“	You hacked me?	”
— Larry Duberman

In order to crack an important password, Nate and his team target an unscrupulous software bigwig (Larry Duberman) at a high-school reunion.

The Client

• Cyrus Mahdavi, a member of the Free Iran Movement

The Mark

• Larry Duberman: CEO of Dubertech, and the leading authority on data-based security. After making millions as the computer industry developed, Duberman expanded his share of the data security market by developing software designed to be used by governments wishing to suppress dissident activities. He is currently in league with the Iranian government. Duberman's quest for success, as well as his willingness to develop software like Manticore, grew out his obsession with the past, notably his high school days.

Locations

• unknown city
  • Cyrus Mahdavi's apartment
• Boston, Massachusetts
  • John McRory's Place
  • unnamed café (Vezerat safe house)
  • Nate's condo
  • Dubertech corporate headquarters
  • William H Radford High School

The Con

Duberman had written the book on digital security, in which Hardison is unable to hack his computer remotely, so they try to break into his office to recover the Manticore program. Unfortunately, it was kept on an 80s style computer and the password would always be changed by Duberman.

At the bar, Nate realizes Duberman is obsessed about his high school years, and that his old high school is Duberman's "Roman Room", a mental area one goes to that has certain significance. They learn that said school was having a reunion coming up, and Nate uses that opportunity to "break into Duberman's high school 25 years ago".

Nate and Sophie pass themselves off as school alumni with Parker as a serving staff. As this goes on, Eliot heads back to Duberman's office on standby to get rid of Manticore once the rest of the team find out what the password is.

Things get complicated when a hired assassin had infiltrated the school to kill Duberman, forcing the team to rescue him in order to get the password.

Guest Cast

• Arye Gross as Larry Duberman
• Kari Wuhrer as Miranda "Nikki" Miles
• Anthony Azizi as Vezarat Leader
• JR Wickman as Sloane

Aliases

• Elliot: Lloyd Hickey (Boston Health Department inspector), Dex (Dubertech custodian)
• Hardison: health inspector (name on badge never in focus), Cecil (Dubertech custodian)
• Parker: Kathy (Dubertech custodian)
• Sophie: Sharon Wing (Harrison Unified high school reunion coordinator), Edna Kasendorf (William H Radford high school reunion coordinator), Grace Peltz (Radford High alumna)

Artifacts

• Manticore: Electric surveillance software used to monitor Iranian dissidents in the US. Manticore was developed by Dubertech. It was named for a mythical Persian man-eating beast.

Episode Notes

• This episode has a theme of mind games: Nate makes Hardison explain why the team is taking the job. Sophie uses neuro-linguistic programming to influence Elliot to serve her tea. The team forces Duberman to change his master password to something of their choosing.
• Two high schools are mentioned (Harrison Unified and William H Radford). Screen images suggest that Duberman attended William H Radford high school.

Trivia

• Producer Paul Bernard makes a cameo appearance in this episode as Schmitty, the best friend of Drake McIntyre, who is impersonated by Nate at the reunion.
• In a flashback scene, Eliot remembers his high school Home Economics teacher telling him, "Knives are like people; it's all in context." He used the same line in "The Wedding Job".
• In Hardison's flashback, he pulled a cyber-heist to make the Bank of Iceland pay for his Nana's medical bills. This explains the line in "The Second David Job" that Hardison "better not show his face in Iceland."
• It is not explained why Hardison can hack all of the passwords, but the last one is an exception he cannot hack.

Differences in Spanish dub

• The title El Caso de la Estafa Estudiantil translates to The Student Scam Case.