comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

prone to degradation. This is in part due to the continual improvement
of the virus detection abilities of programs such as
Analyze or Purge. A virus’s rating decreases at the rate of one
point per month.
Only viruses that carry a so-called metamorphic engine are immune
to this degradation. The metamorphic engine is a subroutine
that allows the virus to adapt and update itself in order to subvert
detection and removal programs. Viruses with metamorphic engines,
however, are much harder to acquire or program.
infection of programs
Whenever virus-ridden software is actively used in a Matrix
action or test, the virus tries to infect another piece of software
(gamemaster’s choice) that the user has access to either on the
same node or in other accessible nodes (for example, a slaved node,
or another node in a cluster). The gamemaster determines what
software the virus targets; some viruses target particular programs,
others choose randomly. Both active and inactive programs may
be infected.
Make an Opposed Test pitting the virus rating x 2 against
the node’s Firewall + System. If the virus succeeds, it infects the
targeted software, embedding a copy of its virus code into that
other program. If the node wins, it has successfully located the
virus and prevented infection and will alarm the user or system
administrator.
Note that infection is not only restricted to programs that
“belong” to the node the virus is on (i.e., programs stored somewhere
on that node). The virus may also infect programs run by a
persona that is accessing the node—this is, in fact, how viruses are
commonly spread. In this case, the infection test is made against
the persona’s node, not the node the virus is in.
detection and purging of viral Software
The detection of virus-infested software depends on how the
virus passes the Firewall. If a virus-carrying program is (down)
loaded on a commlink or computer system, the system makes an
Opposed Test pitting its Firewall + Analyze versus the Virus rat-
tecHnoMancerS and MaLware
As complex forms and the living persona are
fueled by Resonance rather than regular code, technomancers
are virtually immune to malware. Viruses
usually fail to recognize complex forms as a viable
host and are not able to infect them. Trojans cannot
enter a technomancer’s living node, though technomancers
can exploit trojan horses just like any hacker.
Though worms will also fail to infect the living node of
a technomancer, they can attack technomancers they
encounter in a normal node.
Amazingly, no technomancer has managed (so
far … ) to create or shape a complex form that has
the abilities of either a virus, worm, or trojan horse,
though it is rumored that the creation of malware is
within the capabilities of dissonant technomancers
and entropic sprites (p. 179).
Unwired
ing x 2 to see if it detects the virus, applying a –4 modifier to the
firewall’s roll. If it succeeds, it will block the download and alarm
the user or system administrator.
To detect a virus post-infection, the Matrix user must actively
search for it (i.e. Observing in Detail, p. 136, SR4) by performing a
Matrix Perception Test (p. 217, SR4). The virus opposes this test,
rolling Rating x 2.
Since virus code is actually copied into the infected software,
viruses cannot be attacked in cybercombat, nor will rebooting a
node make a virus go away (it respawns with the infected program).
Infected programs may, of course, be crashed or deleted. To
remove a virus and recover the original program, however, the user
must perform a Disinfect Test with an antiviral Purge program
(p. 111).
viral warfare
Virus-seeding hackers will often help a virus circumvent
a firewall by installing the virus directly while hacking a node.
Infecting a targeted program this way requires a Hacking + Edit
(Virus Rating x 2, 1 Initiative Pass) Extended Test.
SaMpLe virUSeS
The following section describes the most annoying and
dreaded viruses currently floating around in the 2070s. This
is by no means an exhaustive list of the countless versions and
species that have been compiled by insidious hackers, just a
representative sample of the most common ones that hackers
and other characters may deal with while interacting with the
Matrix. Gamemasters and players are encouraged to explore
these and expand upon them with their own, as necessary for
their games.
Buzz
Infected Program Types: Simsense (Skillsoft)
This virus contains BTL-like subroutines that are written
into the target program, thereby creating a brain-bending
skillsoft. For example, a moodchip-program (see Moodchips, p.
250, SR4) may be integrated so that the user receives a sensual or
invigorating sensation whenever the skillsoft is accessed. Because
the user is receiving BTL effects, he could become addicted in
the same way as if he used the BTL directly (see Addiction Test,
p. 247, SR4).
flicker
Infected Program Types: Common, Hacking, Autosoft
The virus opens or closes the node’s wireless connections
randomly, causing the node to switch between different modes
(active, passive, hidden), thereby impairing it.
inertia
Infected Program Types: Common, Hacking, Simsene,
Autosoft
Inertia viruses infect programs to render them functionally
inert—they appear to be running, but they fail to respond as
needed. Whenever a character tries to use the program, it fails to
perform as desired (though the virus still tries to infect another
program in the node of the same type). In game terms, the software
does not provide its rating in dice to an attempted test.
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9
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