The short story is US Vice President Dick Cheney feared that terrorists might hack his implanted defibrillator and shock him to death. Basically brick his heart because his heart was wireless for doctors to remotely monitor his condition.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/20...is-heart/70710/

My response is:
Sure. You could do that.

But would you do it in combat instead of throwing lead at him?

(That is: the wireless bricking mechanic of cyberware is totally reasonable--ignoring the WTF bonuses--but it's more a question of action efficiency)

My question would be : WTF is Dick doing in combat ?

but seriously, this is just another in the long list of tools available to miscreants

it was only last month Parrot AR drones were the new evil,

Now, there's some angry terrorist stood in the audience with his finger on the self destruct button to your pacemaker ..

Damn ... you can't make this stuff up !!

Wanking.
</guttermind>

I meant more generally. -Dick +GI Joe, same vulnerability, but I don't think the GI will have the same concern.

Point is, the only reason it's a concern is because Cheney would be the target of an assassination, which in a game world is exactly the kind of awesome hacking possibilities we want. But for general scenarios, it's not a viable tactic of taking someone down. Tasers, bullets, chem-patches...all just as effective and take less time.

Tasers, bullets, chem-patches are all just as effective, sure, but the security detail is going to be looking for that sort of thing - they're the only ones who are supposed to be armed near the VIP, after all - but a guy with a deck? Plenty of people around for whom their deck is their job. Just another point of vulnerability for them to deal with, of course, and they'll do something about it (if they're not dumb) but it does give you another option when planning the run.

Decks are like massive barely portable laptops. Also illegal.

Firing a shotgun at random people?

Actually Draco, according to SR5, Decks are quite portable & about the size of our world's Tablet computers. They are also quite legal with a license (only Restricted)

So...

About the size of a gun.
About the legality of a gun.
And about as damaging to life and property as a gun.

bigger than a handgun, smaller than any bigger gun.

same legality as most guns. & according to many, not enough people are capable of doing it to make it worth worrying about.

Way to simple a device to monitor....

Kind of like a car alarm. Breaking into your car or breaking into the VP's car.....

But much more multifunctional than a gun. Guns basically only do the Loud-Noises-Boom-Bang-Death-Wahey whereas somebody in the crew for the news agency the VIP is being interviewed by is probably plugged in, monitoring lights and camera and sound and such. Now have a press conference - you've got one of those for every news agency there. Not to mention that, if you're still playing SR4 (like some of us) and therefore you can hack from your link, and as in the early seventies it was considered strange to not have a link on you basically at all times, it would be practically impossible to have eyes on everybody with a link.

Basically, a gun is an obvious threat, but also a clear one. A deck is an obvious threat, potentially, but it isn't necessarily clear that anybody who pulls out a deck within wireless range of your pacemakered VIP is a threat.