After a couple agonizing weeks, Ellen was starting to get her life back on track. She opened another bank account at the Telemarketers Credit Union because she no longer trusted Milford Savings and Loan. The hack was over, but she felt uneasy about its lack of resolution. Agent Appleton was supposed to keep her updated, but every time she called he was in the field or otherwise unavailable. She had more faith in Nigel, who reassured her that he was doing everything possible to track the hack.

To prevent a recurrence, Nigel helped Ellen with new security measures. Ellen thought Nigel’s security measures were a bit extreme, but she remembered what he said.

“Access to your bank account can be easy or secure but not both.”

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Nigel also noticed his mother’s old computer sitting on the floor. His mother wanted to throw it away, but he advised her against it.

“I hate that computer,” Ellen said.

Nigel knew that it wasn’t the computer she hated but the situation that her vulnerable computer put them in.

“Well, we should wipe it properly, first,” Nigel said. “Time to get the evidence.”

Nigel carried his mother’s tower up to his loft to start an imaging process that would not alter the original files on the hard drive. Nigel didn’t have the necessary hardware to prevent writing files while imaging, but he did have access to a software version.

Thirty minutes later, he was performing a raw image of the original hard drive.