The Inside Man

Hacker Mark, aka 'Romulus', tail-gates his way right into the Khromacom corporate HQ where the IT Team are fire-fighting a cyber-attack. He secures a job on the IT security team, much to the satisfaction of his sinister handler, 'Mother'.

Even before his first day Mark has been interrogating the social media accounts of his new colleagues. They seem like a fun and slightly random bunch of people who love to overshare. He’s tasked with getting security tightened while learning some useful info on the big merger.

AJ catches Mark trying to ‘phish’ Erica for financial information on the merger. Mark brushes this off as a phishing test for all the company. He asks AJ why he is so loyal to the company but AJ explains it’s about the people. Undeterred, later that night Mark downloads all Erica's confidential files.

Mark is running into a brick wall on Khromacom’s network security so he calls on an old contact ‘Rat’ to dumpster dive for confidential documents people may have casually disposed of. When he returns to his desk he is shocked that the guys have made a surprise party. He’s completely thrown.

It’s 2am and Mark is disguised as a cleaner to target Erica’s office. Her desk and office walls are covered with papers that might be useful. He steals a notebook from her desk. Later the next morning he has a tricky conversation with her while trying to sneak it back in. ‘Mother’ piles on the pressure when Mark starts to ask awkward questions about the ‘sting’.

‘Romulus’ is ready to ship out of his fake life as Mark Shepherd. He’s just about to send the crucial upload of killer information to his masters when AJ stops him. It’s Red Nose Day and the Khromacom gang are ready for some shenanigans. He’s completely torn when his boss offers him a full-time contract.

Things are looking great for Mark. He’s got his dream job, working alongside his newly promoted buddy AJ. They do everything together. Episode 1 finds the Khromacom gang at a Karaoke bar. As ever there are security situations everywhere: unsecured phones being left out in public; people writing their passwords down. What else do you expect when people are having fun?

Mark and AJ are called into the team on a new top-secret project, e.v.e. They get to meet technology biz guru, Justin, and the tech brains behind him, Dev. Mark is tasked with setting up security on the mystery project, but the first meeting for the team sees some cracks appearing in their confidentiality protocols.

Mark and Charlotte’s dinner date is an opportunity for Mark to impress. While he’s a ‘wiz’ at all things security, that clearly doesn’t extend to the kitchen. Meanwhile ‘Aunt Margret’ is turning up the heat and Charlotte finds herself engaged in a hack battle with a skilled adversary. The consequences of earlier phone security errors play out in this tense and funny battle of wits.

At last the wraps are lifted from the top-secret project. Mark, AJ and the rest of the team are introduced to e.v.e – a virtual assistant like nothing we’ve seen before. Mark voices his concern to Dev about the security implications of having connected tech that can ‘hear’ everything that’s said in the office. Then Mark receives a message that threatens to raise the ghost of his previous life.

The new attack by Charlotte has set off some virtual alarms and AJ is helping their colleague Dawn to protect herself from a spoofing attack, after her phone was compromised. Meanwhile, Mark’s old hacker life threatens to come crashing back when he finds himself at a ‘Wellness Centre’ set up by his old controller ‘Maurice’. Surely it can’t just be about re-aligning some ‘chakras’?

Charlotte steps up her social engineering activity, manipulating fellow employees through vishing and impersonation. She’s an impressive adversary and even the security team are not immune. Mark finds himself teaming up with an unlikely ally to try to combat her and her controller, the mysterious ‘Aunt Margret’.

Good Shepherd Security’s crack team is carrying out a sophisticated penetration test, involving AJ in a bee costume. The stakes are sky high, as the ‘sting’ has been commissioned by an international bank. There’s a lucrative contract to be had, but Maurice seems to have gone missing and the bank’s multiple layers of physical and data security could thwart the operation at any stage. The team is going to have to bring their ‘A’ game, including Fiona who, as it turns out, has some impressive improv skills.

Mark, Maurice and Fiona have a crucial meeting with Christina Mendoza, the CEO of GBT Bank. The outcome could transform the rocky fortunes of their fledgling company. Meanwhile AJ is engaged in an important bit of ‘outreach’, sharing his security insights and enthusiasm. It’s a tough crowd until he lets slip that he works with a ‘white hat hacker’. Great news, it’s game-on for Shepherd Security - but could this be a job too far?

The subject of the next penetration test is revealed as Verite, the company whose state-of-the-art banking software is currently being trialled by GBT Bank. The Good Shepherd Security team gather in their temporary new headquarters to make a plan. They have just two weeks to overcome a seemingly impossible challenge. And where exactly is Maurice, just at the moment when his unique skill-set is most needed?

The planning for ‘Operation Verité’ is in full swing. Mark and AJ are excited to be deploying their hacker capabilities but unexpectedly come up against an obstacle that may threaten the whole business. Fiona finds herself having to deploy an entirely new set of skills. Thanks to her they live to fight another day, but there’s a high price to secure her loyalty.

AJ is terrified how Fiona will react to the revelations about Mark’s past. It looks like the game is up before it even gets going. Maurice, who is supposed to be ‘cleansing his karma’ seems to think honesty is the best policy but admits he knows little about Mark Shepherd’s dark past. And there’s Fiona’s mum too. She’s turned out to be unexpectedly forthright with her daughter’s team-mates. Could this mean trouble?

The questions about Mark’s past are having a profound impact on him prompting a disturbing flashback dream. Meanwhile AJ is busy recruiting the new specialist team member, Violet. Her skills are impressive and he’s clearly charmed. It looks like she’s the perfect fit, filling the skills gap that will complete the team for ‘Operation Verité’. Mark’s reaction, however, is not at all what AJ is expecting. Just what is going on?

A mysterious hacker group, The 404, initiates a devastating ransomware attack on a Norwegian gas installation. The hack, a coordinated phishing and social engineering operation, makes the news. A high profile attack like this quickly gains the attention of AJ, Mark and Maurice, aka ‘Good Shepherd Cybersecurity’.

Good Shepherd Cybersecurity is invited to deal with the energy company’s ransomware attack. Mark advises the CEO not to pay the ransom at any cost. It’s not clear if he’ll take Mark’s advice. George, Mark and Violet’s estranged father, makes an unexpected appearance. There are clearly serious questions to be answered.

Disastrously, despite all advice, the energy company’s CEO is planning to cave in to the ransom demand. Mark buys time, promising his team will extinguish the threat in days. Maurice is as elusive as ever. However, the arrival of a Europol agent on the scene brings some nervous moments for both him and Mark.

AJ informs the team that a fake calendar request to the initial phish victim enabled the hackers to access vital engineering systems. George tries to explain his motives to Violet, but she isn’t convinced. Mark in the UG & E war room thinks he has worked out the nuts and bolts of the hack. He sends in Lars in Norway to rectify the situation, but there is a terrifying reaction.

Mark has enlisted Lars to locate the threat in the plant’s underground system of tunnels and comes to a stunning realization about the real nature of the attack. Thanks to a USB key, AJ manages to persuade a sceptical CEO that security training needs to happen. Meanwhile, Fiona sees something that triggers her own doubts about Violet when she runs an errand at Mark’s home.

Mark and AJ have an exciting ride out to inspect one of the stricken gas terminals, thanks to an old friend. In the offices, the GSC team watches nervously as Mark heads out into the deserted control room. The monitoring systems at the facility are going critical. Charlotte’s reaction when Lars and Mark are successful is beyond anything witnessed before.

In a castle in deepest Romania a lawyer is presiding over an audacious financial heist. In London, a sinister figure walks into a hospital. What links these two seemingly unrelated events? Who knows, but nothing good can come of this.

Mark and AJ are testing out an ingenious weapon to add to their cyber-armoury. A phone call brings news that will rock their world. Who is the mystery man in the hospital? He looks familiar somehow.

Violet and Mark are approached by the security services. The siblings are faced with an impossible choice that tests their already fragile relationship. The name Cyrus Barclay re-enters their lives; that’s never a good thing.

Mark and Violet make a decision regarding the approach from Europol. The mechanics behind the next stage of Cyrus’ plan are starting to become clear. A ‘has been’ social media company called ‘The Village’ seems to have attracted his attention.

The Europol security chief outlines the extent of Cyrus’ criminal activities and the involvement of his merciless lawyer Lenora Van Deroef. Maurice is starting to feel the heat from old contacts from his hacker black book. Violet is impatient with progress and strikes out alone

AJ is excited to be taking on a huge career opportunity on a TV news programme . Cyrus’ hacking operation gets into its relentless stride and recruits a couple of familiar faces to his shady ‘corporation’. Looks like Violet is in way too deep.

In Berlin, the Good Shepherd Cybersecurity team are on a covert mission to extract information about Cyrus’s sinister intentions. Meanwhile, in Romania, a monstrous operation is silently getting into gear.

Mark and AJ try to understand why Cyrus is so desperate to get his hands on Mark’s vintage gaming device. Cyrus demonstrates his growing influence to a politician with serious ambitions.

The Good Shepherd Cybersecurity team convenes in their cool new premises. Mark and AJ have some unnerving insights to share while Cyrus’ Romanian operation is expanding.

The Good Shepherd Cybersecurity team works on tracking down Cyrus’ whereabouts. Europol puts Maurice in contact with an old adversary, but as he loses control of the situation, their hand is forced, and the consequences will be devastating.

Catherine Martin returns to deal with the fallout of the previous night’s operation and the infiltration of Erica’s apartment. Tough choices are made as she attempts to keep the situation from escalating any further.

Mark’s world is shaken as the news of recent shocking events is revealed to him. Powerless to resist the forces pulling at him, he takes matters into his own hands as the stakes are raised higher than ever before.