Fiction author needing help with research question...please...

[VaughanC]

...or, user sees their most recent email is marked as 'read' but received after they left the office, ergo someone's been at their desk.

...or, break-in-guy attempted to PRINT the contents of the Calendar/Diary, but there was a paper jam, or it printed two copies, or 1 page dropped to the floor...

...and so on. Keep it simple, I guess.

[apreasher]

I'm not trying to be a troll now , but I think you guys are all the victims of social engineering.
This topic is an innovative way of asking "how to hack someone's computer".

[cgkanchi]

Ummm...,

If you look at the OP, she seems to be genuine. Look at http://www.samanthasommersby.com/ . Of course, there is a possibility that this is an elaborate social engineering plot, but highly unlikely if you see how much she knows about the characters in her previous novel and how consistent she is about how she is going to develop them.

Cheers,
cgkanchi

[nihil]

This topic is an innovative way of asking "how to hack someone's computer".

Not really, the primary assumption is physical access, which makes the hacking trivial.

The issue seems to be to find a plausible scenario where the computer is accessed, and this activity is actually detected, given the characters involved, their IT knowledge and the security measures they might reasonably be expected to apply.

[sommersby]

I'm just catching up on posts after being without my laptop for a week. The "Genius" at the bar in the Apple store couldn't tell me why I kept losing my airport signal-- so I had to check it into the hospital. Parting with it was traumatic for both of us. I assure everyone - I'm on the up and up. If you google my pen name you'll find numerous reviews and interviews. Plus, I did a book-signing today in San Diego at Mysterious Galaxy (www.mysteriousgalaxy.com)....Oh, and I was a presenter at COMICON a few weeks ago. I sat on a panel with John Ridley, Peter David, Kelley Armstron, Lara Parker, and Nancy Holder. The topic was URBAN FANTASY: Our Lives Made Less Mudane.
Although perhaps some folks are clever enough to fake all that....not me. LOL!

I'm really trying to just figure our how the hacker could be detected and how they could determine it was the calendar. I do like the "keep it simple" advice. Now that my computer is back I hope to settle into some re-writes this week and I think that I have the basic info that I need.

If anyone if willing to look over the section and provide feedback please let me know.

Sam

[nihil]

Hi Sam,

Glad that you are back online, well, "AntiOnline"................sorry

I would certainly be willing to review the section for you, from a cynical Englishman's viewpoint.

Yes, I fully appreciate that your questions are totally genuine, as they are directed at "how the guy gets found out"..................... we have had a lot of suggestions on how to avoid that, and even more clever ones as to how they could be detected.

My thinking is that you are writing a romantic novel involving vampires? this probably means that your audience would be totally baffled by the more sophisticated computer scenarios suggested here. That would sort of be counterproductive, would it not?

I have used systems where if you opened the calendar/diary, it would record that you had seen the invitation to a meeting but had not acknowledged/confirmed it. It would be "flagged as read but not responded to"

So, if the Dr. synchronised her diary with her PC, the invitations to attend the local psychiatrists' meeting would be there, but as unread ................. if she noticed that they were "read" but not "responded" to......................they should not have been "read".

Professionals tend to have local meetings by arrangement rather than a known schedule?

just a few thoughts?