Dahlia entered her study just before dusk. She loved the way the dark, polished wood reflected the fading sunlight this time of day. She closed the shades so she could see her laptop screen and opened her secure email. One new priority message was in her inbox. The reply address was [email protected]—a known dark web broker that specialized in testing and checking the work of hackers. It was the equivalent of a dark web reference check. The message read:

Hello,

We have performed an extensive analysis of FreemanRising. We have given this hacker a score of 7.6 out of a possible 10.0. Many factors go into our scoring system, and we have rated FreemanRising in the following areas. These scores range from 1 poorest to 10 highest.

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Hacking skill: 70%

FreemanRising relies on codes found in hacker toolkits. After analyzing the code from the victim website, we’ve concluded that more than ninety percent of the code was from common malware construction kits found on dark web forums.

Experience: 60%

Difficulty of responsible hacks: 66%

Adversary techniques used in audition: 79%

Social manipulation: 85%

Original coding techniques: 53%

Rating of audition (final exam, including bonuses): 81%

We have determined that FreemanRising is an up-and-coming teenage hacker with potential. The overall BAD’s percentage is 70.57%, or a C minus grade.

Thanks for using the Bads Agent List service for all of your hacker vetting needs. We appreciate your business.

Agent B