For high-stake problem-solving, often a hypothesis is used.
Murphy's law, which says that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Murphy's law was originally meant for Air Force pilots.
According to the hypothesis of aerospace engineer, Edward A. Murphy Jr.,
in a crisis situation, if a pilot thinks about disaster,
then the probability of a disaster increases.
Because of the ups and downs in Synnotech due to the PIC acquisition,
there were often disaster scenarios in my mind too.
But I'm grateful that my team and I are still intact.
We've even secured a new client.
-And the acquisition is now at its final stage. -Wow.
Did you get promoted again?
Why would I get promoted again, Shetty? I brought it just like that.
We won't be able to digest so much sweetness coming from you.
Come on.
-This is so good. -But we'll try.
-Is the extra one for me? -No, Shetty, it's for later.
-Guys, this is the moment. A photo, please. -Come on. Okay, come.
(camera clicks)
-Nice one. -So, if you do feel grateful in life,
you should show it sometimes.
-Look at this one. Okay. -One with the three of us.
-A nice one. -Ready?
One, two.
(indistinct chatter)
-I thought that was me. -As the pilot of my team,
I have decided to remain optimistic.
I have to stop thinking about disasters.
And now, I'm going to believe that all the problems are behind us.
Piyush and team, step away from the cubicles, please.
What happened, Vikram?
(clock ticking)
Jeffersons called.
There were some major issues in the functionality of their application.
When we checked,
we found out that a major chunk of their data has been encrypted.
-Encrypted? How? -Yeah.
There's been a major data breach.
But Kalpesh and his team have been handling Jeffersons.
Their systems have been checked. They are absolutely clean.
Piyush, if anything could have gone wrong, this is the worst possible.
Come on, boys, let's go.
(footsteps)
Piyush, what happened?
(keyboard clatter)
-Did the Jeffersons find out about the breach? -Of course not.
Before the client, we have the upper management of Synnotech.
And God forbid if this news reaches PIC.
Floodgates will open. Not only the acquisition but all of us are doomed.
-How much longer? -We're diagnosing, sir. A few more minutes.
(keyboard clatter)
I don't understand how the data was breached.
Isn't it obvious to you?
Obviously, the system of someone from your team was compromised.
And yes, during the compliance issue,
I know Angad helped Shetty and Neha bypass the system.
God knows what they were doing.
(sighs)
Vikram, they weren't doing anything.
I mean, yeah. They were just looking at some houses
and mutual funds but that's nothing.
Piyush, if that was nothing, then this situation wouldn't arise today.
Sir, Sunaina Chauhan's system was compromised.
(notification beeps)
Piyush, I... I don't even visit random sites. You know it.
-I genuinely don't know how my system was compromised. -Yeah, we'll find out.
And the data?
-Let's hope we can retrieve that. -Did you convince Vikram
-that this is not my fault? -Yeah, he knows.
(sighs)
Just please tell me what the worst-case scenario will be.
(sombre music)
Send an email to Michelle.
Tell her we're on top of this and we'll have a solution by the end of the day.
I was thinking we should get on a call with Michelle.
And if she asks a question, what are we going to tell her?
(sighs)
So, when are we going to talk to the upper management?
We should have informed them by now but
they're in a meeting with the PIC board. Obviously, we can't tell them now.
I have a call with them at 4:30.
So, I want you to hold the fort with the client till then.
No goof-ups.
(door creaks & close)
Vikram, I just want to assure you that it's not Sunaina's fault.
Piyush, it's now too late to figure out what went wrong and how.
What is clear is that this is a very sophisticated attack
and our local technical team is not going to be able to decrypt the data.
So, we'll have to have the management send somebody to salvage this situation.
Vikram, I was thinking... Can't we engage
-an expert and fix this? -Have you lost your mind?
Do you even realise the number of protocols that
need to be followed in a situation like this?
Here, I'm trying to do damage control to make sure the news isn't leaked
and you want to get some external person to solve this?
Sorry, it's just that if the matter reaches the management, Sunaina would...
(yells) This is bigger than Sunaina!
She will get fired.
And there is nothing that you and I can do about this.
Do you understand that?
And yes, you have till 4:30. You decide how to break the news to her.
The last part of Murphy's law is often ignored.
But that's what stings the most.
The complete Murphy's law says.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong
at the worst possible time.
What did Vikram say?
Sunaina?
(telephone ringing)
Anyone else in Vikram's place would have done the same.
What can you do? It's not on you.
Shetty, Sunaina had a job in hand.
On my insistence, she gave that up.
She chose us over that job.
-Sorry, but it is on me. -What's the solution?
How will you save Sunaina?
Tell me.
Piyush, I'm sorry, but you can't win all the battles.
Putting the entire team on the line of fire is not the solution.
(footsteps)
Piyush, don't mind what Shetty said.
-The situation is such that everyone is on the edge. -I don't mind it.
(sighs)
It's just that I understand what he's saying, and he's right.
While trying to save Sunaina, I'll have to violate many of the
company's protocols and it is very risky.
But if I fail,
our careers will be over.
(telephone ringing)
And what if you don't fail?
If you ask me, my vote is that we should take the risk.
Because Sunaina is more than just a colleague to me and I have just started.
So, my career can be rebuilt for sure.
But him...
His vote is against us.
Never mind.
We won't involve Shetty. He'll have deniability.
And as they say, what you don't know cannot hurt you.
Right.
You.
Another popular principle is used
for high-stake problem-solving.
Occam's razor.
-Let's do it? -Yeah, let's do this.
Which says the simplest solution is most often the correct solution.
In this situation, the simplest solution is
that we need external help, and the time is running out.
Hi.
-Hi. -Can I have two minutes, please?
(exhales)
Since you have interrupted my flow already,
-take five minutes. -Thanks. Do you know Shaurya Rathi?
Yes, he's from my college. How do you know him?
I don't know him. Actually, I saw you guys
comment on each other's posts. So, I thought maybe...
-You follow Shaurya? -No, I follow you.
(telephone ringing)
I didn't notice.
What's your handle?
No, we'll do that later. I just
wanted to know... I needed a favour from Shaurya. Can you ask him?
-You need a favour from Shaurya? -Yeah.
What do you want to hack?
Are you sure you want to take this risk?
Yeah.
I mean I know it seems illogical.
In fact, I might be coming across as an emotional fool.
But for Sunaina, I think it's worth it.
I don't think emotional means fool, Piyush.
Have you heard Ghalib's poetry?
If you think it's easy, it's easy.
If you think you're human, you're human.
(vehicle honking)
(motorbike engine off)
-So, Mehra. -So, Rathi.
You can't manage without me, can you?
You might die due to lack of attention. That's why I called.
Well done.
-How are you? -Great.
You always are.
-This is Piyush. -Hi.
Isn't he the one whose functionality has an issue?
Don't worry. Problems arise so they can be solved.
Yeah. Thank you for coming at such short notice.
Thanks to you. The podcast guys were going to call me and bore me.
I said it was an emergency and escaped.
So, let's figure out
-how we can sneak Shaurya in. -Bro, bro.
Sneaking in and all is not my style.
Look who's talking. A professional hacker.
-A professional, ethical, white hat hacker. -Oh, sorry.
The system that has been compromised is actually in the office.
The system is never compromised. It's the network that's compromised.
But don't worry. I need the login credentials.
And the system should be connected to the network. That's it.
Okay.
We need to make a base.
That's it. That's our base.
Unlimited supply of tea and cigarettes. Come.
Mister.
Do you have Wi-Fi?
(loud music playing)
(door opens & creaks)
(keyboard clatter)
I would need your login credentials.
Now, I get to say my favourite words.
I'm in.
(crow cawing)
Do you recognise the link?
(vehicle honking)
This is the culprit.
As expected, it's ransomware.
They'll demand money in return for decryption.
Don't worry. They'll get nothing.
-Shaurya, what's the plan? -It's simple.
We need to get to the origin of the attack. So, I'll embed a tracker.
That will just piggyback on their server pings.
In simple words, a backdoor entry into their server.
Okay.
Well, I'm sorry I couldn't put you in the loop earlier.
-There was a lot going on. So, I couldn't fill you in. -Piyush, please.
Don't apologise. I'm sorry.
I recognise the link.
Honestly, at that point, I thought since everyone was being selfish,
I got desperate. I started looking for a job and
I know it was stupid and selfish but
-I clicked on the link without thinking. -Chill, chill. Relax.
It's okay.
You know, Piyush, I'm very grateful to you for doing this.
But you shouldn't have taken such a risk for me.
Yeah.
But you know, honestly, I'm in a place where
I can never have this regret again that I didn't try my best.
I just can't.
Just...
(knocks on the door)
Vikram. Michelle is panicking. She wants to get on a call. What do we do?
(sighs)
We can't tell Michelle until I've spoken to the upper management.
Okay. Do you want to involve Piyush in this?
She has high regard for him. Maybe she'll calm down after talking to him.
I think that can work.
We can make him tell her that there's a technical issue.
Wait, let me call him.
(exhales)
(line ringing)
(cell phone buzzes)
And what about Vikram?
(cell phone buzzes)
Let's go look for him.
(door creaks and opens)
Where is Piyush and everyone else?
-No idea. -Please call him.
(line ringing)
(cell phone buzzes)
-Hello. Yes, Shetty? -Piyush, Vikram is here
and you are on speaker.
Where are you, Piyush?
Vikram, Sunaina and I had something to talk about.
And... So, we're just outside the office. We stepped out for a bit.
-We'll be back. -Please come back immediately.
I need to speak with you. It's very important.
-Right away. -Yeah, sure.
Where are you?
Shetty, come on.
We didn't tell you so that you could have some deniability.
But I know now.
-What now? -Nothing.
We'll all vouch that you had no idea.
Who else is over there?
-Neha and Sunaina. -Hi, Shetty.
Sunaina, how did you agree to do this?
Well, Piyush didn't leave me an option to disagree.
And what if this doesn't work?
Honestly, Shetty, that doesn't matter to me anymore.
What matters is that
people stood by me.
And sometimes, that is enough.
Guys.
We have a problem.
Sunaina's system shouldn't be traced back.
That's why we'll need the password for Synnotech's virtual box.
I've tried everything. I can't bypass it.
Guys. Guys, I'll arrange the password.
-What? -Stay on the line.
Shetty. Shetty.
Are you sure?
If we have to drown,
we'll drown together.
-What? -Waiting.
Password.
(keyboard clatter)
-ID. -Listen.
Come in. Come in.
Password.
Well, I can't find my wallet. Can you check the CCTV footage?
-Which team? -Piyush's team.
-Piyush, who? -From the fourth floor.
-Piyush from the fourth floor. -Yes.
There are four Piyush on the fourth floor.
-Near gate number one, gate number two, gate number three. -Four.
-Four. -Four.
Gate number four.
What time?
-Time? -Time.
-It was 2:30 then. -It was 2:30.
Gate four.
Let's check.
Yes, Piyush?
What?
Okay, fine. Okay.
-It was in Piyush's bag. -In Piyush's bag.
I took it out to give him change and left it in his bag.
-Don't worry. We've found it. -In Piyush's bag?
Okay, it's fine. It's fine.
-Yeah, it came. Yeah. -It came?
(keyboard clatter)
(line ringing)
(cell phone buzzes)
(line disconnected)
-And it's done. -Yes.
Data retrieved.
-Are you sure? -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Oh, God. -Thank you.
-Yeah, Mehra? -Yeah, Rathi?
I can't believe what you did. Thank you. Thank you.
-God. Thanks. -But I'm glad your challenges have increased.
It felt like the right thing to do.
-Yeah, I mean... -According to me, this was the simplest and correct solution.
-Yeah. -But I'm not sure Vikram will think so too.
Yes, Michelle.
That's right.
No, there was a minor glitch in the server.
Yes, it's up and running now.
It is. All right.
Thank you. Thank you. Speak to you soon.
Piyush, I forbade you from using external help.
And you chose to ignore that.
But, Vikram, this is exactly what the upper management would have done.
That would have been the upper management's call.
Do you think they won't find out?
Do you realise you've opened the Pandora's box now?
When the data of a private limited company is breached,
they have to inform their stakeholders as well as the government.
After that, a further course of action is decided.
But you mustn't have thought of all this, right?
I'm sorry, Vikram. I was only focused on saving Sunaina's job.
(chuckles)
Piyush, first of all, come out of this saviour mentality of yours.
You haven't saved anyone's job.
In fact, you've put everybody's jobs at risk.
Yours, mine, your team's, everyone else's.
I don't know what is right or wrong for the upper management.
All I knew was there was a problem and we fixed it
and nobody has to lose their job over this.
(chair creaks)
Let me tell you something.
Most probably, PIC is responsible for this cyber-attack.
The best thing for us would have been to follow protocols
and they wouldn't get any leverage from this.
But after what you have done,
PIC got all the ammunition.
And I'm sure they will use it against us.
That's why I told you
to start thinking from the management's point of view.
But you know what?
I thought of a great future for both you and I, Piyush.
But you have disappointed me.
In fact, I even thought of a position for you in the new management.
But I don't think you deserve it.
I'm sorry, Vikram.
Actually, Murphy's law, Occam's razor.
All these hypotheses don't have a single meaning.
Because every problem is unique to the person facing it.
But there's one thing common between everyone.
That one has to live with their decisions.
You lose some, you win some.
(sighs) It's done.
Piyush.
I'm sorry.
I was only thinking about myself then.
But you have to agree with one thing.
I was the one who did the heroic job in the end.
It's okay, Shetty. I understand.
At that point, you were thinking logically
and our great Piyush, like always, emotionally.
You know what?
This morning, someone told me that
being emotional doesn't always mean being a fool.
Who told him that?
I don't know.
I'll be back.
-Hi. -Hi.
Well...
In all the chaos, I didn't get the chance to thank you.
So, I really want to thank you for helping us out.
You're most welcome.
Well, I should thank you too.
For what?
In cupcakes, vanilla is my favourite flavour.
Well, actually,
I bought it for my friends. So, I thought I'd get one for you.
In this entire ordeal, I realised that my notion was wrong.
Being optimistic doesn't mean
there won't be problems.
Because problems are never behind us.
(keyboard clatter)
(telephone ringing)
-Hello? -Yeah, hi, Vikram.
Hi, sir. Hi, sir.
So, PIC has just sent the intimation that
they are putting the acquisition deal on hold.
We will have to prepare for the worst.
Okay.
-I understand. -We'll keep you updated on this.
-Okay? -Okay.
All right, thank you.
Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
But as they say, one can hope for the best
and prepare for the worst.