In 2021, Kazuki Ichida, one of Japan's leading cyber mystery authors, celebrated his 10th anniversary.
In this article, I would like to see what Mr. Ichida saw, what he raised alarm bells about, and what he left behind by following his works and events over the past ten years in chronological order. However, depending on the work, there is a gap between the time of writing and the time of publication, so please understand that the order of publication is not necessarily the order of writing.
● "Zetsubou Treasure" (2014)
In 2014, "Zetsubou Treasure", the fourth book in the Satoru Kimijima series, was published. The afterword of the book states:
The Cyber Mystery Kimishima series is scheduled to consist of five works, and the main focus is the fight against Furawashi. The three works of "The Girl in the Cage", "Zetsubou Treasure", and "The Labyrinth of the Palm" (unpublished) are works that depict that battle.
I definitely recommend reading "The Girl in the Cage" before reading this work. "Cyber Terrorism Drifting Girl" and "Cyber Crime Malicious Funnel" are independent stories, so it doesn't matter which one you read.
"Zetsubou Treasure" consists of 6 "parts" including an epilogue. I'm at a loss as to whether I should say "chapter" or "edit", but each incident happens, and each of them reaches a tentative solution (which itself is also one of the tricks). The stage is in the middle of the malware industrial revolution after "The Girl in the Cage". Amidst the flood of malware due to the destruction of the price of the malware kit
This is the reappearance of Minon, the beautiful girl who complained about being stalked in "The Girl in the Cage". She has an arrogant attitude towards Kimishima, who is older than her, and Minon's honesty, which easily becomes emotional, is her love. It doesn't act like it's cute by any means, but the fear of loneliness it suddenly shows and its anxious gestures arouse a desire to protect it. However, I started reading while thinking that Mr. Ichida would not be the kind of writer who would write a love romance with Kimishima, but to my surprise...?
The second "Encrypted Suicide" is a short story drawn from the perspective of Tanaka, who runs the "Suicide Library". Tanaka is informed that the "Suicide Library," which he had intended to run as a volunteer, is being used unintentionally. Both in real life and online, there are people who have a good sense of "abuseable services" and people who abuse them, but in this book, the power of abuse is astonishing.
"Suicide Library", "Personal Information Distribution Center" where you can convert your own personal information into money, and afterlife cleaner "AFLIC" for exercising your "right to be forgotten" after your death. How much can be done by exploiting it, and what is its purpose? An exquisite and elaborate composition that invites foreshadowing and misleading, and the exhilarating feeling when all the mysteries are solved and the despair that surpasses it. This is one of Ichida's best works, "Iyamisu."
In addition, there is another story in Zetsubou Treasure called "Frawashi's group" that depicts Furawashi from the perspective of four people. In particular, the fourth person is the person who said, "I'm Furawashi, too," at the end of the main story, revealing a secret that Kimishima didn't know.
・Other works written by Ichida in 2014 ``Nomophobia'' ``Preparation Room for Network World Dictionary! "Underground Security 1"
・2014 Cyber Security Incidents
Various materials, including customer lists, support information, and source code, were leaked from FinFisher, a Gamma International group company, and posted on Wikileaks. Gamman International Group provides governmentware FinFisher for government agencies and law enforcement agencies. Governmentware is essentially government spyware, and leaked materials reveal that FinFisher targets a wide range of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, and has customers in 36 countries, including Japan. bottom. If you win, you won't be in the government military, but I'm surprised by the situation where the blatant double standard of legal government software for government use and illegal malware for civilian use is half openly tolerated.
Under such circumstances, the Internet, smartphones, and SNS will spread, and everyone will be able to reach the Internet at all times, and the infrastructure network for government surveillance will be perfect. It may already be almost complete.
In November 2014, a hacking incident occurred at Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). E-mails between company officials, personal information of employees, unreleased movie titles, etc. were leaked. The culprit called himself GOP and posted a message on pastebin suggesting that there would be casualties at the movie theater showing the movie "The Interview". "The Interview," an SPE-distributed comedy about the assassination of Kim Jong-un, has long been criticized by North Korea. In response to these threats, major cinema chains canceled the film, but it was shown in independent theaters and streamed online. The identity of the GOP has not been clarified, but the FBI has determined that North Korea was involved.
● “Genius hacker Kyoko Abe and her five-minute buddy” (2015)
This work with a refreshing pastel cover is Mr. Ichida's first work in the Shueisha Bunko. Rumor has it that this is the best-selling series of Ichida's books, and the heroine, Kyoko Abe, is portrayed as a cute and naive woman, which is rare for Ichida's work. He is an extremely picky eater and suffers from anemia when he talks to people for more than 5 minutes.
The hacker group Rusk, led by Kyoko Abe, attracts the public's attention by openly extorting large sums of money from unscrupulous companies. However, in this work, more space is devoted to the development of Rusk being cornered by the police, rather than the splendid crime. After all, the story begins with the last scene where the undefeated Rusk is arrested at Narita Airport. One wonders whether Kyoko Abe, a genius hacker, will make such a mistake.
The afterword says, "This novel is a story of love and adventure between two clumsy people who can't choose their way of life." I intentionally left out the sweet scenes. ’, but it is not as sweet as cream, but has a slightly natural fruit-like sweetness and a pleasant aftertaste. Of course, real cyber security is everywhere, such as individual identification from SNS and malware distribution using advertisements. Mr. Ichida's "poison" is quite thin, so it is a work that can be recommended to everyone.
● "Cyber Mystery Declaration!" (2015)
"Cyber Mystery Manifesto!" In addition to Mr. Ichida, it is co-authored by five authors: writers Akira Nanase, Noriko Chizawa, critic Kaname Yuui, and critic Naoya Fujita.
The significance of the publication of this book and how it captures "cyber mystery" is very interesting. In the foreword, the cyber mystery is written as ``mystery that solves incidents that occur on the Internet'', but this seemingly shallow interpretation provides a very deep insight. Why is it called a "cyber mystery" when using a computer when it is not classified as a "gun mystery" when using a gun or a "knife mystery" when using a knife?
That's because crimes in cyberspace have characteristics that are significantly different from crimes in real space. The depth in this book is amazing. The first is the problem of data identification in cyberspace. Digital data can be easily duplicated, making it difficult to identify the origin, route, and time of data leaks. Along with works that actually used tricks such as ``making it look like it was leaked data that was not leaked'', ``disguising the source of the leak'', and ``misleading that the leaked data was fake''. being introduced.
Another theme that takes up a lot of space is manipulation. Impersonation in a real space and two roles per person are tricks often used in mysteries, but their feasibility is often questionable. However, spoofing in cyberspace is easy, and it also becomes easy to manipulate others through spoofing. Furthermore, solving cyber crimes is often not the classic solution of "name and denounce the culprit" if it is closer to the real world. Satoru Kimishima, Shinji Kudo, and Oven Range all said, ``I'm needed because there are companies that want to covertly handle cyber crimes that occur within their own companies.'' When the two are combined, it is possible that the true criminal, the perpetrator, and the detective "manipulate" to commit crimes with seemingly unknown motives, or that the detective solves the case to achieve the true criminal's purpose.
A book that is very valuable in that it logically analyzes cyber mysteries, which tend to be viewed from the cyber perspective of whether it is technically possible or possible, from the perspective of mystery. It has become. Mr. Ichida wrote in his afterword:
I dream. I hope that some of the mystery lovers who pick up this book will become readers of cyber mysteries, and some will become writers.
This is going to be a personal matter, but what kind of bug is this? ' is also called a 'cyber mystery', so I think I was able to contribute to the realization of Mr. Ichida's dream.
A total of 30 works, including 4 by Mr. Ichida, are introduced as a cyber mystery book guide at the end of the book.
● "Cyberspace kills mystery" (2015)
At the same time as "Cyber Mystery Declaration!", the short story "Cyberspace Kills Mystery" was published in the early summer 2015 issue of the mystery magazine "Jarro" No.54. The magazine is currently priced at over 20,000, but the short stories can be read for free from Mr. Ichida's note (https://note.com/ichi_twnovel/m/mb5991b72c665). The organizer of the "Boring Almighty" site solves unsolved cases one after another based on information such as SNS. Although the culprit is not directly named, information that can be easily identified, such as ``the ex-husband of the woman who was planning to move into the house where the crime occurred,'' is posted, so it is suspended on the Internet and e-punishment occurs.
Freelance security consultant Satoru Kimijima clarifies and destroys the "boring omnipotent" site in a way that is half threatened by Asuka Shinomiya (Dakiru Tsuzuki in the note version) of the Internet Safety and Security Association. is requested. The reasoning of "The Boring Almighty" seems to be an absurdity with only circumstantial evidence, but once it is made public, physical evidence is discovered as if to support the reasoning. How can the "boring omnipotent" solve every case the police throw at him? Who are the organizers? What is the motive?
This work is said to be a work that completely wrote what was left undigested in "Shinji Kudo's Security Case Files Season 4 Super Possible Crime" in "Cyber Mystery Declaration!". It can also be viewed as an extension of the idea of Gides, the "murder sales site" in "Cybercrime Malicious Funnel". I highly recommend reading it after reading both books.
・Other 2015 books written by Mr. Ichida, "Family Security Readbook for Accurately Knowing the Dangers of the Internet" and "Cyber Security Learned from Manga: Microwave Ovens Don't Look Back" (book)
・2015 Cyber Security Incidents
In July 2015, Hacking Team leaked over 400 gigabytes of internal material, including emails, customer lists, and source code. Hacking Team, like FinFisher, sells government wear, and for the second year in a row, information was leaked from a cyber defense company. As a result of this incident, it became clear that transactions with countries with human rights issues and that journalists were also subject to surveillance, and the company will decline. In addition, the leaked information includes zero-day vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player and Windows, and both Adobe and Microsoft have urgently provided corresponding patches. One of these vulnerabilities seems to have been pitched to the hacking team by a Russian hacker who claimed that "sales are non-exclusive and exclusive sales would triple the price."
It is a well-known fact that the weapons of cyber defense companies are zero-day vulnerabilities, but this is an episode that shows that it is a competition between companies. If a situation arises in which all zero-day vulnerabilities, which are their hidden spheres, must be exposed, the relationship of power between companies and even nations could change dramatically.
In August 2015, Mr. Vladimir (Mr. Vlad, Mr. Vladimir), who is famous as a genius hacker, died suddenly at his home in Tokyo. Mr. Vladimir was ostensibly the owner of a web design company, but he is fluent in languages such as English, Chinese, and Russian. It is said that he was collecting information about North Korea. He had high technical skills, such as authoring "Introduction to Super Hackers" (2000, Data House), which explains cracking methods, but it seems that he had an outstanding ability to gather information. There are rumors that the hard disk full of data left behind by him was recovered by the public security authorities soon after his death, and that multiple agencies were searching for him.