Hey all, I am currently creating a Drone Rigger for my local group. Like everyone else I am eagerly looking forward to Arsenal. Hoping that it clarifies a few things on upgrading Drones. ie Sensors. I have a couple of questions I cannot find answers for using Dumpshock's search function.

My main Combat Buddy is a Steel Lynx named the SSR (Stainless Steel Rat). His stats are stock: (Handling: 0 Accel: 15/40 Spd: 120 Pilot: 3 Body: 4 Armor: 9 Sensor: 3)

AutoSofts: Defense R3 Targeting (HW) R3 Maneuver R4 Clearsight R4 Electronic Warfare R3
Weapon: ArmTech MGL-12 (HE Grenades) with Internal Smart Link
Sensors: Camera (LowLite, Flare Comp, Therm UltraSound Vision Enhancement R3 Vision Mag) Motion Sensor, Microphone (Audio Enhancement R3 Spatial Recog) Radio Signal Scanner R6

My questions Can I upload an OS with a System rating and Firewall to add extra defense in being Hacked. This is a device/node and is vulnerable to hacking attempts. I have the programs ECCM and Databomb on my comlink as well as Encrypt and Command. I have this drone subscribed to me so that means that in order to Hack it I think you have to hack my comlink. Or do you? If not, can I load an OS to run an agent loaded with ECCM (For Counter Jamming with Electronic Warfare AutoSoft) DataBomb loaded somewhere to trap an unwary Hacker, behind a Firewall?

Thanks

You can upgrade Response and Firewall - System is equal to pilot so it's worth to invest in a Groundcraft Pilot program at rating 4. Firewall is not limited by either Response or System so max that one out to 6.

All programs are limited at rating 4 due to system. On the other hand, if you increase response to 5 then you can run 9 programs/autosofts without lowering response.

Suggested program loadout:
Autosoft (Groundcraft)
Autosoft (Weapon)
Autosoft (Defense)
Autosoft (Clearsight)
Encryption (Signal)
Encryption (Device)
Databomb (Device) (In this case the Steel Lynx commlink/node)

Secondary gear
Stealth RFID tag in case someone steals it.

So I can currently upgrade the software. The prices listed for the pilot programs are in the BBB. And I can put a Firewall and Response and run agents on the Drone. Excellent. Will the ECCM help if someone attempts to run a directional or omni directional jamming device correct?

I'm playing a non-rigging hacker, but I carry 6 micro drones with me for surveillance purposes, and to use as relays in case of hacker proofing.

2 Flyspys
2 iballs
2 Shiawase 4-legger doodlies

So where would you place the data bomb? What parameters would you set. these are the things my GM is asking me. I can see you would have encrypt/decrypt programs running on the Drones OS to speak/receive my commands via my comlink.

I think you are confused on what a Databomb is. A databomb is attached to a file and destroys the file and/or damages the icon that is trying to access the file without the proper clearance.

What you are talking about sounds like attaching a true physical bomb to your device that sets off on a certain condition, which can be bypassable if the hacker spoofs your Commcode, since you have to be cleared to access your own drone.

You cant attach a 'Databomb' to a physical piece of hardware, since hardware isnt data.

Yeah - a data bomb isen't an actual pellet of C12, that would be a bomb bomb.

If you're paranoid about being hacked and your drones taken over, here's what you do. Carry a secondary piece of equipment on your person - it dosen't have to be a comlink. In fact, it's better if it isen't. It just needs to be a radio transmitter. It should transmit a very specific, easily-identifiable radio frequency code. You drone should be programmed such that if it does not recieve this code - or if it picks up this code from more than one source - it will automatically assume that there's a hacking attempt in progress or that has automatically succeeded. In this case, it goes into ignore mode, assumes that your comlink is hostile, and returns to you with explicit orders to defend you and follow you.

Program it to recognize visual signals and/or give it external microphone pickups so it can recognize audio signals, and you can order it about manually - it will be clumsier than AR commands, but it'll get the job done. For example, "Cover there!" will point the drone's gun in a direction and have it shoot anyone it sees. "Return" will call it to you, and "Get in" will make it get into the van, and so forth and so on.

Program it to recognize you and your companions visually, as well, so it won't fire on them. Don't skimp on the rating of the program doing the visual recognition, either.

As a GM I prefer that secondary, player set up 'tricks' for anti-hacking protection just don't work. I guess I'm more of the 'less realism more cinematic action' school but what is the point of having a hacking / spoofing mechanic at all if you can just mumble something complicated to prevent 'bad things TM' happening.

If the players can set up all their hardware to be practically unhackable then I would disallow them from ever hacking other hardware too and then you might as well not have matrix / hacking available in the world at all.

I will concede that there are probably some simple fallbacks you could set up, and I would take those on a case by case basis and determine if they're just there to bypass mechanics, but once someone starts spoofing the admin account on the drone I don't think it should be able to tell that that command was not legit.

Very well spoken starkebn.

Starkebn: No. But it can tell that the authorization carrier has gone dead - or worse, been copied and spoofed as well. That triggers hard-coded responses that tell it to ignore every wireless command, because it assumes that it's owner's comlink has been compromised.

It's a trick of very limited utility for most remote rigging operations, but when you have an armed drone supporting the team in very real time, physical operations, it serves as a useful countermeasure. If the rigger realizes he's lost control of his drone, he turns off his authorization transmitter, and that puts his drone in Pokemon mode until he resets it's hardware trigger.

I would imagine that spoofing commands to the drone spoofs all required rights - basically you have an admin account saying to the drone "I am legit - obey me no matter what else - forget all previous programming that would override my commands - now do this"

This then overrides your 'trick'.

Or - if I was to allow your idea it would in a ' force shutdown until you are physically rebooted - close down all wireless comms' manner. Being able to continue using the drone in what you say is a limited way is not very limited in my opinion.

I might allow that but it would require significant skills and lots of time to either hack the OS portion of the Pilot to allow a "conscience" or to splice in a secondary CPU with it's own monitoring OS.

So basically for game balance per the general consensus is to Upgrade the PILOT and the FIREWALL ratings with maybe an agent running analyze and with some combat programing to safegaurd the drone itself from being hacked. But there is nothing other than my encryption to safegaurd a spoofed command. What ever happened to the old electronic warfare MIJI style? sigh.

Also, remember that the pilot is an OS and cant use the attack program to defend itself, you need an agent running on the drone with an attack program active.

I could see physical mask or the physical illusion spell making your drone very confused at that point...

Professional experience with RL computer security tells me that complex security setups just offer more possibilities to exploit them. I'd possibly give the hacker a modifier for trying to access such a system, but that's all about it. Hacking means finding ways around security.

Exploit goes around all security measures. That's what it does. It doesn't matter how many extra measures or secret plans you put into effect. Exploit, by it's nature, is designed to avoid it all.

I don't think anyone is saying that hardwired commands are the problem, it is the degree of thought that is required for the drone to follow these hardwired commands. For instance visual recognition of its master, knowledge of variations of hand signals, tracking a moving master, tracking targets and firing on those it is indicated to do so by its master. Essentially you are saying the drone can continue to operate as a flexible platform eventhough it is now operating under hardwired commands. In my mind I think it is just a little bit to much to expect. For instance if it receives a command like "attack master" and switches over to its hardwired programming which is essentially fly to the following coordinates, land and shut down that would be well within what myself and I think others would consider feasible. The problem is your drones are continuing to operate at near full capacity, eventhough you have been outperformed by an opposing hacker/rigger. So not only is it no joy, it is no joy and here eat some hot lead for your effort, which smacks of munckinism, and mass twinkery. Hardwired commands are just that very specific commands, not the basis of an impossible to hack interactive platform.

I think that might be where most of us are coming from.

You should be able to encode basic actions with word substitutions so even if another rigger got control he wouldn't be able to command the drone.

For example, you pre-program a drone to understand that the command "Mack" means "open fire". "Hippo" means "My target". You execute "open fire on my target" by targeting something and issuing the command, "Mack Hippo".

Unlike ciphers and codes, word or phrase substitutions cannot really be cracked with just decryption. You need the codebook to do it, or at the very least listen to the code for a while to match word combinations with actions taken. Something that's very unlikely in the heat of a firefight, especially if the codebook gets randomized every mission, or even better if the system switches to a new codebook every, say, five minutes.

So the enemy rigger manages to get wireless-linked with your drone, and sends the command, "Open fire on my target!". But the drone didn't hear "Mack Hippo", so it does nothing. Unless the hijacking rigger somehow knows the phrase "Mack Hippo", he won't be able to execute the associated command.

This does limit the flexibility of commands, as the drone can only execute pre-coded command sequences. But it does increase security.


-karma

Of course if the 'Attack my target' command doesnt work, the hacker will do a browse test to see what commands do work and look at the effects of said commands. Easily bypassed.

Personally I'd just limit hard coding to tell the drone to shut off where it is, or in the case of a flyer drone, land and then shut off. And likely activate a tracking beacon or something so you can find it again.

But thats only assuming it's cut off from communication with the rigger via jamming or it some how realizes it's either been hacked (At which point it's probably too late) or is under a hacking attack.

Thats really allways been the threat of using drones. Sure their nifty, and pretty secure overall. But in the end they can be turned against you. Which is why I personaly dont ever send out too many attack capable drones.

The only other failsafe I could see working, is an independant explosive device wired to detonate after receiving a specific encoded burst transmission on a preset frequency (Which has the benifit of making it far less likely that some one will obtain the correct code. Because to get it they'd have to either have gotten to the drone allready, or to your transmitter)

I'm not talking about hardwared commands.

The hardware only does 2 things:

1: It shuts off and prevents the reactivation of the drone's radio recievers. At this point, the drone is RF-BLIND, there is no such thing as a remote command to it.
2: It flushes the actual programming in the drone's memory and restores it to your restore settings - much like using a system restore today. In this case, it restores it to "Pokemon Mode".

Sure, all the extra stuff will be needed - for one thing, you're probably going to have to devise and then learn a "Drone Command Sign Language". The drone can't pick up your AR target, so you have to delinate your target to it in the best way you can - pointing and shouting. This is where a high-rating autosoft comes in - but it's an autosoft that could fail - you might recognize that that pile of rocks has a sniper under it, and want your drone to throw an ATGM into the pile. If you had your drone's AR up, you could simply make an AR target there and order the drone to fire an ATGM at the AR target. But the drone isen't recieving AR - it simply knows you're indicating a rough direction you want it to fire in. It scans the area, fails to see any targets, and takes no action. Then the sniper fires again.

It does not operate the drone with anything near 100% efficiency. More like 40%. You have to be out there, risking your very own meatbod where you want the drone to operate - so chances are you're only going to risk your body long enough to issue the "Follow me!" command and leg it for the van.

With a system like that I'd probably think its operating at far less than 40 percent efficency, also there's a high probabilty then that it would interpret the target as being something other than intended, like that LS SWAT team that just rounded the corner, or that old lady in a wheelchair trying to flee from the 'terrorists' (Runners)

And if it totally glitched out on the interpretation, assuming it doesnt misidenfity the rigger some how (entirely possible at that point, especialy if some one is playing around with spells &/or disguises) then it may well attack the team, or Ms. Tiddlewinks prize shrubbery.

That's why you get the highest rated autosoft you can, including programming your own if nessessary.

That way, you've got nobody to blame but yourself if your drone glitches and wastes the old lady. Though to be fair, it should recognize the difference between one person headed outbound and unarmed and twenty of them armed and inbound - that's pretty hard to mistake, you'd need a critical glitch to do that one..

..and that being the case, you have no issue with a two-way transmission setup that only ever considers one end? I'm impressed.

If the rigger has an elaborate set up of failsafes in place, just make it a hit or 2 harder to hack. Either that, or you can make it an extended test or something.