Chapter 10: Testing Sentinel [2]: The Bait

Chapter 10: Testing Sentinel [2]: The BaitEthan watched as Sentinel quietly went to work. It easily got through Google’s firewalls, slipping through layers of security protocols like a ghost.

It cloaked its activity by mimicking Google’s own internal bots, making it nearly impossible to detect.

To an outsider, it would look like nothing more than routine traffic. But beneath all that, Sentinel was dissecting one of the most secure digital fortresses on the planet.

Ethan watched as the progress percentage increase as the seconds ticked by.

{1%... 12%... 37%... 65%... 91%...}

{SENTINEL SCAN COMPLETE

Target: google.com

Mode: Smart Adaptive Scan

Elapsed Time: 4 minutes, 19 seconds

Results: 20 Vulnerabilities Found

Action: Save vulnerabilities and Suggested fixes as PDF.}



Ethan leaned forward, curious to know which vulnerabilities Sentinel just found and if they were worth enough to get Google’s attention.

Moving the cursor towards the Results tab, Ethan clicked on it, opening a new tab with multiple drop downs.

{Results:

Critical Threats: 5

High Level Threats: 6

Low Level Threats: 9

}

"Let’s see what you found" he muttered and clicked on the first drop down, the Critical Threat tab.

No sooner had he clicked the Results tab, his eyes went wide.

His breath caught in his throat, and before he could stop himself, the words slipped out:

"Holy... f*ck."

His reaction was reasonable, after all, the results sentinel just provided was borderline terrifying.

They read:

{

1. Zero-Day RCE (Remote Code Execution) on Internal API Gateway

Threat Level: CRITICAL

Description: A hidden part of the system was left wide open. Attackers could sneak in and run their own code in the servers, without even needing a password.

Potential Damage: Full system compromise.

2. Privilege Escalation Flaw in Admin Console

Threat Level: CRITICAL

Description: A misconfiguration allowing attackers to elevate access rights from user to super-admin.

Potential Damage: Total control of internal admin functions.

3. SSRF Vulnerability in Cloud Monitoring Tool

Threat Level: CRITICAL

Description: Server-side request forgery flaw that could be used to access internal metadata services.

.....

}

The other two threats were nonetheless terrifying. If any black hat hacker got access to these then Google’s entire system would be turned upside down.

"This is gold" Ethan said.

He proceeded to open the second and third tabs. While the threats were not as dangerous as the ones marked as Critical, they weren’t threats Google could ignore either.

This proved to Ethan that Sentinel actually worked. And clearly, the system agreed, because a pop-up window appeared a moment later, displaying the updated mission progress.



[Mission progress: 98%]

That meant he only had one step left to complete and officially wrap up the introductory mission—sell Sentinel, or make it available for public use.

And he already had a plan for that.

He hovered his mouse over the "Save as PDF" button and clicked it. Sentinel generated an easily comprehensible vulnerability report, complete with suggested fixes.

Ethan then created a separate folder and named it "Bait". He then proceeded to save five of the vulnerabilities, one critical, two high and two low, in it.

Just enough to make Google sweat, but not enough to hand them the full goldmine.

"Let’s see if the big guys bite," he muttered, a small grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

Now came the hard part, actually getting in touch with Google.

He couldn’t just fly cross country to Silicon valley with no assurance that he’ll even be let in the front door. That was stupid.

The next option was sending the first five through email, but the chances of that being buried under a pile of other emails or even flagged as spam were high.

Ethan then leaned back on his chair, his fingers rapping on his work desk. This situation would’ve been a headache if he hadn’t previously done his assignment.

He clicked on the LinkedIn icon pinned to his browser and navigated to his saved profiles.

A small list popped up, each was a profile he handpicked weeks ago. Ethan scrolled until he found the one he’d marked with a golden star.

Amelia Rhodes – Lead Security Architect at Google

She had a reputation in the cybersecurity community presented at DEF CON, contributor to open-source firewall systems, and most importantly, she was known to personally respond to credible threats or white-hat reports.

She was not the type to ignore an urgent message.

"Found you," he muttered.

Ethan didn’t waste time. He switched over to his secure email client and composed a short message,

---

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Urgent: Vulnerabilities Detected on Google Internal Systems

Dear Ms. Rhodes,

My name is irrelevant. What matters is that I’ve developed a system capable of conducting deep adaptive scans, uncovering serious security flaws in even the most hardened infrastructures.

Google was the test case and I’ve attached a redacted preliminary report exposing five of the twenty vulnerabilities my software discovered during the scan.

This is not a threat. Nor is this blackmail. I am offering a conversation. If you’re interested in discussing the full report and a proposed solution, respond via any secure method of your choosing.

I recommend a prompt reply.

[Attachment: Vulnerability_report.pdf]

---

He hit Send.

Then he stared at the screen, eyes fixed on the blinking cursor as if expecting something magical to happen immediately.



It didn’t. Of course not.

He was hoping Google valued their systems enough to respond, but if they didn’t?

Well, there were other giants in the food chain.

Amazon.

Apple.

Microsoft.

It didn’t matter who bit first, what mattered was that they would and once the first giant domino fell, the rest would follow.

He pushed away from his laptop and glanced up at the clock hanging on his apartment wall—only to realize it had stopped working ages ago.

"Right," Ethan muttered, his eye twitching.

He then glanced back at his laptop screen, noting that it was already 2 AM the next day.

He exhaled sharply and rubbed his temples. The adrenaline from Sentinel’s discovery had worn off, leaving behind only sleep deprivation.

His body screamed for rest and Ethan obliged. Getting up,he walked to his small mattress and crashed into it, letting the sweet embrace of sleep take him.