SOFTLY SOFTLY

both recorded on the fake pad and the skimmer. The two fraudulent devices would then be detached and Cha0's client would download the information onto a computer using a USB lead.

With Dron's skimmers, the client would then be able to use that information to obtain funds fraudulently. But with Cha0's skimmers, the data downloaded onto the computer was encrypted. The only person who possessed the key to decrypt this information was ... Cha0. So the youthful criminal who had so painstakingly placed the skimmer and PIN pad onto the ATM could not simply go out and clone credit cards himself - he would have to send the information back to Istanbul. Cha0 would then organise the cash-out. Once he had the money, he would then send a cut to the client who had actually done the hard work. He was effectively renting out his skimmers - a much more profitable strategy than Dron's outright selling.

This was a daring business model within the world of cyber criminality. If it succeeded, Cha0 stood to make untold sums, creaming off a huge percentage of illegal skimmer transactions around the world. All he had to do was maintain his supply of skimmers and ship them forward, without being detected. Not beyond the wit of man. Obviously there might come a time when a competitor might seek to undercut his strategy, or indeed return to the old-style simple sale of skimmers. But until then, by controlling the most influential board in the English-speaking world, Cha0 could enjoy the high life. And enjoy it he did.

By 2008 Istanbul was well on the way to becoming the city with the highest growth rate in the world. The population had been rising almost uncontrollably for fifteen years and it was now home to about fifteen million people, an estimated two million of whom were unregistered migrants, not just foreigners, but Turks and Kurds from Anatolia who were streaming into the city that straddled the mighty Bosphorus, the grand body of water separating Europe and Asia.

In contrast to many cities in East Asia, notably in China, Istanbul has not achieved this phenomenal and invigorating growth at the expense of its glittering legacy. History inhabits almost every building. Everywhere reveals the rich traditions of more than a millennium of Byzantine history and 600 years of Ottoman grandeur - two of the most magical, violent, successful and awe-inspiring imperial constructs of all time. Contrary to popular imagination, for much of its history