Question on Spoof and Mutual Signal Range Options

[LivingOxymoron]

Do you need to be in mutual signal range of a device to be able to spoof it, or even to see it in AR/VR at all?

For example, lets say you are 15 meters away from a target laying down suppressive fire with a Machine Gun. The Gun is smartlinked, with a Signal Rating of 0, and wirelessly connected to a Commlink with a Signal 3. The team hacker has a comm with a Signal of 3 also. Can the hacker spoof the gun to drop the ammo box, or does he have to gain entry to the commlink first to even access the smartlink?

[Nosaji]

Yes the hacker has to hack the commlink first in order to spoof the order to drop the ammobox because the gun is not transmitting a signal. In order for devices to interact with each other they need to be within each other's signal range.

Even if the gun had a signal of 3 you might still have to hack the commlink if the guy slaved the gun to his commlink.

*Edit*
Actually now that I think about it would the target even get the benefits of the smartlinked gun due to it not being able to transmit? If that's the case the hacker might want to hack the guy's cybereyes/visual gear to blind him instead =P

[Udoshi]

I am unsure. I will have to look this up in the morning, if someone else hasn't gotten to it by then.

I am guessing, though, that you do not need a subscription to issue commands,(cause, i mean, i'm pretty sure someone could comm their CHN from the road on the way home so dinner's ready by the time they get back, and if you can issue a command, you can spoof it) so you could conceivably send a spoofed command to a device. You have no way of knowing if it responded to the command, either. Plus if it fails you've earned yourself a free restricted alert against your AccessID.

Also, if your opponent is smart, and has the smartgun skinlinked with the wi-fi off(or a cybersafety chip, which overrides wifi input), then your spoof command won't do anything.

So, yeah. It boils down to 'does spoofing require a subscription'. If it does, you need mutual signal range. I don't know off the top of my head, unfortunately.

[Sengir]

In order for devices to interact with each other they need to be within each other's signal range.

Not at all. The matrix is a mesh network, so every node acts as an intermediary for data transfers, and as long as a route exists between two nodes over an arbitrary number of intermediates they can talk to each other.

[DireRadiant]

Do you need to be in mutual signal range of a device to be able to spoof it, or even to see it in AR/VR at all?

For example, lets say you are 15 meters away from a target laying down suppressive fire with a Machine Gun. The Gun is smartlinked, with a Signal Rating of 0, and wirelessly connected to a Commlink with a Signal 3. The team hacker has a comm with a Signal of 3 also. Can the hacker spoof the gun to drop the ammo box, or does he have to gain entry to the commlink first to even access the smartlink?

Issuing the Spoof itself does not need mutual signal range. The device issuing the Spoof must be able to reach the device receiving the Spoof command. You will however need the accessid of the authorized account. In this scenario, assuming the commlink with signal 3 is the authorized one, you would do a matrix perception check on that device, which would need to be in mutual signal range for the devices to recognize each other.

[Nosaji]

Not at all. The matrix is a mesh network, so every node acts as an intermediary for data transfers, and as long as a route exists between two nodes over an arbitrary number of intermediates they can talk to each other.

Well that's fine if you're in the city but I don't think this would apply if you're in a place where there's no signal

[Sengir]

Well that's fine if you're in the city but I don't think this would apply if you're in a place where there's no signal

The whole point of a mesh network is to cover blind spots by rerouting data between the participants, and to create network connectivity where no infrastructure (ie. cell towers) exists.

[Yerameyahu]

So, yes. If you're in a place with no signal, where it's just you and that guy you're spoofing, it could be a problem. It's not a common situation, but it's possible.

[rumanchu]

Actually now that I think about it would the target even get the benefits of the smartlinked gun due to it not being able to transmit? If that's the case the hacker might want to hack the guy's cybereyes/visual gear to blind him instead =P

Just to clarify, Signal 0 devices still transmit/receive out to a range of around 3m (SR4A, p.222).

[Nosaji]

I fail... my bad... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)