nWennerstr?mhimself—couldhaveapleteoverview.Wennerstr?m’sempirehadalifeofitsown.
Buttherewasapattern,oratleastahintofapattern.Alabyrinthofenterprisesownedbyeachother.Wennerstr?m’sempirewasvariouslyvaluedatbetween100and400billionkronor,dependingonwhomyouaskedandhowitwascalculated.Butifpaniesowneachother’sassets—whatthenwouldbetheirvalue?
TheyhadleftHedebyIslandingreathasteearlyinthemorningafterSalanderdroppedthebombthatwasnowoupyingeverywakingmomentofBlomkvist’slife.TheydrovetoSalander’splaceandspenttwodaysinfrontofherputerwhilesheguidedhimthroughWennerstr?m’suniverse.Hehadplentyofquestions.Oneofthemwaspurecuriosity.
“Lisbeth,howareyouabletooperatehisputer,fromapurelypracticalpointofview?”
“It’salittleinventionthatmyfriendPlaguecameupwith.Wennerstr?mhasanIBMlaptopthatheworkson,bothathomeandattheoffice.Thatmeansthatallthermationisonasingleharddrive.Hehasabroadbandconnectiontohispropertyathome.Plagueinventedatypeofcuffthatyoufastenaroundthebroadbandcable,andI’mtestingitoutforhim.EverythingthatWennerstr?mseesisregisteredbythecuff,whichforwardsthedatatoaserversomewhereelse.”
“Doesn’thehaveafirewall?”
Salandersmiled.
“Ofcoursehehasafirewall.Butthepointisthatthecuffalsofunctionsasatypeoffirewall.Ittakesawhiletohacktheputerthisway.Let’ssaythatWennerstr?mgetsanemail;itgoesfirsttoPlague’scuffandwecanreaditbeforeitevenpassesthroughhisfirewall.Buttheingeniouspartisthattheemailisrewrittenandafewbytesofsourcecodeareadded.Thisisrepeatedeverytimehedownloadsanythingtohisputer.Picturesareevenbetter.Hedoesalotofsurfingonthe.Eachtimehepicksupapornpictureoropensanewhomepage,weaddseveralrowsofsourcecode.Afterawhile,inseveralhoursorseveraldays,dependingonhowmuchheusestheputer,Wennerstr?mhasdownloadedanentireprogrammeofapproximatelythreemegabytesinwhicheachbitislinkedtothenextbit.”
“And?”
“Whenthelastbitsareinplace,theprogrammeisintegratedwithhisInterbrowser.Tohimitwilllookasthoughhisputerhaslockedup,andhehastorestartit.Duringt