Eternal Heart

Towering bookshelves still stood hundreds of meters high, stretching beyond sight. Only in a scene like this could one truly feel that knowledge was boundless.

Chen Mo walked to the desk and opened the dark red book. Old Shu's figure instantly appeared inside the library.

Old Shu looked at Chen Mo and nodded slightly.

"You've worked fairly hard. You finished one hundred books so quickly. You now have a chance to draw a technology. Do you want to draw one now?"

"Old Shu, I wanted to ask whether there's any computer antivirus software here that can detect and eliminate ransomware?" Chen Mo asked.

If he researched it himself, he could definitely develop antivirus software, but it would take too long. Rather than spend that energy, he might as well use the time to read books and exchange them for technology.

"What kind of ransomware?" Old Shu asked.

"The kind on the two computers outside, on my desk," Chen Mo said.

Old Shu closed his eyes. After a while, he tapped a finger. A massive light screen descended from above the Sci-Tech Library.

Displayed on the light screen was the ransomware's lock-screen image.

"This kind?" Old Shu asked.

"Yes."

"Eliminating this computer virus is very simple. You can solve it," Old Shu said. "I'll give you two choices. First, you can freely choose an antivirus software technology. Second, I can give you the virus's code, and you can design the antivirus program yourself. The price for the virus code is that your right to freely choose a technology will become a random selection."

"Old Shu, are you testing me?"

"You can think of it that way," Old Shu said. "I told you from the start that the Sci-Tech Library wasn't meant for you to live off without effort. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many books."

Old Shu pointed at the endless rows of bookshelves.

"Then I'll choose the second option," Chen Mo said firmly.

Having read nearly a hundred books on computer technology and hacking, along with the ransomware's source code, he believed it would not take him long to design an antivirus program.

Still, this randomly selected technology was a little uncertain. He had nothing right now. If he randomly received some useless technology or something utterly impractical, he could only wait until next time. It was time to rely on luck.

"Not bad."

Old Shu nodded and tapped the light screen. Dense lines of code appeared across it. Then the light screen shrank into a book that fell into Old Shu's hand, which he pressed against Chen Mo's head.

The dense code was imprinted in Chen Mo's mind, and the ransomware's fundamentals became crystal clear to him as well.

All kinds of ideas intertwined in his mind.

"Come back and choose a technology after you've designed a program to eliminate the virus. Perhaps you'll have an unexpected gain by then," Old Shu said meaningfully.

After leaving the Sci-Tech Library, Chen Mo sat back down in front of his computer. With the virus's source code, what came next became much simpler.

He already had an idea, but it still needed to be tested by designing the program.

Chen Mo turned on the computer and began typing code.

News of Binhai University being attacked by ransomware quickly spread online. In this information age, the incident swept across the country in the shortest possible time.

The appearance of this news seemed to sound the horn for an offensive.

Reports of ransomware attacks soon emerged from major universities across the country as well. The social media feeds and forums of the attacked universities were filled with wailing.

The virus was called "Eternal Heart," a variant of the ransomware "Eternal Blue."

Like last time, it mainly spread through email attachments, phishing links sent in bulk, users downloading virus files from malicious websites, and malicious code embedded in web pages.

The difference was that once opened, the virus infected the computer's local network and then spread throughout the entire area, greatly enhancing its ability to propagate.

The previous ransomware had only locked documents, videos, and hard-drive files. This time, it directly locked down the entire computer system, making it impossible to even enter the desktop.

Within Huaxia, the main targets infected by the Eternal Heart ransomware variant were still major universities and companies. It spread through university local networks and corporate networks.

Many universities shut down their campus networks to prevent them from being infected by Eternal Heart.

The virus was still spreading and could not be stopped at all.

More and more computers were infected. The internet was in an uproar, filled with both fear and relief. People became cautious when going online, not daring to casually click unfamiliar links or software.

This was a ransomware variant, more refined than the last one. Its vulnerabilities had been patched, and it spread much faster. In a short time, it had already spread everywhere.

Following the previous ransomware crisis, another computer virus crisis swept across the globe.

Every news outlet placed the ransomware incident on its front page.

"Huaxia Has Shut Down Virtual Currency Trading—How Can the Computer Virus Be Solved?"

"Eternal Blue Variant: Eternal Heart? Nearly One Million Computers Infected."

"Bitcoin Prices Continue Rising Due to Eternal Heart."

Online, all kinds of reports flooded the internet. In Europe, where the new Eternal Heart ransomware variant had first been discovered, nearly everywhere had been affected.

A gloomy cloud hung over all of Europe. This time, the primary targets were stock trading centers, banks, government departments, universities, energy companies, subway systems, corporations, supermarkets, and more.

European stock exchanges were forced to suspend trading, throwing the markets into chaos. Many bank computers were also attacked, leaving ATMs unable to dispense cash and banks unable to conduct normal business.

The United Kingdom's National Health Service suffered again. Computer systems at all its hospitals were infected, preventing some rescue teams and ambulances from being dispatched.

In just one day, Eternal Heart had spread to the Middle East, South America, Oceania, and Southeast Asia.

As Eternal Heart spread, ransomware officially evolved into a global virus crisis. This ransomware variant was several times more terrifying than the previous virus crisis.

Across the world, more than one million computers had been infected and locked. If the system was reinstalled, all the data on the computer would be lost as well.

Many people still had important files on their computers and naturally could not reinstall their systems. They could only wait for a solution.

Affected by Eternal Heart, Microsoft's stock immediately fell 2%, wiping out nearly 11 billion US Dollars in market value.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation also opened a case and began searching globally for the hacker organization behind the ransomware variant.

After finding the source of Eternal Heart's spread, they quickly discovered that it was the result of careful planning by advanced hackers months in advance. There was still no lead on who was responsible.

Many cybersecurity companies also issued warnings immediately, reminding users not to open suspicious emails.

All kinds of measures and reports flooded in.

Five days had already passed, and the number of computers infected by Eternal Heart had exceeded one million.

Numerous cybersecurity companies could only offer preventive advice. There was still no antivirus software capable of truly detecting and eliminating the ransomware.

Only two days remained for the first batch of infected computers. If no way to eliminate the virus was found within those two days, all the data on those computers would be destroyed.

Many people had already fallen into despair and began paying hackers in Bitcoin and other virtual currencies to obtain keys and unlock their computers.

Ever since the previous ransomware outbreak, people had seen the regulatory loopholes surrounding virtual currencies, which provided avenues for crimes such as money laundering, fund transfers, and tax evasion.

After the first virus crisis, Huaxia's market regulators had gradually shut down virtual currency trading platforms.

This virus crisis made it impossible for infected computers in the country to even "ransom" themselves.

Some people could only pray that a way to eliminate the virus would be found at the last moment. Otherwise, all the important data on their computers would be lost.

This is a new book, and bookmarks and recommendations are very important. If you enjoy it, please add it to your bookshelf. Recommendations are my greatest motivation to keep writing.