I'd like to make sure I'm thinking about building a matrix site correctly and to a lesser extent, what it would take to hack. I'm hoping someone can tell me whether what I've described below is reasonable and/or how to improve it.

The physical side of matrix design in terms of weak networks behind paint etc. makes sense. Does this seem like a good example for an entity which is completely online?

Description: The Office Tower houses a variety of businesses through a central entry point.

Node 1 - Public represents "The Lobby". There are a number of businesses that individuals can access here without any specific credentials. Interfacing with individual businesses is either done through agents running in the public node, or connecting to the individual nodes. Agents represented by kiosks perhaps? The majority of businesses though reside in the Tower. Security running here keeps virtual vandals, etc. at bay. Could be IC, matrix security guard or both.

Node 2 - Access to the Towers; This is represented by a guard station and elevators. The elevators provide access to all of the businesses in the Towers. Visitors must sign in (register current matrix address?) and pick up a badge to access their desired business. The badge provides access to the "Elevator" which is the gateway to the individual business nodes. If the individual has access waiting then their badge also includes security credentials to bypass IC at the respective business. Otherwise their appearance will be met by someone likely with IC, a security hacker or both to determine the nature of the visit. Nodes that can be accessed from here fall into 1 of 3 categories. The first is as described above.

The second group would be those "floors" that require a security key to access. In these cases the matrix address of the business needs to be provided by the guard (or lifted from someone else traveling through) in order to access. These nodes are far more likely to also have security credentials waiting and a more hostile response to uninvited guests.

If a user has Security access in Node 2 they will have all of these Matrix addresses and can get to any of the nodes in group 1 or 2, but will still face security from the attached nodes. In some cases where the business is paying "The Office Tower" to provide security, credentials from Node 2 would correspond to the attached nodes allowing the user to move freely into the next node.

The third group of nodes are the highly secure ones. These are hidden nodes that must be detected first. Once detected, determining what it is requires a decryption effort to identify it and then administrative access to establish a connection. Those with proper credentials would already see the Matrix ID of the associated node and are likely to have security credentials. Accessing these nodes without authentication usually yields a swift and harsh response. IC or guards monitor for any new connections and respond appropriately.

Does that sound like a reasonable all Matrix node / hub? My intent is that a hidden hacker's club resides here as one of the group 3 hidden nodes.

Thoughts?

With a sweep of his...

Hat

To be fair, I only really skimmed it, but it looks like you've hit all the pertinent points.

Separating node 1 and 2 does not really do anything for your system. The relevant servers can all be part of one node with integrated iconography (actually the one you are describing, so this is nitpicking. Sue me ). The elevator can display "hidden" systems based on information broadcast by the user, be it the SIN or the presence of a physical passkey. Evil GMs might limit the elevator to AR control...

Now we arrange a spiders net for your security personell. The central systems and those systems Office Tower Inc. is providing matrix security for are all connected to the security station. Each of those systems gets a different security account, while the security station hosts a script called "connect to all nodes selected from list".

The advantage gained by that setup is that hacking the "elevator" does not gain you access to all subsystems. Access to all subsystems can still be gained by hacking the central security station, but that requires you to first find the connection and then hack the very node hosting most of the buildings IC.


Idea:
The hidden hacker´s club is running on the AR-enabled (and heavily upgraded) coffee maker someone gave to the old janitor. It is connected to the employee node, which is not public, not ultra-secure, but frequented by the security personell, too.

Ryu,

Thanks for the ideas. The entire Office Tower though is strictly a matrix construct. There isn't a physical correlary to it. I'm assuming that the reference to AR Control only for the elevator is if the site was physical?

With a sweep of his...

Hat

Yes, I did not get the "virtual-only" part.

Given that it's virtual only would you change any of your suggestions?

With a sweep of his...

Hat

The AR-controlled elevator is dead of course. Else, no.

If this was a physical operation, you would have more options of hiding the processing power for your hacker club. The basic idea is to use an existing, inconspicuous device to hide a substantial virtual operation. Any extra node you have to hide can be discovered, but noone will suspect an innocent household device.

It looks good to me, the H club could be hiding in a plant or thur the ceiling hatch in the elevator.

The problem is you need like a million billion nodes (or more accurately 1 per 3 employees) assuming they work of central servers for like.. a media company.

Bizarre stuff.