Agent Smith Army problem solved!, Botnet vs Botnet = Real life solution to ASA Options

[Buster]

Here's an interesting solution to the Hack-a-Stack and Agent Smith Army problems in Shadowrun: Just let the armies roll. The real life solution to massive DDOS attacks seems to lie in the whitehats possessing their own friendly botnets to deal with the invasion.

http://technology.newscientist.com/article...iendly-one.html

[Jaid]

the main problem with this is that shadowrun is a game. and we kinda want the hacker himself to be relevant, not just a guy who presses a button once and then sits back and hopes he has a bigger army than his target.

[Stahlseele]

hiw's that even work?
do they just switch the nodes in line and have the connections go from each node to the sides like many little +++++++++++ ?
so if the first + goes down the connection between the 1'st and 2nd + gets severed and the 2nd + does the connection for all of the other +'s behind?

[Zak]

What it does, is adding a security net against DDoS attacks. They add more IP's and ways of routing, so it becomes harder to shut down the actual server(s). But DDoS attacks are just one option for Botnets.

This looks way more interesting. Entering corrupted or wrong data into existing botnets might be a way to make them unattractive. One Net at a time, each involving loads of research and work. And who knows how many independent ones run out there.

Another interesting question is the legality of this kind of work.

[hyzmarca]

The problem with agent army vs. agent army is that it is all a matter of financial resources. If you allow the agent army then the corporate node wins. End of sentence. Because the corporate node can always field more agents than the hacker on the street can.

[Larme]

Just wait for Unwired, and in the meantime just hit your players in the nuts if they want to do Agent Smith (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Starmage21]

If youre players are trying to do Agent Smith, the GM is FAILing at creating nodes. Theyre probobly the GMs that use all rating 6 nodes.

[sunnyside]

Just wait for Unwired, and in the meantime just hit your players in the nuts if they want to do Agent Smith (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Do you know for a fact they're addressing this or just hopeful?

[Larme]

Fact. I think they mentioned it in a dev chat. They will definitely eliminate Agent Smith in Unwired.

[kzt]

Fact. I think they mentioned it in a dev chat. They will definitely eliminate Agent Smith in Unwired.

That they think they are eliminating it is true. They said they were going to fix bloodzilla too.....

[Larme]

That they think they are eliminating it is true. They said they were going to fix bloodzilla too.....

Correction: they're fixing it to their satisfaction. They can't do it to your exacting specifications unfortunately, so you might have to *gasp* tweak the rules to your own liking.

[Buster]

The problem with agent army vs. agent army is that it is all a matter of financial resources. If you allow the agent army then the corporate node wins. End of sentence. Because the corporate node can always field more agents than the hacker on the street can.

Why do peasants always think corporations have infinite resources? Resources have to be allocated appropriately across a broad range of sites, they can't pour all their money into securing one site. Even if that site is valuable to them, they have many other sites that are also valuable to them, so they have to spread their money out. Plus corporations have other bills to pay, like peasant salaries.

[Buster]

the main problem with this is that shadowrun is a game. and we kinda want the hacker himself to be relevant, not just a guy who presses a button once and then sits back and hopes he has a bigger army than his target.

A real hacker KNOWS his army is bigger than his opponent's! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[CanRay]

*Insert typical "Size" joke here*

[Jaid]

Why do peasants always think corporations have infinite resources? Resources have to be allocated appropriately across a broad range of sites, they can't pour all their money into securing one site. Even if that site is valuable to them, they have many other sites that are also valuable to them, so they have to spread their money out. Plus corporations have other bills to pay, like peasant salaries.

not infinite. just less finite than the average hacker.

particularly since matrix defenses are one of the things you can allocate on an 'as needed' basis from a central location extremely easily.

[CanRay]

An example of a Corporate Site dealing with budget issues.