So most cyberware has a signal rating of 0, meaning that, in effect, they cannot be hacked wirelessly, but most of them have a datajack so that they can be accessed for diagnostics purposes (I know there are exceptions, but as a general rule this is true, as far as my understanding goes anyway).

My question is this: If I had a drone, lets say a wasp, with a data jack instead of a stinger, could it, in theory, fly over to a cyberarm, plug in, and give me a conduit by which to hack the arm? And by extension could I hack that person's PAN?

Yes.

Also, a Signal Rating of 0 means wireless access within 3 meters, not "no signal."

Oh cool, I didn't realize that. Well none the less, most runners are going to have their wireless disabled I'm sure.



Is that just a blanket yes? Like yes I could hack the arm and therefore hack the PAN? Or is it yes, I can hack the arm?

Any idea what the cost to do such an alteration to the bot might be?

Actually I'd guess that by the 2070s, most cyber tech would be wifi enabled (that 0 signal) enough that obvious or standard plugs wouldn't be standard. The books, to my mind, make it clear that Wifi is the primary method these things use for updates and status checks. I'd argue that a cyber limb doesn't have open exposed ports unless there is a Data Jack installed into that limb.

Mind you, that even if it does have a plug, plugging in won't give you automatic control of the device. You would still need to hack into it to get control of any kind, and if that cyber limb is slaved to the owner's commlink, that could be tough.

I'd recommend getting a fly spy drone with a standard (not full) skin link. Fly it over and land anywhere on the target. If the wifi is on, you can try and hack through that even with signal 0. If, like many street sami's, he is using skin link with his wifi off to protect from hacking & jamming, your drone will be able to connect to that.

Note that the standard $50 skin link electronics mod allows you to have a single spot on the drone/vehicle that is skinlinked. The more expensive 1 slot option is a full surface skin link, and that is more then you need here. You could use the remaining 1 slot on the drone to give it Chameleon coating, making it less likely to be spotted as it sneaks up on your target.

The good news is that once you're connected to anything on the character, you have a link towards his PAN. The details vary by his PAN setup (clustered, slaved, etc).

You rock. Thank you very much. Though I thought I read somewhere about the whole data jack thing... I'm not sure where though. Fly spy here I come.

Wouldn't the PAN you are trying to hack need to have something with skinlink as well?

Yes, a skinlink PAN setup requires that at least something on the target's PAN must be using Skinlink. Without a Skinlink, he will have to be using Wifi or cables.

It is important to note here that in all likelyhood the target has at least 1 wifi node (his commlink) you can reach, and that most of his periferial nodes (his implants and smart guns, etc) will be slaved to this node, so even if you fly over and plug in, skinlink, or just get a singal in range, you will still need to hack into his main "Master" commlink.

But let's say this target street Sami has most of his gear using wifi (signal 0) with his main commlink running Signal 3 as the chokepoint, and with all his gear slaved to the master commlink. Now to spoof his Smartlink on his gun, you'd normaly need to get within signal range of his gun. 3m of a thug with a gun isn't easy for a hacker. With this flying drone, you could move the drone in range, and because the drone has a connection to you, and a higher signal range, you could then send spoof commands through it (mesh network) to slave itself to your commlink.

Now let's say this Street Sami is a bit smarter. He has the wifi on all his devices (except his commlink) turned off, and has attached Skinlink systems to all of them. Now you would need to have a Skinlink yourself, and touch the Street Sami in order to spend spoof commands to his gear. Now this flying drone with a Skinlink could land on the sami and thus give him a Skinlink connection.

The one point where none of this helps is if the Street Sami has all his gear wired to each other thorugh internal cables. This is the case of a Cyber Limb's connection to the brain (and implanted commlinks/datajacks, and any gear impalnted into the cyberlimb, etc). These devices would have wifi anyways, but it could be turned off without needing to put in a skinlink.

It's a nifty toy, but it only gets you a connection to the target. Unless the target has a poorly secured PAN setup (which he might if he is trusting his Skinlink) it will be a Slaved/Master system so you can't easily attack individual devices, but at least you can spoof them.