Any reason a security camera should have a device rating higher than 1? Maybe 2, if it's high-tech? Or do I have the wrong idea about how things work? Any reason it should have a firewall higher than that?

I'm thinking it should be a little tough to hack into one, since it's a security device, but are they robust enough?

You can assign whatever Device rating you see fit.

As for Firewall, it's not restricted by System or Response, so you can theoretically have a rating 6 Firewall on even a very low powered device.

I'm feeling lazy again, but aren't security devices ( Rating 4 ) by default?

Personally I figure that the corps worth running against load their systems up with the best software their systems can run.

Yes, but I'd be careful about saying that around players. They'll whine that the Pilot and autosoft ratings on drones that were "designed for security" are only 3, and try to weasel free upgrades. Of course, if it was me behind the Big Black Screen, I'd let them have it if they also paid the difference for the upgrade.

defaults only apply for non-statted gear

The camera itself seems fine at rating 1. In terms of hard to hack, it could:

a) have a reasonable firewall (3 or 4 seems ok)
b) be slaved to a security node (with good firewall, guarded by a spider, with some patrolling IC, etc)
c) not be running in wireless mode, but be wired to the security node

or any combination of the above. Personally, I think b and c make sense, you don't want someone easily hacking your peripheral security devices, especially since they contain a link to your security node, but installing high rating firewalls into camera's will entail serious costs and unnecessary upgrades to their hardware. Of course, small businesses might not have particularly smart setups and just have wireless-enabled rating 1 cameras linked to the owner's commlink.

I'd say rating 4 for security cameras. Lower for just a webcam kinda thing.

And of course people with cash could pay for better. Or worse if they don't.

security drones have a default rating of 4, except where explicitly mentioned in the books (per the FAQ).

so it has a response and signal of 4, iirc, and could accept a pilot 4 program with no modification to the drone itself.

I'm thinking of a very large facility, where most of the security cams are hardwired in, but some difficult and/or less secure areas, they're wireless. So would it make sense to have a general device rating of 1 or 2, but a firewall of 4? Is that sort of firewall too cost-prohibitive to have those cameras all over the place? I'm just trying to get a feel for what is normal.

Last week, my hacker was getting frustrated, because I was rolling 7 dice to detect him. He'd hack in every time, but I'd detect him every time. He had a four stealth, and I'd get two or three rolls to come up with my four successes. Of course, after we realized it was a system+response (10, 1 turn) test to shut down, he stopped caring.

Thanks, folks.

"So, what's the Wireless Signal on that 2050 Closed Circuit Camera?" "0." "Which means..." "Which means you're going to be unhooking the Coax Cable and plugging in directly." "Ewwwwwwwwwwwww... That's like... So five years ago!"