Surveillance Hacking

Surveillance is one of the mesh’s primary uses. Knowing how to conduct your business unseen is a necessary skill for characters of all stripes.

Detecting Sensors

Though it is often wisest to act as if you are under surveillance all of the time, sometimes you may want to know where the cameras are. Many sensors actively broadcast their presence, and even if they don’t, their location can be triangulated via their radio emissions. If in stealth mode, they can be found with an Interface Test at −30.

Spotting sensors requires a Perceive Test. Given their small to minute sizes, apply a modifier between −10 and −30 as appropriate. If looking in an area with multiple sensors, roll once and apply no modifiers; use superior successes to ascertain how well you find the smaller ones. Nanoswarms cannot be detected except with a nanodetector.

Certain gear and implants can also be used to detect sensors, including electrical sense ware, spy swarm, and dazzlers.

Concealed Sensors: Sensors are sometimes actively camouflaged. Apply a −30 modifier to Perceive Tests to spot them.

Active Sensors: Active sensors such as radar and lidar betray their presence because they transmit on certain wavelengths, they don’t just passively receive. A passive radar detector can detect an active radar sensor for example. Enhanced vision can perceive the emissions of most active sensors.

Avoiding Recognition

If you can’t avoid the sensors, trick them. Privacy devices like the shroud are common and provide anonymity, though your presence may still be noted. Invisibility cloaks will hide you from many sensors, but are more likely to raise questions. Ware such as skin flex, synthetic mask, sex switch, and chameleon skin may also help conceal your identity or counter biometric matching. Old-fashioned disguise is also an option; make an opposed test between Exotic Skill: Disguise and Perceive. Face- and pattern-matching algorithms fare poorly against certain makeup and visual patterns; apply a −20 to Perceive Tests when using such patterns.

Active Jamming

One noisy and short-lived option for countering coveillance is to jam all radio frequencies (Jam Signals). This will not stop sensors from detecting or recording, but it will prevent them from transmitting this information via the mesh using wireless radio — for as long as the jamming lasts. Hardwired sensors or systems using laser or microwave links are unaffected (though microwave links may be jammed separately). Jamming is useful as you can do it on the go, but it also impacts everyone and everything around you and is likely to attract the attention of security forces.

In a similar manner, dazzlers may be used to temporarily blind cameras.

Hacking Sensors

Selective sensor hacking can be quite useful, particularly in situations where coverage is minimal. This also gives you many options: deactivating sensors, blocking them from transmitting data, erasing recordings, looping the feed, or injecting fake sensor data.

Mass Hacking: In areas with heavy sensor coverage, hacking all of the sensors is more challenging. Luckily, motes tend to be less secure. Treat this as a single consolidated hacking task action against all of the sensors in one area as a group. The GM can apply additional modifiers for the number of sensors (−10 for every group of 5).

Ripping Sensors

Ripping is akin to permanent jamming. Most sensors are motes, and while their optical electronic components protect them from electromagnetic pulses, their antennas are vulnerable. EM bursts using a ripper or EMP grenade effectively destroy the ability of motes in the area to wirelessly communicate. EM pulses are also quite effective against nanoswarms. Ripping is a technique favored by criminal groups, given its longer effect, as sensors in an area must be physically replaced/repaired.

Dead Zones

The omnipresence of fixed sensors is not always reliable. There are many places that have been overlooked, where sensors have fallen into disrepair, or where the environment and petty vandalism have taken their toll. Every habitat has dead zones in its sensor coverage — and if it doesn’t, someone will go out of their way to make some.

Clearing Sensors

Physically clearing an area of sensors takes time and effort. Treat this as a Perceive task action with a timeframe based on the area size. Clearing an area without being noticed doubles the timeframe and may require an Infiltrate Test as well. Disabled, missing, and destroyed sensors may be noticed (prompting a maintenance bot or security check) and replaced over time. Spy nanoswarms must be cleared with guardian swarms.

Route Mapping

It is sometimes possible to map a route that travels through blind spots, avoiding most if not all sensors. This requires an Infiltrate task action; apply modifiers appropriate to the amount of sensor coverage and base the timeframe on the area covered. Dead zone maps are valuable on the black market.

Skipjacking

Skipjacking is the art of moving in a way that minimizes exposure even under ubiquitous coveillance. This involves using people, vehicles, and objects as cover, timing the movement of drones and cameras, taking advantage of distractions, and similar tricks — all while avoiding suspicion. Treat skipjacking as an opposed test between the skipjacker’s Infiltrate skill and the tracker’s Perceive. Apply modifiers as appropriate to the situation.

Avoiding Eavesdropping

The combination of total surveillance and lip-reading apps means that even conversations out of microphone range may be eavesdropped if they are under a camera’s watchful eye. To bypass this, direct communication can be established via skinlink, a fiberoptic wire between access jacks, or even tight-beam laser link.

Caught in the Act

Despite your best efforts, you are likely to eventually be caught on camera doing something you shouldn’t. This is not the end. Many sensors are not actively monitored and are only checked for an investigation, giving you time to remove the evidence. Others belong to private concerns who simply don’t care about you. Even actively monitored systems may overlook your misdeeds; the monitor may be distracted, overwhelmed, or just fail to notice. So don’t expect alarm klaxons and SWAT teams every time you spit out your gum or act shady.

On the other hand, many sensor feeds are publicly accessible; the ones watching may simply be voyeurs. Rather than report you to authorities, they might post the recording online, making you the next viral sensation. Your rep can play a factor here. Higher-rep individuals are more likely to be stalked by admirers and media, while someone with bottom-rung rep may get special attention from a self-appointed citizen watch.

ALIs monitoring the public habitat security sensors typically filter out the trivial stuff. These are programmed to assign the people they watch with a risk rating based on their behavior. The first few offenses may simply get cataloged or initiate a (sometimes loud and public) verbal warning. Repeat or severe offenses will trigger a stronger response.

Security Log, Case 15678zt

Log 0624AF09:2300: Partially disassembled body found in habitat’s trash recyclers. Unit hacked to bypass recognition of morph components and subsequent alerts. Only discovered due to a random maintenance check. No ID or cortical stack found.

Log 0625AF09:1100: Forensic nanoswarm scans of recycler transport bots identified the one which carried the corpse. 31 potential pickup points noted. Time-contracted security footage review of 28 sites by ALIs underway. However, 3 sites determined to be in areas lacking active sensor coverage, against regulations.

Log 0625AF09:1200: Genetic scan confirms corpse to be an olympian model with after-market modifications. Manufacturer identified in genetic code as PlayMates Limited, a now defunct hypercorp. Tox screen negative. However, bio scanners found some unusual viral traces that are still being analyzed.

Log 0625AF09:1600: Review of 28 sites indicates body was likely not dumped at any of them. Analysis of sensors at other 3 sites indicates 1 site failure due to inadequate maintenance over past few weeks. Sensors at the other 2 sites failed within an hour of each other, within 24 hours of the body’s disposal. Motes likely ripped by hostile parties.

Log 0625AF09:2300: A habitat-wide analysis of public sensor network failures indicates a concerted area to rip a substantial length of sensor coverage in the same 2-hour period. This was likely to intended to clear a path for undetected transportation of the body to the recycer pickup point. Area large enough that long-term traffic analysis of its perimeter would be timely and costly. Given low priority rating, analysis not approved.

Log 0626AF09:1000: Access to private sensor networks adjacent to the ripped zones has helped us identify a pair of unregistered drones likely used to clear a path. These drones match the profile of a local gang known to offer sensor-ripping services on the black market.

Log 0626AF09:1600: Contemporary surveillance of the gang’s known members spotted one of the drones in active use. Operator identified as Sofia Aitor. Arrest warrant requested.

Log 0626AF09:1900: Attempt to arrest Sofia Aitor foiled when subject inexplicably experienced severe cerebral hemorraghing immediately after being taken into custody, leading to her death. Autopsy underway. No hostile nanoswarms or pathogens yet detected. Subject’s known backups subpeonaed. Mesh inserts were wiped, muse self-deleted. Subject’s ego successfully recovered from cortical stack, scheduled for questioning.

Log 0627AF09:0400: Aitor’s cortical stack reported missing from evidence lockup. Recovered ego also erased from our systems. Security audit underway. Potential exists that we have a mole.

Log 0627AF09:1300: Officer Ramla Nuru reported missing. Same officer present at Aitor’s arrest and on site during security breach identified as potential imposter. Biometrics uploaded for database search.

Log 0627AF09:1400: Biometrics matched to an unknown individual wanted for questioning throughout the inner system.

Log 0627AF09:1500: Case closed upon orders from Corporate. No justification given. Evidence confiscated.