Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: wayfinder Mar 20 2010, 10:44 PM

Want a way to reduce unnecessary bloodshed and completely transform the nature of business? It's as simple as a biomonitior.

If every person in a corporate facility is required to wear a biomonitor, a simple security protocol can be established by the data received. Any sign of physical violence, unexplained lapses in consciousness, death or any other set of criteria would immidiately set security to a red alert.

Suddenly that easy to take care of guard at the backdoor is a giant roadblock. Can't shoot him, can't knock him out, in fact you couldn't even scare him too much or the alert is sounded.

Going to convince that wageslave to steal some data for you by putting up his family at your "summer home"? He might go for it, but security is going to be watching him like a hawk when he walks in Monday morning with his blood pressure through the roof.

I've done this to several different groups and every time it completely changes their game plans. Way less shoot our way in and shoot our way out, and way more careful planning and stealth.

Some might say this diminishes the role of combat specialists but I find that it oppositely increases their role. If the first time you have to knock out a guard every available gun descends on your position, that street sammie is your only ticket out alive.

Posted by: LurkerOutThere Mar 20 2010, 10:46 PM

At our tables this gets lumped into a big pile titled "Hacker's job"

Posted by: Rotbart van Dainig Mar 20 2010, 10:46 PM

Yeah, if wireless security would be strong, this would actually mean something more than a roadblock.

Get the feed, spoof it, jam the original, take him out. Or hack biomonitor and edit the feed. Or just hack the main node and edit every feed.

Posted by: Nifft Mar 20 2010, 10:58 PM

What can a Biomonitor do about Control Thoughts, or Influence?

Posted by: kjones Mar 20 2010, 11:18 PM

One problem with this kind of system is that it would have a lot of false positives. Your guard nods off at his post, and suddenly it's a red alert. (Well, maybe that one isn't so bad...) You'd have to be careful about what you trigger on - vitals, like pulse, BP, resps, etc., vary pretty widely over the course of a normal day.

Note that there is precedence for this kind of system. Anyone here play Batman: Arkham Asylum? Some of the people you fight are wearing collars that set off an alarm when they're taken down - so you need to do it quickly and not stick around.

Finally, hacking/magic takes care of this one as already noted.

Posted by: Saint Sithney Mar 21 2010, 12:17 AM

False positives can be handled by checking the sec feed, so that's not too much of an issue. Really, if you can't kill the cameras, motion detectors will peg you the second you enter and your movements don't mesh with the sectag overlay that keeps track of everyone's position 24/7. If you don't have their computers once you're inside, you should probably be crawling through a vent on your way to chop into their feed.

But, combine biomonitors with auto-injectors full of stims and suddenly less than fatal ministrations become a liability.

Posted by: wayfinder Mar 21 2010, 01:42 AM

I'm glad to see the glaring problems were caught right away.

1) false positives would be a major issue for the run of the mill office building.

2) It is just as easy to bypass as cameras, motion detectors, RFID tags, or any other electronic device. Hacking is the end all of electronic security.

The use of a constant surveillence system while every conspiracy theorist wet dream, poses too many devils in the details to accomplish on a large scale. This is partly covered in the Runners Companion. However in small scale high security facilities the options are greater. You know the kind of places runners tend to have to go. Those type of facilities would be the place to have such a system. As a backup to other systems like cameras, motion detectors, drones etc. as a backup it would run on a secondary node more like admin instead of security. Try hacking 2 nodes at the same time even in the same system and see how good your hacking skills are.

Posted by: KCKitsune Mar 21 2010, 03:41 AM

Heck, why not hack your way in and add your biomonitor to the system so you register as a legit person. You can walk right in and get what you need and then walk out.

Posted by: toturi Mar 21 2010, 09:25 AM

Not if he has high blood pressure in the first place (which in a high stress environment isn't that uncommon). And while that may work for rank and file wageslaves, the people who have access to the paydata are more likely to be the execs. Who are more likely to want a Monday morning nookie with Jane from HR.

Posted by: FriendoftheDork Mar 21 2010, 04:52 PM

Yup.

I could see some specific people having such attached, in various situations, but no blanket coverage. This would either be for security goons at a super-secure facility (who don't have the liberty of privacy), or for super-VIPs (project managers of certain projects, head researchers etc.), in other words the people the runner might have to extract.

Also the broadcasting of these monitors might be only in certain situations such as:

1. Subject fails to report in at a preset time (hourly etc.)
2. Subject is far away from other personell (or their PANs actually)
3. An alarm/alert is triggered.

In any case, this can be bypassed as easily as every other security device. The advantage is of course this is yet another line of defense the runners have to bypass and probably know about. This could be in addition to:

Comlink's with DNI to send emergency signals virtually undetectable.
Cybereyes that record every incident - which means eyewitnesses are able to remember everything in detail AND dead men can talk.
Hidden cameras and other sensors the runners doesen't think/care to scan for.

These fairly typical systems, not uncommon for standard citizens, could help give runners nightmares. And means Jammers are one of the most important weapons in the runners' arsenal - too bad they're Forbidden.

Posted by: Teulisch Mar 22 2010, 03:08 AM

the cost of the biomonitor hardware will add up quickly as more units are required. if your hardware costs get too high then you have less money to spend on other, more practical security measures. there's a cost/benefit problem here that explains why they are not that common.

also- if a central hub can receive data from those biomonitors, then it can be hacked more easily. information flow is a two-way street, which means your broadcasting one of your security computers to the incoming hackers. good security will break its matrix systems into two or more parts, one of these being offline hardwired stuff like cameras and elevators- hacking it would need a bit of electronics to splice in, and those access points often have alarms as well.

i can see biomontors on security guards being more of a R&D test to get a wide enough set of data for the new prototype, which could be an interesting detail for a run.

Posted by: Ascalaphus Mar 22 2010, 08:48 AM

Biomonitors aren't all that expensive - about as expensive as a pistol. And while they're vulnerable to hackers, they do protect you against any outfits without hackers. That's quite an advantage; there's no security measure that does everything.

Posted by: Fatum Mar 22 2010, 11:23 AM

There are outfits without hackers?

Posted by: FriendoftheDork Mar 22 2010, 12:26 PM

Pistols are fairly expensive. Having to spend 300:nuyen: extra per guard actually matters, at least it does it real life. In the world of Security, experts spend a lot of time thinking how cheap they can provide the minimum of security, and thus everything not essential they will not waste money on. How much does the added cost of biomonitors negate or lessen losses from eventual critical events? In the risk vs cost analysis, they might simply not be worth it.

Posted by: Ascalaphus Mar 22 2010, 12:44 PM

On the other hand, it's the sort of thing that unions (if any still exist) might insist on. Also, they have their value in medical response and employee morale.

Sure, they might not be used in low-risk environments, but in moderate-risk I think biomonitors are really one of the more cost-effective security measures.

Posted by: lunavoco Mar 22 2010, 01:06 PM

I know my TM can't wait to meet a security guard with a BIO monitor.

"We have security personell with hardware designed to monitor/aid his vital functions? I'll take two please."

Posted by: Warlordtheft Mar 22 2010, 01:10 PM

Also if that security outfit provides health insurance, they may have a bio-monitor for the guards any way. While I understand the cheap factor and bean counting, would be one aspect. A bean counter would note that a hopistal bill is less than death benefits.

Posted by: Rotbart van Dainig Mar 22 2010, 01:29 PM

Uhm… it's not like having Biomonitors on your guards is completely out of question – in fact, it's pretty sensible.

But it isn't a "giant roadblock" either – it's just more reason for the hacker to tag along.

Posted by: FriendoftheDork Mar 22 2010, 01:45 PM

Yes and no. Guards working in teams can monitor one another. As for employee morale, I'd think some people would have issues about being monitored that closely. However, by asking my female college she would love to have it if she were working night shifts alone for example.

I'm thinking it could be a service rendered to security personnel willing to pay for the actual monitor themselves. Also, I'd think typical guards working by themselves and at risk of assault would be wearing uniformed Urban Explorer Jumpsuits, which actually have biomonitors included in the price. Which means It is dirt cheap and offer good protection even against close combat attacks and falls/crashes.

In my first run with the group I had the nightshift guard have such a suit, while the receptionist style guard did not.

Posted by: The Jopp Mar 22 2010, 01:56 PM

This depends on the company.

Smaller companies would have a smaller need due to a smaller security staff. Buying say 20 of them would not be very cost efficient since they are bound to break down eventually. So they lease them at a cost of 10% of original price per month.

They get free upgrades, replaced broken ones at a cost of 600Y per month instead of a one cost of 6000Y and having to replace them once a year.

We could most likely reduce that cost even further by 200Y per month since they are likely to write a contract spanning a few years with the company selling biomonitors or directly with a security company.

Larger companies might do the same or get a 30% bulk discount or even get them almost free from one of their subsidiary companies that produce a brand of biomonitors (tax deductable).

Posted by: LurkerOutThere Mar 22 2010, 05:05 PM

I wasn't trying to say that biomonitors are useless nor that they wouldn't make a fair amount of sense especially amongst your security and guard details. Furthermore anyone who sports a tacnet should at the very least have a biomonitor in it as well to keep their squad mates appraised of their status.

The only argument against tacnets are cost and info to noise ratio. It doesn't make a lot of sense for every employee to be wired to them, but for security staff at most places yes I can certainly see them being standard issue.

Posted by: dirkformica Mar 22 2010, 10:54 PM

You'd only need a number of biomonitors equal to your active employees. They're just wristbands, more or less, so you don't need some customization for each person. They'd just share them and leave them behind when they're off duty.

However, from a GM perspective, I probably wouldn't have everyone walking around with biomonitors simply because then they all just create one more hoop for the decker to jump through. Hell, if everyone has a biomonitor it just becomes a standard "you come up to a door, what do you do? The thief detects noise, then he searches for traps, then he unlocks the door." That got boring back in AD&D pretty quick being the thief same with your decker. I figure they have enough crap to keep them occupied that I don't need them to have to hack and/or suppress every biomonitor they run acrosss. I'd probably reserve them for specific highly important individuals. Besides, if everyone has them then it's not a surprise you can use later on key individuals. Then it might actually matter if the decker has to take an extra round or two to take care of the biomonitor and it adds to the drama of the moment.