comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

Hardware: Saeder-Krupp Schwermetall high-security
nexus (Persona Limit 25, Processor Limit 110)
Authentication:
User: Linked Passcode
Security and Admin: Nanotech Passkey
Privileges: Standard, plus user accounts may make transactions
on their own accounts
Attributes: Firewall 9, Response 8, Signal 4, System 8
(all nodes)
Spiders: 2 Matrix Support Specialists and 4 Risk
Management Engineers on duty at all times
IC: 3 Watanabe Electric Kitsune 7, 2 Renraku Oniwaban
8, 2 Rumpelstiltskin 8, 2 MCT Bloodhound 8 (patroling)
Resident Programs: Analyze 8
ARC: Scramble Security Hacker
Topology: The topology
is that of the onionskin, with
a spiral of sixteen successive
nodes. Each node is a gateway
to the next. Node 1 has access
via wireless to the Matrix. Each
node is connected to the previous
and following nodes by
fiber optic cable. Nodes 2–8
are for standard clients, nodes
9–12 are for more exclusive
clients, and node 13–14 are
for exclusive clients. Node 15
handles both the administration
and physical security in the
building, and node 16 is connected
to the satellite uplink.
aBStract Matrix rUnS
Sometimes it is impractical to run an entire
system during play. This is especially true when
the entire group of players is present, and there
is only one Matrix specialist at the table. In these
cases, simply abstract the entire system into a
single meta-node. Use the highest values of each
attribute for the meta-node, along with as much
of the IC and running programs as is feasible.
For example, the BIS Büro sample system
would be abstracted to a single node with Firewall
5, Response 4, Signal 4, System 5, one Security
Consultant, a patrolling MCT Bloodhound, and a
loaded Three Musketeers Suite.
SecUritY in action
So what does all of this look like in action? How might
the various components of a secure system work to prevent,
or at least slow, an intrusion? This is an extended example of
the security involved in a hacking attempt. The example uses
the Professional Spider from Sample Spiders, p. 68, and the
Choson Lair sample node, above.
SecUritY exaMpLe
Jin, a Professional Spider for the Choson, has been assigned
to secure a new Lair in Seattle. She is monitoring the
node in AR, but her attention is focused on her morning
soaps.
The node is running Analyze, Encrypt, and a Kitsune
IC program. Additionally, the IC is running its own Analyze
program, for a total of four programs, well below the sixteenprogram
limit of the node.
A hacker has broken the Lair’s encryption, probed the
system, and enters the node. The node is running Analyze, and
makes a single Analyze + Firewall Test to detect the intrusion.
The gamemaster rolls eight dice for the node and gets four
hits, missing the hacker’s Stealth by one hit. The hacker enters
the node with a hacked admin account.
Unwired
The Kitsune IC running on the node is programmed to
check out new icons, and it does so. The Kitsune icon greets
the intruder and performs a Matrix Perception Test using its
own Analyze program, rolling eight dice in an Opposed Test
against the hacker’s Stealth + Hacking, which is a dice pool of
12. The IC rolls four hits, and the hacker rolls four; with zero
net hits, the Kitsune finds nothing suspicious about this new
icon, and allows the hacker to operate within the node.
The hacker performs a Deactivate Agent action to shut
down the Kitsune program before it has a chance to see
through his Stealth program. Since this action is allowed to
users with admin accounts, there is no roll needed, and the
Kitsune program’s status switches from running to loaded.
Since Jin is watching the node, she makes a Matrix
Perception Test to see if she notices the program being shut
down, and succeeds. She
performs a Log On action to
activate a subscription and arrive
in the node, using a Free
Action to flip into VR. The
hacker then performs his own
action to accomplish his mission
in the node.
Jin is suspicious enough
to initiate an active alert, and
does so as a Free Action on her
next turn. The node executes its
ARC, immediately launching
the Juhseung Saja IC program.
Jin then spends a Complex
Action to load an Attack program,
ending her turn.
The hacker sees the IC
activating and recognizes its icon. He tries to get the system
to unload it, figuring (correctly) that he might have more
Initiative Passes than the spider and so buy some time. He rolls
his Hacking + Exploit (a dice pool of 12) against the node’s
Firewall + System (8 dice). The hacker rolls five hits, but so
does the node, so his attempt fails.
The IC loads its Blackout program, while Jin takes a
shot at the intruder. She makes a Cybercombat + Attack Test
against the hacker’s Firewall + Response. She gets three hits,
while the hacker only gets two, and causes 4 DV of Matrix
damage. The hacker manages to resist all of this damage with
his System + Armor, but only barely.
At this point, the hacker decides to bail, and disconnects
from the node. Jin shuts down the Juhseung Saja IC and assesses
the damage. The node’s file system has been compromised, and
the hacker got away with the data he wanted. However, he did
not have time to remove his datatrail from the node’s access log,
and Jin runs and then uses a Track program using that information.
She finds out that the hacker was making his run from the
Pine Cone Restaurant near I-90, and sends that information to
operatives in the field. She goes back to her soaps, knowing that
even if the operatives investigate the restaurant, the hacker will be
long gone.
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9
79
systeM security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .