Film Review: Target

Just two weeks prior, I had the utmost pleasure of watching South Korea's tech crime thriller, Target. Now, I say "tech crime thriller", but in all honesty, there's a healthy number of horror elements in the movie. 

Target is a gripping tale of an online commercial transaction gone wrong. Security is compromised, privacy is invaded, and threats to life are carried out as things escalate. This film is actually based on a number of real-life police cases, and hits uncomfortably close to home if you're a frequent user of second-hand online dealing apps.

Warning - blood, violence and spoilers!

Not neccessarily in that particular order.

The Premise

Soo-Hyun buys a second-hand washing machine online through an app, and finds herself the victim of a fraudulent purchase. Outraged, she tracks down the cheat and engages in a war of words, after which she begins to experience breaches of her privacy at the hands of the cheat, now turned online stalker. As threats to her life and safety ramp up, the police get involved and this cumulates in a brutal showdown.

The Characters

Shin Hye-Sun plays the role of protagonist Jang Soo-Hyun, your run-of-the-mill office worker. I can't say enough good things about her performance. Her character was believable and sympathetic, not distractingly beautiful and conveyed a compelling combination of both spunk and fragility. Shin portrayed the increasing paranoia and the psychological breakdown of her character like a pro.

Im Sung-jae as the unnamed killer. With his bulky frame and murderous glare, he cuts a chilling figure when we, the audience, finally see his face.

Kim Sung-Kyun plays experienced and short-fused Detective Joo with jaded weariness. It's a character whose gruff exterior hides an empathetic core, and Kim really sinks his teeth into it. It's nice to see one of the male leads in a Korean movie that doesn't have to be prettier than the actresses to keep you invested in the outcome.

Kang Tae-Oh as Detective Na. Earnest, sympathetic and enthusiastic, Kang did a pretty good job portraying a competent but less experienced detective trying his best.

Lee Joo-young as Soo-Hyun's buddy Oh Dal-Ja. I liked her in the role, but I'm not sure it was all that necessary. She just didn't have that much to do. She was pretty funny, though!

Lim Chul-Soo as Soo-Hyun's boss. Goofy wannabe Romeo to Soo-Hyun, who's a lot less charming than he probably thinks he is, Lim had the thankless task of trying to play a rather unlikeable character who did not have much to offer the plot except act as a red herring and later get killed off.

Geum Sae-Rok has a small but significant role as one of the killer's former victims, showing the audience that Soo-Hyun isn't overreacting. Geum's fear was almost palpable through the screen.

The Mood

The movie begins somewhat light-heartedly, with colorful screencaps superimposed over the footage to show what users are buying and selling. There's a little bit of comedy thrown in here and there, but the first clue you get that this isn't a rom-com, is when the first victim gets murdered.

As things develop and Soo-Hyun starts getting stalked, it starts getting increasingly creepy. Disquieting doesn't even begin to describe it.

Car chase scenes and brutal fistfights, though, round things out with plenty of tension in the final quarter of the movie.

What I liked

No one does movie violence like the Koreans. No one! The shaky cam car chases, the visceral feel of life-or-death fisticuffs, the sound of knifeblades entering flesh. If it's violence you seek, you can't go wrong with Korean.

The acting in there was top-notch. By my abysmally low standards, anyway. I gasped, I cringed. I cheered. Emotionally, this movie had me by the balls.

The fact that this movie deals with the dangers of online commerce, and its realistic take on police protection, is a huge plus.

Those guys that the killers send over to pester Joo-Hyun are suitably creepy. It did feel corny at first, but the execution was sublime. From the telltale bleep of Joo-Hyun's door being opened by a total stranger who thinks he's there to answer a booty call... the premise doesn't sound scary when I say it, but it's really something you'd need to watch for yourself.

I really love all the detective work thrown in by Joo-Hyun and, well, the detectives.

What I didn't

Why did the killer attack Detective Joo first instead of just running off? That made no goddamn sense.

The killer was just a tad too Terminator-like in his sheer determination to fuck everyone up. Like, how much punishment should a man take before he finally just fucking dies? That ruined believability for me.

And why wasn't the trap better laid? Why did it had to come down to a fight to the death? Seriously, this felt sloppy AF.

Conclusion

For all its flaws, and believe me, there are plenty, Target is one helluva ride from start to finish. It's a cautionary tale of trusting online strangers with your money and information, and the many ways systems like these can be abused. And then this is taken up several notches. You don't have to be a techie to enjoy this one - if you just like a good old serial killer movie, this does just fine.

My Rating

8 / 10

Are you sold on this movie yet?
T____T

Trail of the Catfish (Part 2/2)

It would be a full three weeks before I got back to this issue. Life had gotten very busy at the office. I was drowning in the workload. When I finally caught a break, my friend sent me a WhatsApp message to excitedly say that his girlfriend was due in Singapore in six hours. I was relieved to see that - at least there was going to be some live interaction now.

At the end of the workday, however, things had changed. He despondently told me that there had been a last-minute change in plans, and she was not coming over after all. I can't say I was too surprised at this news.

One week later...

There was more news. I learned that she had completely disappeared. According to my friend, she was no longer communicating with him.

Up in smoke.

My friend told me that the site he had been investing in, had suddenly gone down, and with it, his outlay of twenty thousand dollars. Well, I reasoned, at least he had been withdrawing his earnings regularly, right? Erm, right?!

Nope!

According to him, that would have made less sense than leaving the money there to continue rolling for him. So he'd lost everything in there, and when he tried asking for his ten thousand dollars back from his girlfriend to mitigate his losses (this really made me roll my eyes, by the way), she ghosted him.

With that in mind, my follow-up question was: if he hadn't been withdrawing the money from the site, where did he get the money to send to his girlfriend?

The answer made me facepalm really hard. He had taken the money from his own bank account. Because he had assumed that he would be able to withdraw the money from that site any time he wanted.

Wow. The sheer fucking recklessness of this made me see stars. How had that seemed like a good idea? Now he had not only lost the ten thousand he had sent, he had also lost the twenty thousand that was his initial investment. Thirty thousand in all - which, coincidentally, was about the sum I laid down as a deposit when I bought my own place back in 2014.

Evidence

Despite all that, my friend was adamant that what they had shared was real. That she had been real. And he would listen to nothing else.

That was when something clicked inside me. I took the initial image he had shown me and did a Google image search for this. What I found made my blood run cold. The image turned up several similar images of the same woman. It led me to a Weibo blog. This blog belonged to an influencer from Zhejiang in China. As a matter of fact, the very image she had sent him, was a duplicate of the one found on the blog, with one small change: the Weibo icon had been snipped off.

Before and after.

His girlfriend was a famous local celebrity in Zhejiang, who was already engaged to another man.

When I confronted my friend about this, he told me he wanted to drop the matter entirely, and asked me to stop talking about this to him. And, feeling that my point had been made, I saw no need to belabor it.

Lessons this taught me

Just because someone is older than me, does not make them smarter. Quite the contrary, they can be easier to fool precisely because they think they are immune to being taken for a ride. When considering if someone is capable of prudent decision-making, it helps to consider the context. My friend wasn't stupid normally, but in matters of romance, he has had woefully little experience. This clouded his judgment, and ultimately turned out to be his downfall.

Do I feel guilty for my lack of action? No. Undeniably, I prioritized my own shit over that of my friend's, precisely because I trusted him to be able to handle his own shit. We've all got our crosses to bear.

But I do feel ashamed. As a tech professional, doing that Google image search should have been the first thing that came to me - not almost a month after the fact.

And I feel embarrassed. Some catfisher in China probably now thinks that Singaporean men are so goddamn easy to fool - using pictures of a local celebrity, no less! All she (or maybe even he) really needed to do was sweet-talk some idiot on WeChat for a few months, with a five-digit figure payoff to show for it. Now, if only earning honest money were that easy.

(cat)fishing in troubled waters!
T___T

Trail of the Catfish (Part 1/2)

Several dangers lurk amidst the glitzy facade of the webosphere, and one of these is catfishing. This is a scenario where one person masquerades as someone else to manipulate a user into doing something foolish - usually parting with money or information. I was unfamiliar with the term (but not the phenomenon) until a friend of mine got hit with a particularly bad case of it.

At the time, I was an agency-contracted software developer, considering further education, struggling with my new role as a husband. I was being besieged on multiple fronts - professional, academic and personal. I had my fingers in way too many pies as it was. And thus I did not deal with this as immediately and firmly as I might have. Also, strictly speaking, it wasn't my situation to deal with.

How it went down

Over dinner one evening, this friend of mine told me he was in love. He had met this woman online through WeChat, and she was now his girlfriend. When he showed me a picture, I was impressed. Cute, great figure. The only question was - why would she be interested in my friend? He wasn't ugly, but appearance-wise, he was no hunk. He was in his mid-forties, not particularly well-off, and I had never been under the impression that he was especially charming. Indeed, I had been laboring under the impression that he was the archetypical 40-year old virgin.

A pretty girl on camera.

Still, stranger things have happened. I was prepared to be happy for my friend. Why look a gift horse in the mouth, eh?

It was about to get stranger still, however. He told me he had never heard her voice "live", only through sound clips. And whenever he tried to video call her, she never picked up. But they spent several nights chatting away (via text and sound clips) into the wee hours of the morning, and he even serenaded her with his own singing several times.

So, I was supposed to believe that he hooked her with his singing voice? A lot less believable, but maybe there was something about my friend that I, as a heterosexual male, wasn't seeing.

Of more concern was the fact that he had never interacted with her live. In this day and age of deepfake technology, even interacting live isn't such a big deal for authenticity anymore. But not even having that? Fishier than the River Nile. The words of my favorite comedian Bill Burr comes to mind.

"That's not a red flag; that's the fucking Soviet Union."

The Investment

As we spoke, my friend also revealed that his girlfriend (though I was having serious doubts about the veracity of that term by that point) had introduced him an investment site where he had already put in twenty thousand dollars of his own money, and according to him, he had already earned more than ten thousand off his initial investment. Now I'm no expert in that department, but that seemed like a decent return. Actually, it was positively too good to be true.

Investment site.

He wanted to send this woman ten thousand dollars of his earnings as a gesture of appreciation. This seemed like good news - at least he could draw out his earnings, right? He had already tried to send the money, and the bank had refused to facilitate this transfer because it fit the pattern of many online scams. Thus he was wondering if he could transfer me some funds so I could affect part of the transfer on his behalf. I declined, not because I was against him sending money - that was frankly none of my business - but because, in principle, I am deeply uncomfortable with anyone messing with my account. Eventually, later on, he finally managed to send the money, in three separate installments.

I had a look at the site. And then I Googled it. What came up was, well, more red flags. Apparently this site was being flagged for suspicious activity. When I pointed it out, my friend said that he was aware. That figured; he was a grown-ass man and he could do his own damn Google search, right?

My initial reaction

If you're anything resembling a normal person, reading this, your inbuilt danger alarm must be ringing like mad by now. There were way too many things about his story that stank. In fact, the entire story stank. It reeked like an open sewer. It sounded like my friend was getting in dangerously deep and needed a reality check.

But from whom would that reality check come? Me?

Don't stick your
hand into that fire!

In all honesty, I chose to deal with my own immediate problems and largely left it to my friend's common sense to help him navigate this potential minefield. After all, it wasn't like I had any personal experience with pursuing online romances - what did I know, really?

Sure, I could have said something. Anything. I could have pointed out how ridiculous all this sounded. But would I be pointing out anything he himself didn't realize and didn't want to admit to himself? Would I be saying anything that his mother and siblings had not already been saying? Why would he listen to me, if he was already ignoring their counsel? With that in mind, would talking actually accomplish anything, or would it just be talking for the sake of talking?

I'm a software developer. What kind of software developer does something for the sake of achieving nothing? A fucking useless one, that's what.

No. If I was going to say anything, I was going to have to do better than just talk. I was going to have to present evidence of some sort. Thus, I wished him the best of luck and went on my way. I did eventually discover evidence, but it was too little, too late.

Next

The fallout!

A look at purchasing computer protection

One question I keep having to answer as an IT professional is that of antiviruses. People tend to do their computer protection shopping once a year or so, and the myriad of options mystifies them.

What is an Internet Security Suite and how does it differ from an antivirus? What is a Total Security Suite? Which should you buy? Today, these questions get answered.

Antivirus

For those of you who experienced life in the early 90s, antiviruses absolutely rocked. They recognized virus signatures when scanning the computer, and cleaned the hard disk of these viruses, worms and Trojan Horses. It was unthinkable to access the contents of a floppy disk without first scanning it using anti-virus software.

Floppy disks.

And then the internet happened, floppy disks became obsolete, and the game changed forever.

These days, antivirus software does pretty much the same thing, but unless the user intends to stay off the internet, that just isn't adequate anymore. The number of new threats grows annually, and even with the self-updating capabilities of antivirus software these days, much of the security threats tend to come from the internet, not USB drives.

Internet Security Suite

An Internet Security Suite includes the functionality of antivirus software, with the added bonus of protecting the user against internet threats (both security and privacy) such as spyware, phishing and spam. This is absolutely vital because the internet has pretty much taken over most computer usage. There is an added advantage if you have children - an Internet Security Suite may also feature Parental Controls.

Internet protection.

The cost is higher than that of antivirus software, but typically not by much. The cost in terms of processing power is noticeable unless you have a really good machine.

Total Security Suite

This is the one option that confuses the heck out of many users. What is "total" security if an Internet Security Suite already encompasses antivirus software? A Total Security Suite includes all the functionality of an Internet Security Suite (and by association, antivirus software).

This option actually includes new layers of protection, such as VPN subscription, file encryption and so on. Like Internet Security Suites, protection is implemented in the form of a firewall.

Now that's a firewall.

The cost is higher than that of an Internet Security Suite, along with required processing power. This slows down your machine substantially. Unless you are absolutely invested in not being spied upon by your Government and actually have something significant to hide, it might not be worth the price.

Protect yourself!

Whatever you ultimately purchase, it all depends on your context and what you are trying to protect. A few extra dollars is a worthwhile investment for peace of mind.

Fiarewaell for now!
T___T

POFMA saves the day... kind of

It was with a touch of grim schadenfreude that I read the news that Facebook had, in its own words, been "compelled by law" to block the fake news peddler States Times Review (STR).

I've never been a huge proponent of the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). Back in 2019 when it was first introduced, I expressed concerns that it would give the Singapore Government too much discretionary power to censor. But I was also painfully conscious of the fact that as much as some Singaporeans demand full transparency and Freedom of Speech from the Government, they've also done precious little to show that they can handle those things with the responsibility and gravitas they deserve.

In the long run, without being exposed to such poisonous elements of society, how can Singaporeans learn to discern for themselves instead of outsourcing their thinking to the Government? Is that any way forward for a First World Nation?

Fast-forward almost a year later, amid the panic-causing outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus, newly christened COVID-19. A Facebook page States Times Review posted fake news on several different occasions. Here are some of its ludicrous claims:

The Government is unable to trace the source of infection for any of the infected COVID-19 cases in Singapore. Nonsense.

Singapore has run out of surgical masks. Minister Chan Chun Sing has debunked this clearly (and entertainingly) enough.

Seven countries have since banned travel to Singapore, citing lack of confidence in the Singapore government's public health measures. Lack of confidence? Oh, really?

(all these claims, and more, may be more thoroughly debunked on Factually.)

All this was designed to sow public panic and confusion, distrust towards the Government and undermine confidence in Singapore while drawing as many eyeballs to the website as possible.

The POFMA hammer.

The Singapore Government stepped in, wielding POFMA as a hammer, to strike at STR, ordering STR to issue correction notices to the false articles. When STR failed to comply, POFMA was again used, this time on Facebook itself, to block Facebook user access to STR. Now STR is an Online Declared Location, and may no longer be accessed within Singapore.

I may still have my reservations regarding POFMA... but it could not have happened to a more deserving site than STR. As a citizen of Singapore; indeed, as a human being, I find the opportunistic act of capitalizing on the fear of death amid a very real and very delicate situation, both irresponsible and morally repugnant.

Did the Singapore Government do the right thing?

What is the right thing, in this instance? Let things stand, and trust Singaporeans to be able to hold steady instead of being misled by charlatans? Or act swiftly to stifle malicious rumor-mongering that could spell disaster if fear spreads?

I know what I'd prefer. STR is not a site I visit often, if at all, for obvious reasons. Calling it a "joke" would be charity because satire actually has value. STR is not satire and has no place in a society that wants to be governed by reason. And therefore, in a perfect world, no one would pay that stinking heap of rubbish any mind, thus removing the necessity behind the Singapore Government's recent actions. In a perfect society, people would be free to choose, and they would choose to give STR the attention it deserves - none.

Time running out.

But this isn't a perfect world, or a perfect society. Far from it. And this is not a situation that allows for a generous margin of error. This is a situation which is dangerously fluid, where time is a luxury.

The Singapore Government did not do the "right" thing. They did the only thing they could, with whatever tools they had. I don't like it, but perhaps it's for the best.

Facebook's reaction

Facebook did not seem altogether too happy about this. In a statement to BBC, their spokesperson said the following.

"We believe orders like this are disproportionate and contradict the government's claim that POFMA would not be used as a censorship tool."

"We've repeatedly highlighted this law's potential for overreach and we're deeply concerned about the precedent this sets for the stifling of freedom of expression in Singapore."

Facebook doesn't have to like Singapore's laws - I'm not sure I'm entirely fond of them myself sometimes - but if Facebook wants to continue operating within Singapore, it is going to have to comply with those laws. There is no room for negotiation there. And if they're not willing to do so, they should feel free to adhere to those fancy principles of Freedom of Expression and forego the 5 million or so user accounts on this island. It's a pittance compared to the few billion they've already foregone in China.

Respect our laws.

I use Facebook without paying a cent. I'm on board with Facebook hitting me with advertisements, monitoring my conversations or tracking whatever I do on their platform. I consider it a fair trade. But I draw a hard, firm line at Facebook having the audacity to even suggest that our laws are wrong.

Whether they are or not, isn't the point. Facebook can shove its "deep concern" somewhere dark and hopefully painful. Facebook is a Social Media platform, and as much as I respect Facebook as a tech entity, the issue of Singapore's "freedom of expression" is something to be decided by Singaporeans, not Americans. Americans may be in love with their own brand of Democracy despite (or because of) the fact that it produced the relentless source of hilarity that is President Donald Trump. They may not have the imagination required to even comprehend how entire societies can choose not to live the way Americans do.

But that's their fucking problem.

Know your place, Facebook.

Just another slow (fake) news day,
T___T

On the new online laws in Singapore...

The proposal of new laws on the Internet stratosphere in sunny (lately, very sunny) Singapore, has been making the rounds. There are people talking about it - lawyers, journalists and activists mostly - and as a web professional I think I should attempt to take an interest in them, i.e, weigh in with my two cents. Though, as it turns out, I can muster only a modicum of interest, and hopefully by the end of this blogpost you'll see why.

Doxxing

The first law concerns doxxing. In case this is new to you, doxxing is the practice of publishing private information about an individual on the Internet without his or her express permission, with the intention to encourage violence or harassment towards this individual. The usual perpetrators being online vigilantes towards perceived deserving targets.

Soon, doxxing will be punishable via fines or jail time. And to that, I have only three words.

About damn time.

Online vigilantism has been a thorn in the side of civilized society in recent years, with aggressors such as SMRT Feedback and their delusions of heroism outing the likes of Jover Chew. While people like Chew most assuredly do not elicit any sympathy from me whatsoever, giving carte blanche to civilians to doxx people is a dangerous practice and should not be encouraged. People and their families have received death threats and worse, from anonymous sources after being doxxed. Worse, some of these are actually cases of mistaken identity!

No civilian should be given the right - legal, ethical or moral - to inflict this treatment on anyone.

Online lynching.

So yes - this proposed amendment to the Protection from Harassment Act gets my unequivocal support. The Internet's a troublesome enough place without lynch mobs and the rabble-rousers that stir them.

In fact, while we're at it, we should also do something about the self-righteous wankers who take pictures of people who offend them in any manner and post them on Social Media and instigate others to shame or pile on those people. While that's not technically doxxing, that's certainly facilitating it.

Fake News

This other one's a little dicey. It concerns the Government's ability to take down fake news.  In this proposed new Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill, the Government gets the authority to issue takedown orders of any post or article that contain what the Government considers false or misleading, to Internet service providers and social media platforms. Facebook and the like will not be able to hide behind their autonomy because they do have to abide by the laws of any nation they do business in.

See a problem with that? The Government decides what warrants a takedown order. In effect, if you put a toe out of line and publish something the Government considers objectionable, there's the possibility that the Government can pretty much fix you, just like that. That seems like an overreach. This has sparked an outcry among activists, and several members of the Government have since stepped up to explain that they're not clamping down on Freedom of Speech, and that criticism, opinion, satire and the like will not be touched by this law, and that they don't intend to abuse this law for their benefit. The thing is, assuming that I believe this current Government, there's no guarantee that future Governments will not abuse this. And sometimes, abuse does not even have to be intentional. All that's needed is for one party to believe that they are using the law as intended, and it's for the greater good, and the slippery slope beckons.

It's no skin off my back, personally. This blog doesn't deal in politics unless politics somehow crosses paths with Internet tech as is its occasional wont. And my readership isn't large enough to scare the incumbent into action. This is pretty much a solid a guarantee as any that I will remain unscathed by this new Bill; because publishing online falsehoods isn't really my style (or intent), and because my words simply don't carry that far. Succinctly put, I'm just not that important, or crazy.

Wish I cared... but I really don't.

But that's not why I find myself markedly apathetic towards this new piece of legislation, even though logically, just as a citizen, I should be concerned. It's more because I've seen what Freedom of Speech does for countries like the good ol' US of A. Batshit crazy Social Justice Warriors abound on Twitter and Facebook. My WhatsApp groups are filled with shared links to outrageously insane rhetoric treated like religious truth. Freedom of Speech is a nice concept and I truly wish people could handle it better. Unfortunately, the likes of The Real Singapore have, in recent times, ably demonstrated that Singaporeans aren't responsible enough to handle that kind of freedom, or smart enough not to be taken in by provocateurs.

What would I prefer - the kind of behavior that's becoming all too commonplace in USA, or a Government-controlled Internet space? Neither outcome is particularly appealing. Whether or not this Bill goes through, there's no result I'll be happy with. As such, I'm having trouble finding enough fucks to give.

In conclusion...

These proposed changes to the law are going to take place, no matter who screams and cries, or how loudly. Considering that other countries already have their own laws that lead to Internet censorship, it's really rather surprising that a country as supposedly draconian as Singapore has taken this long to join the crowd.

Sure, protest. Let it out. And if you really gotta do it online, do it now, while you can. Go sign those Internet petitions, make a bombastic Facebook post or something. Express your dismay and displeasure. Very soon, you may not be able to - legally, at least.

This is one God-(l)awful development,
T___T

The Sixth Pillar of Total Defence

As of the middle of this month, Digital Defence has officially become the sixth pillar of Singapore's Total Defence framework. The Government had spoken about this in 2018, outlining the need to take cyber-threats and disinformation seriously.

Total Defence

The Total Defense framework is a framework for an all-round defense against threats to the country, and encompasses the following aspects or "pillars". For some context, here's a brief outline.

Military Defence. Our army, navy and air force guard us against external threats such as foreign invasion. Male citizens are expected to perform National Service, and females are encouraged to be supportive or sign up for the military themselves.

Civil Defence. Our police, medical personnel and firefighters protect us in times of crisis. Citizens are taught how to react during emergencies and to stay alert at all times.

Economic Defence. Ensuring a strong economy to maintain stability and good infrastructure. Citizens are expected to remain productive while embracing lifelong learning and constantly upgrading skillsets to better meet the needs of the economy, spend within their means and invest wisely.

Social Defence. Ensuring that Singaporeans live in harmony, build strong bonds and stand united in the face of a threat, and stay vigilant against attempts to undermine the social fabric of society. (Phew, what a mouthful). Examples include guarding against fake news or malicious rumors designed to divide Singapore along racial, religious or political lines, welcoming new citizens and helping them assimilate into our culture, and so on.

Psychological Defence. Developing strength of will and resilience, to build our ability to bounce back after a setback; to understand Singapore's history and appreciate how she got where she is today.

The sixth pillar - Digital Defence

This new pillar basically entails developing the expertise to guard against cyber-terrorism, fake news and other computer-based threats. This came about after Singapore was beset by some high-profile data breaches in the past year and beyond.

This seems rather unnecessary. While I appreciate and fully endorse the reasoning behind this move, as a tech professional, I can't agree with its implementation. The average non-techie whose interaction with technology is pretty much limited to using Facebook to view cat pictures and hailing cab rides on Grab, may be impressed and think that the Government has got this under control. I have my reservations.

Do we need a sixth finger?

For one, I've always thought of Total Defence as a hand with five fingers - each pillar representing a finger. Now we're going to have a sixth finger (A Digit-al aspect, geddit? Hur hur) and this pretty much screws with my mental model. But as quibbles go, this is a relatively minor one.

There's potential for huge backfire. Making Digital Defence the sixth pillar was merely a declaration of intent. Are we confident enough, given everything that has happened up to this point, that we can continue to safeguard against cyber-attacks, and actually back this up? We're going to be mightily embarrassed if we get successfully attacked again after this.

A huge target.

The Government needs to remember that these are hackers they are dealing with, not any other run-of-the-mill class of criminal. Some criminals may be deterred by the presence of numerous armed guards and a padlock, and seek easier gains elsewhere. Hackers aren't necessarily motivated by profit. They're also motivated by the challenge, and in some cases, the need to see the world burn. A visible and high-profile declaration of intent like this Sixth Pillar, only serves to paint a great big nigh-irresistable bulls-eye on our backs.

But for my biggest quibble...

This Sixth Pillar business feels awkward and tacked-on, and is uncannily reminiscent of some backward practices I've observed in companies I've worked in. Some companies don't really understand technology. They see it as something their competitors have, and therefore, to keep up with the Joneses, it's something they've got to have too. This usually manifests in the form of a separate IT Department alongside Logistics, Accounts and what-have-you.

Tacked on.

The problem here is that these companies who set up the IT Department within their organization, see technology as a separate aspect. The rest of the organization is still filled with clueless dinosaurs who can barely operate their email accounts and need help creating reports on spreadsheets. The staff don't have a good understanding of technology, what it can accomplish, what it can't accomplish, and don't have the know-how to keep the company operating using the technological infrastructure to its fullest.

Just like Digital Defence being a separate sixth pillar alongside all the other pillars. See the parallel here?

What should Singapore do, then?

Make Digital Defence part of Military, Civil, Economic, Social and Psychological Defence. For Military Defence, the SAF is already doing this with their Cyber Defence School. The Government released the SGSecure app for Civil Defence. Guarding against fake news is already part of Social Defence. For Economic Defence, train citizens in computer know-how and how to recognize phishing attempts and online scams.

Technology has to be part and parcel of all aspects of Total Defence. Integrate Digital Defence into everything. It is not, and should not be considered, a separate aspect.

Remember, there's a part for everyone!
T___T

Data Theft at SingHealth

Sometime yesterday evening, Singapore was the recipient of unwelcome news. Suspicious server activity had been detected about two weeks ago on 4th July, with the personal and medical records of roughly 1.5 million people in SingHealth's database stolen. That's right; while Americans were celebrating their Independance Day, Singapore was experiencing the most serious breach of data security in her history.

What this means for you, is that if you had visited any Polyclinic or Government Hospital / Medical Facility as a patient recently (say, in the past few years), there's a chance that your personal and medical records are in someone else's grubby little hands now. My mother and some of my colleagues have already reported receiving an SMS from from SingHealth informing them of such.

According to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, his own medical data had also been targetted "specifically and repeatedly". This basically implies that it was a deliberate attack and not something your neighborhood kiddy script user would do on a lark.

The Good News

Records were accessed, but not doctored (pun intended). Your ongoing treatments and billing aren't affected. (Though if your treatment is remarkably expensive, you may not consider this good news.)

Since kicking the cyberattacker out of the system on Jul 4, further attacks were observed but no further data were illegally stolen, the ministries said, adding there was no disruption of healthcare services during the period of the cyberattack and patient care has not been compromised.

The above was reported by ChannelNewsAsia. Shit standard of English aside, (what the holy fuck does "illegally stolen" mean? As opposed to what? Having it stolen legally? Get lost, you knobs.), the Government isn't simply sweeping this incident under the carpet and hoping no one will notice, and is taking this seriously.

The Bad News

Your personal records such as name, NRIC and residential addresses were stolen. If there are any online systems out there that merely require a name and NRIC for registration, you may or may not find yourself the victim of identity theft. If you have the particularly bad habit of using your NRIC number as your email password, now would be a great time to change it.

Phishing attacks are also a distinct possibility with the data stolen. Think someone sending you requests for more data using the stolen data of someone you may know and trust... the possibilities are endless. In particular, imagine someone asking for some information about your bank account, and being armed with details like your NRIC, date of birth and telephone number.

What does this mean for Singapore?

From the perspective of being attacked, this is but a drop in the ocean. Not to trivialize the event, but Government agencies all over the world get cyber-attacked constantly and Singapore is no exception. Something was bound to get through eventually. The important thing is to be able to respond and recover swiftly. The world isn't going to end tomorrow just because of this. The average man in the street shouldn't be too worried, though people in the departments of our Government's cyber-security certainly should be.

Be vigilant, paranoid even, and don't make the mistake of thinking something is safe simply because it's stored by the Government. That's one of the first places they attack.

From the perspective of being successfully attacked, it's time to think of what would happen if the attackers had gone for, say, our military database instead. You can't take anything for granted these days, and this latest incident is testament to that.

Stay healthy,
T___T

Fiction Review: The Millennium Series (Part 4/4)

And now we come to the final (so far) book in the series. This struck me as an unnecessary continuation of what was already a series with a satisfying conclusion, but given that Larsson actually had more novels planned out, this may not be a bad thing.

I didn't like this newest addition very much, but this is my opinion and I may be biased here. There are plenty of things to like about it, though for me, the cons far outweigh the pros.

The Premise

Lisbeth Salander, Ronald Neidermann and Alexander Zalachenko are not the only badasses in the family - there's also Lisbeth's twin Camilla Salander and she turns out to be every bit the villain their father was. She sets up The Spider Society which has illegal dealings with the NSA, and only the team of Lisbeth and Mikael are able to stop them.

The entire novel begins with Frans Balder reclaiming his autistic child August from his estranged wife. Chapters later, Frans is murdered and Mikael, who is at the scene of the crime, begins to do what he does best - investigate and report.

Along the way, he discovers that Lisbeth has had dealings with certain associates of Frans.

Meanwhile, August has seen the murderer's face, and the Spider Society is determined to stop the boy before he can give the murderer away to the police. Lisbeth steps in to save the day, and it's a desperate race to keep August alive and unharmed until he can finally put a face to the hitman.

The Characters

These characters play a major role.

August Balder. A strangely gifted child. The story revolves around him and his gifts. Lisbeth sees in him a kindred spirit, mostly because for most of the first three novels she was pretty awkward herself due to her abilities.

Camilla Salander. Lisbeth's twin, and possibly the most evil foe she's had to face to date. While their father Zalachenko was also an evil bastard, he was mostly ruthless and pragmatic. Camilla seems to inflict torture for the sheer pleasure of it, psychologically tormenting her victims through seduction and emotional manipulation.

Edwin Needham, or "Ed the Ned". Started life as a young thug but became a computer genius later on in life and took on the role as NSA's chief cyber-security tech. Aggressive, loud and a bully, but undeniably good at what he does, and admirably dedicated to his craft.

Frans Balder. A socially awkward computer nerd who also happens to be the genius who invents some artificial intelligence that someone wants to steal. He's also portrayed as an anxious father who's somewhat clumsy with his affections.

Jan Holtser. The hitman. Ex-military. Deeply conflicted. While he's a stone-cold killer, he struggles with his conscience when ordered to kill August Baldur.

Lisbeth Salander. She is somehow more action figure than super-hacker in this tale, though plenty is mentioned about her computer wizardry and cyber coups. Just as awesome as ever.

Mikael Blomkvist. Our ever-intrepid journalist who finds himself in the thick of things once more. At the start of the novel, he's in the midst of a professional crisis, having run out of compelling material and finding himself up against the challenges of emerging technology. What he needs is some motivation... and unexpectedly he's handed a huge chunk of it after witnessing Frans Balder's murder.

List of supporting characters...

Andrei Zander. A young, handsome aspiring journalist with the soul of a poet. Earnest and geeky, which endears him to the staff at The Millennium despite his lack of journalistic experience. Meets a tragic end at the hands of the Spider Society.

Gabriella Grane. Analyst at the Security Police. Pretty and wholesome. Faces some misogyny at work but lets her performance speak for itself.

Hanna Westman. Actress and Frans Balder's ex-wife, mother of August. An abused woman who has long lost the courage to break away from her abuser. Tries to cover it up with glamor, but one gets the distinct impression that her life is both hollow and miserable.

Lasse Westman. An bullying abusive drunk, rather dim and prone to fits of impulse. An actor who portrays, rather fittingly, dangerous and violent characters on-screen. Gets his ass pounded by Lisbeth in a carthatic moment near the end.

Ove Levin. A corporate stooge who used to be an aspiring journalist just like Mikael - except Mikael made it while Ove sold out. Now Ove desperately tries to convince himself that he's happy and wouldn't give up what he has for whatever Mikael's got, but the truth is that he's terrible jealous and insecure. When he fails to gain Mikael's approval, he resorts to trying to destroy him by making moves on The Millennium.

Supporting characters who play  a less prominent role.

Arvis Wrange. One of Frans Baldur's proteges. He betrays Frans Baldur for money, and this leads to Balder's death. His guilty conscience catches up to him in the form of Lisbeth Salander, who first gives his ego a severe beating by trashing him soundly at chess.  A deeply insecure man who masks it through misogyny and excessive pride.

Farah Sharif. She serves to provide some insight as to what Baldur had been working on. And also serves as a love interest for Bublanski, which was cute. Described as an elderly but very attractive woman, which made me afraid that she'd end up having sex with Mikael.

Jan Bublanski. One of my favorite characters in the series makes it to this novel! Here, he's good ol' crusading Officer Bubble, and he does a good bit of poking around. Near the end of the novel, there's even an endearing bit about a blossoming relationship between him and Farah Sharif. "It's just a date". Hah!

Jurij Bogdanov. Street punk and drug addict turned computer genius. A hard luck turnaround story except that he still works for the bad guys and loves it, the little sociopath.

Linus Brandell. He is Blomkvist's initial contact and provides the first inkling that Lisbeth is involved. Comes off as nerdy and awkward, which really hits home after he describes his initial meeting with Lisbeth.

Sonja Modig. Little part in the story, except to argue with Mikael on matters of police procedure. And be the good cop to Officer Bubble's bad cop. Sort of.

Here are the characters who play a very minor role or likely did not even need to be in this novel.

Alona Casales. A middle-aged temptress with a seductive voice and an attraction towards Gabriella Grane. Great buddies with Needham because she sees him as a kindred spirit.

Professor Charles Edelman. A Hungarian authority on the subject of  neurology.

Dan Flinck. Police Officer sent to watch over Frans and August. A divorcee experiencing the good bachelor life again. Does not come off as particularly competent.

Einar Forsberg. At Oden's, taking care of August. Infatuated with Hanna Westman.

Erik Zetterlund. Leader of the investigating team on duty from the Violent Crimes Division on the night of Frans Balder's murder. Not particularly self-assured and seems rather harried at the situation.

Erika Berger. Has little more than a bit part to play. She passes the odd message and runs The Millennium. That's about it.

Helena Kraft. Gabriella's boss. Well-starched, not a hair out of place. Gabriella first suspects her of being a mole, but this turns out to be a red herring. Not much of a personality, all in all.

Holger Palmgren. Has little to do in this story but act as exposition for more of Lisbeth Salander's backround. He and Mikael seemed to have formed some kind of bond in this novel, possibly through the harrowing experiences of The Millennium series. Much as I love this character, his presence was really superfluous.

Plague. More tales of how he and Lisbeth break into computer systems and hack their way to awesomeness.

Jacob Charro. A football player for Syrian FC. He is the driver of the car that Lisbeth hijacks to get August to safety, and later gives an accounting of the tale to the authorities. His description of Jan Holtser is particularly interesting.

Margereta Dalhgren. A woman who has endured a tragic past thanks to Camille. Her story is heartbreaking and really underlines how psychotically evil Camille is.

Obinze. Boxing gym owner. Flirts with Lisbeth shamelessly and is even a little in awe of her single-minded focus and determination.

Peter Blom. Police Officer sent to watch over Frans and August. Almost identical to Flinck, except that he's portrayed with very human fear.

Richard Ekström. As self-centered and pragmatic as ever. Dreads having to deal with Blomkvist again after the events of the previous two novels,

Roger Winter. Another small-time actor who physically abuses August with Lasse Westman's encouragement. Also gets his ass kicked by Lisbeth.

Torkel Linden. At Oden's. Short and prissy. Pugnacious when dealing with Jan Bublanski. And very uncooperative until Sonia Modig does the negotiating.

The Mood

Mostly surreal and disquieting. Even the moments where blood gets spilled just seem to happen in slow motion. At the end of it, one gets the sense that very little has significantly changed - Baldur's murderer is brought to justice, but Lisbeth's evil twin and The Spider Society escape, presumably to wreak more havoc another day.

The mood rarely changes. The pace of the story remains somewhat constant throughout.

What I liked

Tech elements. They're simply more pronounced in this novel, with a few computer nerds among the characters that don't come from Hacker Republic. Lagencratz actually does a far better job in this department than Larsson.

Mikael's studliness. I know this is something I complained about in the previous novels, and I'm glad it's been toned down.

We finally meet Lisbeth's evil twin. Right on! She tries to seduce Mikael but fails. That's pretty awesome in itself.

I liked seeing August's abusive stepfather get his arse kicked by Lisbeth. Very satisfying.

The plot's pretty lean - some might say too lean, but I see this as a good thing. Less pointless subplots, more focus.

What I didn't

Mikael's studliness. Not only was it toned down, it was removed from the story. David Lagencratz himself confessed that it never made sense to him to have beautiful women falling for Mikael out of nowhere (for the record, I agree), and so he just never wrote it into the story. Now, this is where I disagree. For better or worse, this is part of the character of Mikael Blomkvist now and has been established over the course of three novels. I could accept it if the new, non-womanizing Mikael was a result of character growth, but no - that aspect of the character was simply retconned. If Lagencratz found that he was unable to bring himself to write the character the way the original character wrote him, why the hell did he even agree to do this novel? Was the money that good?

Established facts in the previous novels just got written off with no explanation whatsoever. Whatever happened to Monica Figuerola? Wasn't she and Mikael in a serious relationship? What about Sonja Modig? Since when was Modig a single parent? This is just sloppy and disrespectful.

Character overload. There was a somewhat plausible excuse for this in The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, as characters accumulated from the first two novels and many were vital to the events conclusion, though, in my opinion, it was still overdone. Here, it's a fresh new storyline and very little baggage from previous novels. However, David Lagercrantz seems determined to match the character count from The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, for no discernible reason. Characters are introduced seemingly on a whim and have effects on the plot that could easily be carried out by an existing character. Take Einar Forsberg and Torkel Linden, for example. Was it necessary to introduce two characters at Oden's just to provide obstacles to Officle Bubble and Sonja Modig? Or Dan Flinck and Peter Blom. It was over-indulgent. What is this, some kind of pissing contest to see who can come up with more characters?

Some parts, from the NSA's spying on civilians to the loud bullying Needham, seem distinctively borrowed from Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. Ran out of ideas, Lagercrantz?

Conclusion

I'm sure David Lagercrantz is a fine author in his own right, perhaps an even better novelist than Steig Larsson. I'm just not sure he was the correct choice to carry on Larsson's legacy. The contrast in style was jarring in places. The Millennium Series was far from perfect, but despite its eccentricities, or more probably because of them, they had their distinct charm. This charm is missing from The Girl in the Spider's Web.

Part of the problem could be the fact that Larsson's characters were not created by Lagercrantz, and it shows. Apart from Lisbeth and arguably Jan Bublanski (who was a supporting character anyway), he can't seem to grasp the essence of most of the existing characters, but does considerably better when describing new characters.

Oh well, this was always going to be a thankless task.

My Rating

6 / 10

What a story. What a girl-minator.
T___T

Fiction Review: The Millennium Series (Part 3/4)

This is the final novel that Larsson wrote before his death, and it wraps up the story arc while elaborating on certain plot points from the previous novel, such as Zalachenko's beginnings and Lisbeth's incarceration in a mental facility as a child. There's a lot of detail to add more substance to the background, not that it was lacking to begin with - the previous novel certainly had a fair bit of exposition.

The Premise

We carry on with the events from the last novel, with Lisbeth Salander's life hanging in the balance. We learn how a secret division (known as "The Section") within Sweden's Secret Police (Säpo) was behind Zalachenko and the mastermind behind Lisbeth's misfortunes since childhood. The plot mostly centers around them trying to get rid of the evidence of their existence, and the people who know too much - namely Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander.

Here, Mikael and Lisbeth truly shine as they each best The Section in their own way - Mikael with devious cunning and Lisbeth with more of her computer wizardry.

Lisbeth, on the other hand, gets justice at last as her case makes it to Court, and the nefarious details are exposed.

The Characters

The main players around whom the story revolves.

Alexander Zalachenko. A sinister presence, albeit heavily injured. Comes across as tough as nails, and ruthless to boot. There's an interesting segment where he's being interviewed by Bublanski's team, and is far more agreeable to Holmberg than he is towards Modig. Ultimately, his overconfidence does him in as his former allies kill him off in a bid to cover things up.

Annika Giannini. Blomkvist's younger sister has been confined to bit parts so far in this series. Not in this novel. She is Lisbeth's defence counsel, and boy, does she deliver. Not only does she successfully ward off an assassination attempt midway through the novel by Evert Gullberg, she also successfully takes Teleborian apart in court and thoroughly defeats Ekström, after lulling them into complacency and allowing them to underestimate her.

Erika Berger. A strong woman who is faced with a chauvinistic work culture. She handles office politics like a pro, but finds herself severely tested by an obsessed stalker. The main storyline doesn't involve her all that much, but she's certainly the main player in one of the tangential story arcs.

Evert Gullberg. A Säpo veteran who sacrifices his own life in a bid to silence Zalachenko and bury the entire story. A semi-tragic figure who does a lot of fucked-up shit in service to his country.

Fredrik Clinton. Shrewed and ruthless. Decisive and pragmatic. Gullberg's successor, who retired due to health complications. The situation is dire enough that Gullberg decides Clinton needs to be brought back, and Clinton wastes no time grabbing the situation by the horns.

Lisbeth Salander. We get more naunced insights into Lisbeth's character - her awkwardness when forced to interact like a normal human being, her vulnerability and the sheet strength it must take for her to have endured so much up to this point, but still continue fighting.

Still ever the badass, but with many more layers and a certain vulnerability. We see a lot of that in her interaction with Annika.

Mikael Blomkvist. In this novel, Mikael exhibits an unprcedented amount of cunning - way more than the last two novels suggested he was capable of. I mean, we already knew he was smart and resourceful, but here, he hatches a plot to outsmart the Section and generally shows the outstanding nerve and boldness to pull off something like that. The best thing? He does it out of friendship, and a desire to see justice done.

Here we have the characters who don't play as prominent a role, but nevertheless are pretty damn important to the storyline.

Dr Anders Jonasson. A conscientious doctor who describes himself as a goalkeeper standing between emergency victims and the funeral home. Drew comparisons to Dr Sivarnardan in the previous novel. Larsson must have run out of names.

Dragan Armansky. He is quite instrumental in this story. Not only does he use the resources at his disposal to ensure that Milton Security's protection is extended to Team Salander, his friendship with Edklinth is how Team Salander obtains enough evidence against The Section. He also turns out to be a fair boss despite his reputation for being a stickler for the rules, giving Suzanne Linder a mild ticking off after she grossly violated the rules in order to protect Erika.

At the end of the novel, he admits to Blomkvist that he was jealous of the easy friendship between him and Lisbeth.

Holger Palmgren. He gets an expanded role here as part of Lisbeth's defence team during the trial and the parts in which he does get to speak are brilliant, considering he only just recovered from a stroke.

Inspector Monica Figuerola. An amazon of a government agent, she is an exercise freak and has a body to match. She's also pretty upfront about her sexuality and is the aggressor when her sexual relationship with Mikael begins. Near the end of the novel, she is portrayed with emotional vulnerability as she (gasp!) falls in love with Mikael, losing her cool on a few occasions (jealousy when meeting Erika, franticness when Mikael's life is in danger, etc)

Jan Bublanski. The good inspector here is fair and just as in the last book. He has been taken off the investigation but he doesn't intend to let that keep him from pursuing the truth and obtaining justice for Lisbeth, whom he's now convinced is innocent.

Even after he and his team have been bumped off the case, he continues to work on it, putting his career on the line in pursuit of truth and justice.

Dr Peter Teleborian. Utterly corrupt and evil, and being a paedophile is just the icing on top of a thoroughly rotten cake. He's the man who The Section got to put Lisbeth away in a mental facility and falsify her psychiatric evaluation. In short, he's directly responsible for a large portion of Lisbeth's misfortunes growing up. Gets his comeuppance in the end, in a sweet turn of karmic justice, when Lisbeth hacks into his computer and turns over all the child porn within, to the police.

Richard Ekström. More is revealed about the prosecutor. He's portrayed as an egomaniac and gloryhound who is susceptible to flattery and too convinced of his own importance. This leads to him being manipulated by The Section.

I liked the character here. He's one of the few character who is an utter asshole, and yet his fatal flaw isn't a hatred of women, but rather that of vanity.

Sofia Modig. The only woman on Bublanski's team. More of her personality is revealed in this novel as a compassionate cop who is willing to flout the legal obligations of her role in order to uphold justice.

A list of minor supporting characters, of which there are many.

Birger Wadensjoo. In contrast with Clinton, he is weak and indecisive. More of a bureaucrat than a leader. The old guard consider him a brilliant and talented accountant, but "a warrior who needs a fair wind". Becomes increasingly disillusioned with The Section as the novel progresses. Finally caves in at the end and sings like a bird when arrested.

Curt Andersson. A towering cop with a reputation for excessive violence. He gets his moment in the sun when he rescues Mikael from a hitman, ironically breaking Mikael's finger in the process.

He praises Sonja midway through the novel, and this surprises her, leading one to think that Curt is very sparing with this sort of thing.

Gunnar Bjorcke. This novel reveals him to be part of the team that kept Zalachenko's existence under wraps. He is killed off midway through the story as the team starts tying off loose ends.

Hans Faste. We see more of him, and this time he comes off as bumbling and ham-fisted in addition to being a misogynist.

Henry Cortez. A young enthusiastic reporter who sniffs out a very interesting story which ultimately plays into Erika's drama at the SMP.

Judge Jörgen Iversen. He's a senior judge who has been round the block a few times. This case, however, takes him by surprise and it takes every ounce of impartiality, fair-mindedness and expertise to see it through to a satisfying conclusion. To his credit, he's visibly appalled at all the things Lisbeth has been put through, but does not allow it to interfere with due process.

Jonas Sandberg. Described derisively by both Zalachenko and Gullberg as wet behind the years. Certainly does not seem forceful enough as a member of a very covert section of the government. Appears to find his feet after assisting with some killings, and even gets a little too eager about it. Gets put in his place by Monica Figuerola near the end of the novel.

Jerker Holmberg. Gets to do something useful in this novel, that actually moves the plot along. He just happens to know the ex-Prime Minister who could shed light on the case.

Peter Fredriksson. SMP employee. He turns out to be Erika's stalker and it's due to an irrational feeling of being ostracized by her during their school years. A sad, sad man who needs help.

Plague. Does more work for Lisbeth during her stay at the hospital. Their work dynamic is interesting and it's a pity he was not featured in a more prominent role.

The current Prime Minister. Calm, collected, and disturbed at all the occurrences of abuse of power under his watch. In his words, they have been "caught napping". Portrayed as having an uncanny political mind, enough to realize that the government's hands are tied regarding Salander. According to the law, she has to be acquitted by court.

Superintendent Torsten Edklinth. Of Säpo, director of the Constitution Protection Unit. An old friend of Armansky's and Monica Figuerola's superior at work. The character himself is rather colorless, coming off as an experienced veteran with a soon-to-retire vibe. Later, we find out that his cautious attitude is due to this being a potentially very politically sensitive case.

Suzanne Linder. An employee of Milton Security. There's some fascinating backstory about how she decided to stop being a cop and work for Milton Security instead, out of a strong sense of justice. She takes matters into her own hands to protect Erika, above and beyond the call of duty, resulting in a total takedown of Erika's tormentor.

Here's the overwhelming list of bit-part players in the novel who are mentioned a few times. I've also included characters who I feel were unnecessary to the plot, or pretty much just made up the numbers. I may have missed out a few.

Anders Holm. A news editor at the SMP who resents Erika's presence and does everything in his power to defy her. Portrayed as extraordinarily competent but egoistic and rather immature. Seems to have gained a lot of respect for Erika by the time she leaves SMP. (Yes, another Anders).

Anita Kaspersson. A nurse who gets captured by Neidermann and only after a lot of suffering, manages to get away.

Carl-Magnus Lundin. President of the Svavelsjö MC. Everything comes crashing down around him when he finds out that Ronald Neidermann stole the club's money and murdered the accountant.

Bertil Janeryd. Swedish Ambassador. He supplies information about Zalachenko and The Section, upon a written request from the former Prime Minister.

Assistant County Police Chief  Carina Spångberg. Featured near the start of the novel as a competent leader, but never mentioned again.

Prof Frank Ellis. A brain specialist whom Jonasson enlists to help with his surgery on Lisbeth. Affable and laid-back.

Frank Jenssen. A temp reporter who gets his news from Hans Faste. He gets a lesson in journalistic integrity by Erika, but seems far more amenable to taking instructions than most other men at SMP.

Georg Nyström. A member of The Section, and his role seems to primarily be someone for Clinton to bounce ideas off of, after Gullberg is killed off.

Idris Ghidi. Other than some backstory, he's given little of importance to do in the tale except help facilitate Lisbeth's Internet access.

Jeremy MacMillan Stuart. He is Lisbeth's lawyer, a divorcee and gay man recently out of the closet. According to Lisbeth, he's brilliant but acts in stupid ways that fuck up his life. She gives him a second chance at life, allowing him to be the caretaker and investor for all the money she stole in the first novel. At the end of it, he even offers her some advice regarding Miriam Wu.

Kurdo Baksi. Editor of Black/White Publishing an an old friend of Blomkvist. He's the one who introduces Idris Ghidi to Blomkvist, and plays no further part in the tale.

Magnus Borgsjö. Erika reports to him at SMP. She's put in a difficult position when she uncovers some evidence of wrongdoing on his part. He comes across as magnanimous and benevolent at first, but rapidly turns into an arrogant and haughty bastard when confronted with evidence on his misbehavior.

Criminal Inspector Marcus Erlander. While he's not Jewish, his description and calm and fair-minded demeanor resemble Jan Bublanski. Apparently, they are friends.

The Minister of Justice. Advises the Prime Minister regarding matters of law, but otherwise his presence seems superfluous.

Miriam Wu. She is briefly reunited with Lisbeth at the end of the story and it's implicated that they have some make up sex (of course).

Miro and Timo Nikolich. Fugitives frm the law and assassins hired to off Blomkvist. Timo gets arrested by Figuerola and Miro gets the snot kicked out of him by Andersson in a very thrilling sequence.

Sonny Nieminen. Member of the Svavelsjö MC. After his humiliating defeat at Lisbeth's hands, he is obsessed with vengeance. As far as this story goes, he never gets it.

Inspector Thomas Paulsson. A bumbling idiot who makes very questionable decisions. The story later reveals that he has some kind of drug habit.

The Mood

Tense. Really tense. We get the impression that everything's on an extremely tight schedule and the slightest misstep could cost everything. It all comes to a head in the courtroom.

The heavy action in the previous novel has been somewhat toned down to make way for political intrigue and courtroom drama. The plotting and machinations of The Section are laid bare to the reader, and there is a fair amount of flashback time as we explore the motivations of the villains.

What I liked

I felt a minor moment of awesome when Officer Bubble stood up to Ekstrom early in the novel, declaring that Lisbeth appeared to have suffered numerous violations to her civil rights since her childhood, and he's not about to let that continue - not on his watch.

I expected to hate the entire Mikael-Monica affair as yet another cringe-worthy testament to Mikael's sexual prowess, but funnily enough, I kind of liked it. Added some soft touches to what might otherwise been an overly tense thriller.

The meetings with the Prime Minister were great, showcasing Mikael's slickness at negotiation.

I really loved the parts where Lisbeth logs in to Hacker Republic (and the awesome login sequence! Damn!) and interacts with her fellow hackers, even engaging some of them for assistance.

The entire courtroom scene. Here Anna Gianninni displays the steel under the velvety exterior and fights Lisbeth's case superbly. And after that, the interaction between her and Lisbeth is touching in the extreme. Lisbeth has come to trust Annika and feel grateful for her support, but can't quite bring herself to express it.

Lisbeth facing off against her murderous half-brother and playing off the MC against him to a bloody finale. This is one hell of a scrapper.

Even the villains are somewhat admirable - focused and resolute, and sacrificing their lives for a cause they truly believe in. Unlike Martin Vanger who's an evil rapist and murderer, or Zalachenko, who's just a horrible asshole.

What I didn't

The character overload - holy shit, what was up with that? This was the hardest novel in the series to read, simply because of the sheer amount of characters interacting with each other. More than half of the characters from the first and second novel make an appearance, along with a whole host of new ones.

Erika's sideplot involving SMP and her stalker weren't too bad, but they had absolutely nothing to do with the main plot and added a bunch of extraneous characters to the already overbrimming cast. Still, this has something to do with The Millennium, and I guess the series is called The Millennium Series, not The Lisbeth Salander Show.

Also, what's with these little asides about Amazon culture and history? They sure didn't do anything but confuse me.

Conclusion

This is the exciting finale to Lisbeth Salander's story. It's been building up the past two novels, and the final one which Larsson released before his death, definitely lives up to its billing. It's not my favorite in the series - that honor belongs to its predecessor, The Girl Who Played With Fire - but it is a fitting conclusion to the arc.

My Rating

8 / 10

Next

The Girl In The Spider's Web

Fiction Review: The Millennium Series (Part 1/4)

The Millennium Series is a best-selling series of novels - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - written by Stieg Larsson, a Swedish writer who died in 2004. The most recent addition, The Girl In The Spider's Web, was written by David Lagercrantz.

The storyline revolves around the adventures of two people - a journalist and a computer hacker. The computer hacker, also the titular "girl" in the series titles, has since captured the imagination of readers worldwide and taken on, through sheer force of personality, a life of her own. And it's this hacker who so defines and drives the plot of The Millennium Series so much that I feel justified in adding a review in a tech blog. The Millennium Series, on the other hand, is actually named after a publication of which one of the lead characters, Mikael Blomkvist, is part owner. This publication stays in the background of the story, playing a significant role in several plot points - not just in this novel but in all of them.

Warning: Many spoilers ahead, possibly incorrect spelling and a lot of violence.

The books have been around for a while and the ending won't be much of a surprise. Still, how the books approach the ending is just as important, and I'll avoid giving too much away in that regard.

Since this series is set in Sweden, the names of people and places inevitably include accented characters. I might get some of those wrong, so bear with me.

Also, be warned. There's a whole lot of rape in this novel. Copious amounts of violence, sexual or otherwise, visited upon the characters. A lot of it is in the backstory and forms the basis of the investigation that characterizes this book, but there's plenty of rape outside of the main storyline as well.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in the series, and arguably the one with the most stand-alone plot. There are a few references that will become relevant in the overarching storyline that spans the sequels, such as obscure mentions of "All The Evil" and the fact that Lisbeth has a twin.

The storyline is intriguing and detailed. Sometimes too detailed - the descriptions tend to descend into minutia such as depictions of life in Sweden and explanations of certain laws and ordinances which made my eyes glaze over, contributing to the occasionally plodding pace of the plot. But this also seems to serve as a contrast to the parts where the story suddenly picks up the pace and something dramatic happens.

There's not a lot of detailed tech mentioned in this first book - most of the juicier tech stuff is in the other novels. Still, when it does happen, it's usually through Lisbeth's perspective and comes off as friggin' awesome no matter how minor the moment is.

The Premise

Henrik Vanger's granddaughter Harriet has been missing for many years and presumed dead. Henrik is convinced that she has been murdered and hires Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist, to find the murderer. While investigating the case, Blomkvist enlists the help of Lisbeth Salander, a world-class hacker. Together, they blow the lid off a decades-old series of unsolved murder cases.

The Characters

The main players in the storyline...

Erika Berger. Part-owner/Editor-in-chief of The Millenium. An ultra-competent woman who has a deep friendship (platonic and sexual, but not romantic) with Blomkvist, an open relationship with her husband and has been described as having a way around older gentlemen when she is first introduced to Henrik Vanger. Most of the time, we see her as a company leader in crisis management mode, enduring huge amounts of stress due to the fallout over the lawsuit at the beginning of the novel.

Henrik Vanger. Former CEO of Vanger Corporation, he is retired. A rather tragic figure; an old man who's built an industrial empire but seems destined to grow old and alone. He despises most of his relatives (with good reason, they're pretty horrible people) but appears to be a man who inspires loyalty from his employees.

Lisbeth Salander. An investigation specialist with world-class hacking skills and a photographic memory. She suffers from trust issues and Asperger's Syndrome. Has no compunction against killing and torture in self-defence. She exhibits a violent streak a mile wide and can be chillingly detached when plotting someone's death. When the story begins, she's in her mid-twenties, but due to a boyish figure and her height, she appears to be in her teens. Has been described as an ultra-violent version of Pippi Longstocking.

If Mikael could be considered sexually promiscuous, Lisbeth is equally so, if not doubly (due to the fact that she's bisexual). This actually becomes relevant early on when it's used against her as part of her negative image, which makes her reluctant to depend on the authorities when she is being victimized.

Martin Vanger. The current CEO of Vanger Corporation. Portrayed as a chunky, mild-mannered and pleasant, if slightly in over his head in his position. He's also one of the few family members that Henrik thinks well of. It's only near the end of the novel where it's revealed what an utterly depraved monster he truly is.

Mikael Blomkvist. One of the lead characters in the story, he is part-owner of The Millennium and is painted as a conscientious and passionate journalist with ironclad ethics. A natural charmer and ladies' man, albeit a middle-aged one. He is also mentioned to be one of the few people that Lisbeth actually feels at ease with.

Mikael is also portrayed as something of a man-slut who doesn't really believe in monogamy. This will become somewhat more relevant as the series progresses.

Nils Bjurman. An attorney who is appointed as Lisbeth's legal guardian after her first guardian, Holger, collapses from a stroke. At first, he is depicted as an oily and creepy fellow with a superiority complex. As the story progresses, the truth is far more horrifying - beneath that condescending demeanor, he is a violent sadist on a power trip, with dark sexual urges.

The following characters play an extensive supporting role.

Cecilia Vanger. A schoolteacher in her mid-fifties, she is described as attractive (Erika refers to her as "Miss Big Tits" at one point). She is Henrik's niece and Harald's daughter. There's a nice little bit of backstory in the novel describing her relationship with her father and brother. Has a brief but passionate affair with Mikael during the course of his investigation.

Dirche Frode. Henrik's lawyer, and his right-hand man. One gets the sense that there's very little Frode dowan't handle for Henrik, which speaks volumes of the tremendous amount of trust and respect between these two men. Seems to dismiss Lisbeth upon meeting her for the first time, but recovers quickly and re-evaluates her without bias. Even recommends her to Mikael later on.

Dragan Armansky. Directory of Milton Security, he is Lisbeth's boss, having accepted a recommendation by Holger Palmgren. Described as diligent and competent, but somewhat old-fashioned and autocratic. He learns early on that Lisbeth will take none of his shit, but is open-minded enough to realize that he has vastly underestimated her abilities and she could possibly be the best investigator on his payroll. Finds himself attracted to Lisbeth and is astonished to learn from Lisbeth that the feeling is mutual - but because Lisbeth has certain rules against sleeping with colleagues, it will never be acted on. Gets insanely jealous of Mikael when introduced to him later on, because Mikael seems to get along with Lisbeth so effortlessly.

These characters either have very brief mentions or appear mostly toward the tail end of the story.

Agneta Salander. Mother to Lisbeth. Lisbeth obviously loves her mother, but tragically, she keeps mistaking Lisbeth for her twin sister Camilla. Tragically dies midway through the novel.

Anita Vanger. Cecilia's sister. bears a striking resemblance to Harriet, and it is revealed near the end of the novel how she aided Harriet in her escape.

Birger Vanger. A pompous ass, brother of Cecilia and Anita Vanger. Identifies with his father's chauvinism.

Christer Malm. Part-owner of The Millennium. Openly gay, artist and designer. He was fun to read as the third part-owner who routinely leaves major decisions up to Mikael and Erika.

Detective Gustaf Morell. Retired policeman. I felt a certain amount of sympathy for this character. Looking back on a fruitful career, he is nevertheless bothered by the one case that he has never solved - that of Harriet Vanger's disappearance. In the story, he's an obliging source of information for Mikael.

Hans-Erik Wennerström. A ruthless and corrupt businessman who ruins Mikael with a lawsuit in the beginning but gets his comeuppance at the end of the novel courtesy of an elaborate piece of hacking by Lisbeth.

Harald Vanger. Henrik's brother. A horrid and misogynistic old man, and a Nazi. Father to Birger, Cecilia and Anita.

Harriet Vanger. The subject of the investigation that was the main plot point of this novel. Had a very close relationship with grand-uncle Henrik, but endured horrific abuse at the hands of her father and brother. She eventually escaped with the help of Anita, and settled down in Australia, making a nice life for herself. She is reunited with Henrik at the end.

Holger Palmgren. He plays no active part in the novel; but in the backstory, his relationship with Lisbeth is detailed as one of mutual trust and respect. He is the guardian to Lisbeth, appointed by the State; indeed seems to be the only person willing to undertake such an intimidating task at first, speaking volumes about his character and compassion. Also, comes across as a cool old guy.

Isabella Vanger. Martin and Harriet Vanger's mother. A vile and shrewish, self-centered old woman who firmly refuses to take responsibility or even acknowledge that anything is seriously wrong even after her daughter disappears for decades, after her husband has been sexually abusing her children for years.

Janne Dahlman. A mole planted within The Millennium, ultimately tricked by Mikael near the end of the novel with the help of the staff.

Pernilla. Mikael's teenage daughter from his former marriage. She is at the age where Mikael is finding it difficult to relate to her, providing a few somewhat amusing moments when they meet up. Other than helping us see another side of Mikael, however, she also has a small but important part in this novel to play - her newfound religious fervor provides Mikael a significant piece of the puzzle.

Plague. An overweight hacker with serious hygiene and social problems, who yet manages to look absolutely cool (I may be biased here). Lisbeth enlists his help on occasion, and he was the one who taught Lisbeth her computer skills. Also, his email id is wicked. (plague_xyz_666).

The Mood

It begins on a very serious and somber note, with Mikael facing libel charges in court. This carries on all through the first quarter of the book when Henrik Vanger hires Blomkvist. Lisbeth Salander's story is interwoven here and there, detailing her trials with Nils Bjurman. It gets really dark halfway through when Salander gets brutally raped by Bjurman and plots her revenge. After that, the plot slows to a crawl as we get back to Blomkvist and his investigation, and things don't really pick up again until Lisbeth joins the investigation. At this point, one gets the warm fuzzy feeling of a good buddy-cop routine, with things getting increasingly sinister as the investigation progresses.

Near the end, the action comes thick and fast, but after that the author elects to spend a chapter or two tying up some loose ends; namely the reappearance of Harriet Vanger and the long-awaited retribution of Hans-Erik Wennerström. Interesting enough, but a bit anti-climatic.

What I liked

Lisbeth. What's not to love? A computer genius, badass goth chick and dark angel of justice. Her part of the story was an absolute delight to read. More interesting than the character of Mikael Blomkvist, at least. To counter-balance all that awesomeness, she actually has some debilitating weaknesses, such as a very low EQ and an inability to trust people.

There's a chapter that follows Lisbeth as she does some investigative work for Milton Securities. She follows some woman and takes advantage of the obvious security flaws she finds, gaining access easily. What was neat was that the loopholes she discovered were all-too-human foibles that people in real life are all too capable of.

Mikael barging into Lisbeth's apartment and rendering her speechless. This was funny as hell, because up to then, we have seen only the hard-ass side of Lisbeth (barring a couple tender moments with her mother, Holger and Dragan) - the side that promises terrible retribution to all those who cross her. Mikael not only invades her comfort zone, he does it with good humor and easy charm. And she's so flabbergasted that she lets him.

Mikael and Lisbeth's comparison of their respective moral and ethical codes. It was a very short segment, but so utterly significant based on what we've seen so far. Also, after they start working together, it's interesting to see what a great team Mikael and Lisbeth make, complementing each other. Lisbeth, being the computer expert, does most of the stuff that requires tech-savviness. Mikael, being more people-oriented, digs up information using his charm. As the investigation progresses, they are mutually impressed by each other's quick thinking.

Martin's capture of Mikael. It's a thrilling dialogue where the scene is fraught with danger and one truly gets the sense that we're dealing with a psychopath. More deliciously disturbing when he seems to be trying to molest Mikael while choking him to death.

Some of the supporting characters have very nicely written expositions that flesh them out well to complement, rather than interfere with, with the main plot. Notably Cecilia Vanger, Dragan Armansky, Detective Morell and Christer Malm.

The program which Lisbeth uses to hack into Wennerström's computer is lovingly described, and sounds very much like malware based on BitTorrent-like transfer coupled with VMWare functionality.

What I didn't

Mikael. I know he's supposed to be the hero of the story and all, and that's exactly the problem. He appears to be Larsson's blue-eyed boy, the noble dude who puts himself on the line for the truth, and gets all the girls. Even Lisbeth falls in love with him at the end of the novel. This guy has no major flaws, unless you count being irresistible to women as a flaw. This smacks of wish-fulfillment on the author's part.

The depiction of men in general. People generally tend to take a dim view of rapists, but Larsson seems to take this to the extreme. This novel appears to divide men into two categories - those who abuse women, and those who don't. The former are always painted as horrific human beings (Martin Vanger and Nils Bjurman are not only rapists, but also perverts and sadists), while the latter are painted in a positive light (there are minor exceptions, such as the pugnacious Birger, the disagreeable Harald and the weaselly Janne; but these men play a very minor part in the novel), something that strikes me as rather one-dimensional and binary.

Lisbeth's harrowing rape scene was perhaps a little more graphic than I would have liked. Necessary to the plot, perhaps, but still.

Some parts of the book really hold no interest for me at all. Why would I want to know so many details about regulatory laws in Sweden?

Conclusion

This novel is a good fascinating read, either on its own or as a precursor to the other books in the series. If you like a good whodunit with a technological twist, you could do worse than The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

My Rating

8.5 / 10

Next

The Girl Who Played With Fire