comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

Matrix overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
Never” sims or used a multi-user access
code for Rocky Mountain Avatar posted
on a filesharing network, you’ve benefited
from a pirate crew. Hacker crews are a bit
more profit oriented and delve deeper into
the realm of Matrix crimes—but we’ll talk
more about them later.
data HavenS
Knowledge is power, especially in the
shadows. If you come across something interesting
during a run—new drone design
specs, psych records for a politician, even
the itinerary of a popular goblin-rock
star—someone out there is willing to pay
good nuyen for it. The problem for most
of us is that we don’t know that person
and we certainly don’t trust them. Instead,
you take the data directly to an info broker.
He or she will pay you and then resell
it. You can also purchase information
from an info broker if you can meet his
or her price. Info brokers provide a valuable service, for which
they charge a hefty fee, and are some of the most well-connected
people in the shadows.
Data havens work along the same lines. Some charge a fee to
access data. As a runner, if I had some valuable data, I could upload
it to the data haven. If someone wanted to see it, they’d pay a set
fee. I’d get part of the fee and the data haven would get the remainder.
Other data havens are maintained as free resources, such as the
Nexus or the Helix. Some are even legal: the Library of Congress
in UCAS, for example, (which holds a copy of every item written
in the UCAS, digitally or otherwise). In fact, local governments
often house public records in government data havens.
> Asgard is an orbiting satellite that holds one such data haven,
although it more often resembles an online auction house. They
specialize in really hot, really recent data—as in upload directly from
corp X, do not stop, do not pass go. Great place to go if you’ve got
something too hot to hold on to or are worried about getting a bullet
before getting paid. When they get something, they post a summary
of the data and open bidding on it. High bid wins the data.
They don’t shut anyone out of the bidding, so yes, that means that
sometimes a corp will buy back its own secrets. Data that doesn’t
get purchased at auction often gets dumped into the data haven,
which you can browse, but they charge for the browse and for any
data accessed—which can get real spendy, real quick. Generally worth
the nuyen, though, considering the timeliness of the data. Anything
older than two weeks gets dumped back down to other data havens
and is free for all.
> Orbital DK
> You also should know that Asgard’s take of the auction is generally
between 60–80% of the sale price. As far as I know, though, no
hacker has ever been traced from Asgard. Perhaps the confidentiality
is worth the price.
> FastJack
> The free data havens are just as useful. First thing a hacker
should do is get him or herself an account at the Nexus, the Helix,
ShadowSea … hell, at every data haven you can find. Having good
intel is the difference between surviving a run or dying a fool. You
can find rumors on people, notes from runners on security holes
they’ve seen at a hot research facility, up-to-date info on shifting
gang alliances and territories … you need it, you can find it.
> The Smiling Bandit
> The biggest problem with data havens, especially the free ones, is trying
to sort through the outdated, random, or purposely misleading data
to find the hidden gold. Most data havens have researchers, hackers
who do nothing but eat and breathe the data in them. If you don’t have
the skills, browsing software, or time, I’d suggest paying a researcher to
help you sift through the shit to find what you’re looking for.
> Netcat
> Governments and corps hate the underground data havens, but
they don’t let that stop them from accessing the data, just like you
and me. So remember, paranoia is healthy. Take everything with a
grain of salt, yadda yadda.
> Glitch
Many of the data havens existing today are part of a shadow
network, a loose agreement to provide data-sharing and backups
among the network members. After the Crash took down
Shadowland and many other data havens, sysops realized just how
vulnerable they were.
> It was this loose affiliation that allowed Captain Chaos to distribute
info on the worm to the other shadowlands around the globe,
saving thousands of lives and years of accumulated data.
> FastJack
Most data havens already had been sending old and outdated
data to the Nexus, the biggest data haven (before and after the
Crash). As systems attempted to rebuild post-Crash, there was
Unwired
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9