not very comfortable with this concept. They treat it as a security risk and have not ratified it for putting it into common practice."
"Then, who can take a shot?"
"We can try the father of the program, the NIST. They may be able to work out some solution."
"It's not that straightforward. We usually think of the US Special Army as the most secret organization of America. But in reality, the Department of Commerce of the USA is the most enigmatic. It just doesn't divulge any details. After all, it has to protect American commercial interests in today's competitive world."
The System Expert gave Siddhartha a blank look. Siddhartha smiled and patted him. "Anyway, give me a complete shadow copy of the downloaded files, any unusual emails, and flag germane details that you think could be important."
"I'll compile everything in about two hours."
"Good. I want it before I board my evening flight. "
Massachusetts Avenue
The Assistant Director of the FBI of the Washington Field Office sought an appointment with the Indian Ambassador and after confirmation reached the Indian Embassy at Massachusetts Avenue.
"Good to see you, Director. What can I do for you?"
"Mr. Ambassador, our New York office wants to question your daughter, but she is not responding to our call. We tried contacting her on her cell phone and also at Cornell. She is not there. We will appreciate it if you could help us reach her."
"Officer, she is in DC. But if your inquiry is about the arrest of a Pakistani gentleman, then I'm afraid she doesn't have anything to say. I don't want her to be put through the wringer and get into trouble because of some Pakistani lout."
"I appreciate your feelings, Mr. Ambassador. But we have a request from the Indian Government to grill the Pakistani boy. And it is your intelligence agency, which has found that he was in contact with Juhi at the time of the Mumbai attack. We believe that it couldn't be a mere coincidence that Juhi was at the Taj Mahal Hotel at that very point of time."
"Acquaintance between two young people, studying in the same school, is nothing new and has nothing to do with nationality. Many people from different countries are in the same campus and share many common things. And for your information, she was with a European Delegation when the Mumbai attacks begun."
"I have the same opinion as yours. But Juhi has to come to our office at 4 th Street for a very short time. It will only help to clear her name."
"I suggest that the FBI send her a questionnaire. I will ensure that she replies to each of your questions candidly without concealing a single fact."
"This is not the way the FBI works, sir. We need to record her statement and sign an affidavit."
"Then come to my home. I'll see what best I can do for you. By the way, the Under Secretary of State rang me up and gave his word that there won't be any diplomatic disaster. So, I suggest that the FBI keep this information very confidential."
"It is my word of honour,
"Did you try different combinations of images?"
"Mr. Malik seems to be an avid photographer and a connoisseur of all types of art. He has snapshots of flowers, nature, wildlife, clips of historical places, countless portraits and god knows what else!"
"How many images are there?"
"More than a hundred thousand."The System Expert leaned and clicked on the keyboard, "To be precise 2,09,71,52."
"Interesting. It's two to the power twenty one."
"Exactly 2 21 . He seems to be not only a computer expert, but also adept with mathematical numbers. The results can run into sextillion or one thousand trillion of possible combinations in a 2X2 grid if a modified image file becomes the password."
"Can't our supercomputer find it in another twenty four hours?"
"I don't think so, sir. We don't have any program that can break an image-password. Even the cryptologist of the National Security Agency of the USA doesn't enjoy it. That is why the American government is not very comfortable with this concept. They treat it as a security risk and have not ratified it for putting it into common practice."
"Then, who can take a shot?"
"We can try the father of the program, the NIST. They may be able to work out some solution."
"It's not that straightforward. We usually think of the US Special Army as the most secret organization of America. But in reality, the Department of Commerce of the USA is the most enigmatic. It just doesn't divulge any details. After all, it has to protect American commercial interests in today's competitive world."
The System Expert gave Siddhartha a blank look. Siddhartha smiled and patted him. "Anyway, give me a complete shadow copy of the downloaded files, any unusual emails, and flag germane details that you think could be important."
"I'll compile everything in about two hours."
"Good. I want it before I board my evening flight. "
Massachusetts Avenue
The Assistant Director of the FBI of the Washington Field Office sought an appointment with the Indian Ambassador and after confirmation reached the Indian Embassy at Massachusetts Avenue.
"Good to see you, Director. What can I do for you?"
"Mr. Ambassador, our New York office wants to question your daughter, but she is not responding to our call. We tried contacting her on her cell phone and also at Cornell. She is not there. We will appreciate it if you could help us reach her."
"Officer, she is in DC. But if your inquiry is about the arrest of a Pakistani gentleman, then I'm afraid she doesn't have anything to say. I don't want her to be put through the wringer and get into trouble because of some Pakistani lout."
"I appreciate your feelings, Mr. Ambassador. But we have a request from the Indian Government to grill the Pakistani boy. And it is your intelligence agency, which has found that he was in contact with Juhi at the time of the Mumbai attack. We believe that it couldn't be a mere coincidence that Juhi was at the Taj Mahal Hotel at that very point of time."
"Acquaintance between two young people, studying in the same school, is nothing new and has nothing to do with nationality. Many people from different countries are in the same campus and share many common things. And for your information, she was with a European Delegation when the Mumbai attacks begun."
"I have the same opinion as yours. But Juhi has to come to our office at 4 th Street for a very short time. It will only help to clear her name."
"I suggest that the FBI send her a questionnaire. I will ensure that she replies to each of your questions candidly without concealing a single fact."
"This is not the way the FBI works, sir. We need to record her statement and sign an affidavit."
"Then come to my home. I'll see what best I can do for you. By the way, the Under Secretary of State rang me up and gave his word that there won't be any diplomatic disaster. So, I suggest that the FBI keep this information very confidential."
"It is my word of honour,
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