Counting from Zero by Alan B. Johnston

actually considered canceling it, but went ahead in the end.
    “Konichiwa Uncle Alec-san!” she greeted him.
    “I'm not in Nihon anymore,” he reminded her.
    “I know.   You are deep in the Southwest.   How is the riding?”
    “Very good.   The terrain is pretty unique here – even the sky seems somehow different,” he replied.
    “Pictures please!   I need to decide whether New Mexico should move up on my list of places to visit.”
    “Where is it now?”
    “I believe it is about 4Øth on the list, but if you say the sky is different, then I may have to move it up into the teens.”
    “Understood.   Shall we read?”
    “Nope.   I've got a question for you, if that's OK?” she asked hopefully.   Mick smiled to himself.
    This girl really knows how to get to me.
    “Of course, Sam.   What is it?”
    “I read that 'peer-to-peer' networks are a security risk.   Now, I don't know what they are, but I think I've heard you mention them, and you wouldn't talk about them if they were bad for security.”
    “Sam, do you read Slashdot or something?   Never mind.   You are right: P2P isn’t necessarily insecure.   This is a classic piece of clueless FUD,” he started, then paused when Sam raised her eyebrows as if he had said a bad word.   He smiled, then continued.
    “FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.   In this case, it means half-truths and falsehoods, peddled by people with an agenda to push.   There is nothing inherently threatening or bad about peer-to-peer applications – in fact, they can sometimes be more secure than other applications.”
    She looked away from the camera for a moment, then continued.   “My mother wants to say hello.”
    “Hi Alec,” Jocelyn began, her dark wavy hair and piercing brown eyes coming into the field of view of the camera.
    “Hey Jocelyn, how's it going?”
    “Oh, I'm fine.   Wondered if you were coming to Boston soon?”
    “Yes, probably in three weeks,” he replied.   She smiled back at him, and he heard Sam shout “Yes!” out of view.
    “OK.   Let us know, brother.   Take care.”
    “Will do,” Mick replied, and went back to talking to Sam for a little while longer.
     
    After the video call, Mick felt better, but all day he still found it difficult to concentrate on the work at LeydenTech, but he did anyway.   He tried not to think about his own security compromise until the end of the day.   Back in his room, he started to carefully examine his own server logs for signs of how someone had stolen his private key.   He didn’t find very much, but what little he did find convinced him that his server compromise was linked to the LeydenTech compromise.   His own spambot was eerily similar to the one here at LeydenTech.
    Now with two examples of the spambot software, he sent both to Kateryna and asked her if she could help.
    He heard back from her a few hours later:
     
Hey Mick,
     
Hope the weather is good for you in NM.   It has been a few years since I visited, but I recall some great archaeological sites, including some amazing petroglyphs near ABQ.
     
I still can't comprehend your key compromise - you are the most careful person I know.   Someone must really have it out for you to do this to you.   Do you have any idea who?
     
I don't know what to tell you about the spambot - I'm not an expert in this area, but we do have a few guys in the office who are.   I'll make some unofficial inquiries and let you know what I find out.
     
So, I have a question for you: if you were born in England to Irish parents, grew up in London then moved to New York, why do you have such a generic American accent?   I thought perhaps it was just me but I asked a couple of Americans who knew you and they agreed that there is very little evidence of your heritage in your accent.   I only have to open my mouth and say one word and everyone knows I'm from somewhere else (even in Romania today as my accent and vernacular are out of date).   What