comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

systeM security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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by the owner. It can make its own
decisions about prioritization, or it
can be given a priority list. It appears
in the Matrix as a white bird
wearing a traditional nurse’s hat.
Loaded Programs: Medic
watanabe electric kitsune
This program takes the form
of an anthropomorphic fox with
configurable gender and outfits. Its
task is to politely greet icons as they
enter a node and help direct them
to the appropriate resources. It
also performs a Matrix Perception
Test on every icon that enters, and
continues to check icons while
idle, starting with the least recently
Analyzed. If it finds an icon that
lies outside of the parameters with
which it is configured, it triggers an
active alert.
Loaded Programs: Analyze
SYSteM topoLogY
Another way to secure a system is by putting it together in
a way that is easier to secure. Much the same way that castles and
secure facilities have physical configurations of walls and entry
points that are more easily defended than others, Matrix systems
can be built with security in mind.
tipS and trickS
Security is not merely statistics and Matrix attributes. A
system can be protected by a strong combination of policies, procedures,
and topologies. The strategies and tactics offered below
are just a small sampling of the expert spider’s bag of tricks.
Backups and More Backups
One simple way to protect important files and programs is to
make copies on a recurring basis and store them in an encrypted
and/or protected archive. By comparing the current programs and
files to the backups at regular intervals (from once a week for lowsecurity
systems up to every hour for high-security), a spider or
agent can detect backdoors, viruses in programs, and altered files.
The damaged files and programs can then be fixed by overwriting
undesirable icons with the backups.
chokepoints
The less a spider has to monitor, the easier it is for him to
secure. Networks of nodes need more resources for security than
a single node.
One way to limit the vulnerability of a large network is to allow
only one or two nodes that act as gateways to the rest of the system.
The rest of the nodes in the network are then kept behind wirelessimpeding
materials or are linked by fiber optic cables and have no
wireless capability at all. Much like a checkpoint in a real-world facility,
when all traffic enters at a single point, a spider can keep the network
secure by monitoring only those nodes that have outside access.
This does not prevent an attack from within the system, usually
executed by physically entering the facility that the network
serves and accessing inner nodes directly. This falls under the
spider’s physical duties, along with those of the physical security
of the facility.
communication protocols
A good spider remembers to secure the most vulnerable part
of her system: the users. The strongest Firewall and IC in the world
are no match for an idiot employee with clearance, and a good
hacker knows it. A spider can put into place certain rules of communication
to be followed by the users in a facility to help protect
against a social engineering attack.
For example, a shadowrunner might make a commcall into a
facility posing as a high-level executive in order to steal a passcode
from a night clerk. If that clerk is aware of a policy in place that
states that no management will ever call except on certain lines, or
that they will use certain code words when making such calls, the
chances that the clerk will divulge sensitive information is drastically
reduced.
cryptosense Sculpting
Though unusual, some systems use cryptosense simsense data
in their system sculpting—sensory data such as ultrasound, thermographic,
etc. A user who does not have a proper cryptosense module
(p. 196) and who does not possess that physical sense will not be
able to interpret the data. This will not prevent a hacker from making
Matrix operations, but the lack or confusion of sensory details
might inflict a –1 dice pool modifier to some actions (gamemaster’s
discretion). Use of a reality filter will override cryptosense data.
decoys
Decoys are files and nodes that appear to be more dangerous
than they actually are. By running a Stealth program that targets
a file, a node can make that file appear to be larger or smaller,
Unwired
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9