| “ | You hacked me? | ” |
— Larry Duberman | ||
In order to crack an important password, Nate and his team target an unscrupulous software bigwig (Larry Duberman) at a high-school reunion.
The Client
- Cyrus Mahdavi, a member of the Free Iran Movement
The Mark
- Larry Duberman: CEO of Dubertech, and the leading authority on data-based security. After making millions as the computer industry developed, Duberman expanded his share of the data security market by developing software designed to be used by governments wishing to suppress dissident activities. He is currently in league with the Iranian government. Duberman's quest for success, as well as his willingness to develop software like Manticore grew out his obsession with the past, notably his high school days.
The Con
Duberman had written the book on digital security, in which Hardison is unable to hack his computer remotely, so they try to break into his office to recover the Manticore program. Unfortunately, it was kept on an 80s style computer and the password would always be changed by Duberman.
At the bar, Nate realizes Duberman is obsessed about his high school years, and that his old high school is Duberman's "Roman Room", a mental area one goes to that has certain significance. They learn that said school was having a reunion coming up, and Nate uses that opportunity to "break into Duberman's high school 25 years ago".
Nate and Sophie pass themselves off as school alumni with Parker as a serving staff. As this goes on, Eliot heads back to Duberman's office on standby to get rid of Manticore once the rest of the team find out what the password is.
Things get complicated when a hired assassin had infiltrated the school to kill Duberman, forcing the team to rescue him in order to get the password.
Artifacts
- Manticore: Electric surveillance software used to monitor Iranian dissidents in the US. Manticore was developed by Dubertech. It was named for a mythical Persian man-eating beast.
Trivia
- Producer Paul Bernard makes a cameo appearance in this episode as Schmitty, the best friend of Drake McIntyre, who is played by Nate at the reunion.
- Eliot was remembering high school when he took Home Economics and the instructor said, "Knives are like people; it's all in context." He used the same line in "The Wedding Job".
- In Hardison's flashback, he pulled a cyber-heist to make the Bank of Iceland pay for his Nana's medical bills. This explains the line in The Second David Job that Hardison "better not show his face in Iceland."