The net
Angela Bennett is a Venice, California systems analyst who telecommutes to Cathedral Software in San Francisco. Her interpersonal relationships are completely online and on the phone limiting interactions with neighbors. Bennett's coworker Dale sends her a floppy disk with a backdoor, labeled with "π" to a commonly used computer security system called "Gatekeeper" sold by Gregg Microsystems. Dale and Bennett agree to meet, but his private plane's navigation system malfunctions and it crashes. Later after that she goes on a vacation where she meets Jack Devlin. Devlin pays a mugger to steal Bennett's purse with the disk, then shoots the thief. He seduces Bennett on his speedboat, but she finds his gun and confronts him. While fleeing with the disk and Devlin's wallet Bennett's dinghy collides with rocks, destroying the disk and hospitalizing her unconscious for three days. When Bennett wakes up, she finds that all records of her life have been deleted She was checked out of her hotel room, her car is no longer at the LAX parking lot, and her credit cards are invalid. Bennett's home is empty and listed for sale and, because none of the neighbors ever saw her, they cannot confirm her identity. Bennett's Social Security number is now assigned to a Ruth Marx who has an arest record. Using her knowledge of the backdoor and a password found in Devlin's wallet, Bennett logs into the Bethesda Naval Hospital's computers and learns that Bergstrom, who had opposed Gatekeeper's use by the federal government, was misdiagnosed. Fellow hacker Cyberbob identifies π with the Praetorians a notorious group of cyberterrorists linked to recent computer failures around the country. They plan to meet at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, but the Praetorians intercept their online chat. Bennett travels to Cathedral's office where, using her impostor's computer, she connects the terrorists to Gregg Microsystems and uncovers their scheme; once the Praetorians sabotage an...