[Kerebrus]

So, my team just stole someone's commlink (running On the Run)

with the all purpose everythingness that is the wireless matrix, I'm certain that they are not the first ones to ever do it, but I could not find any sourcebook type material to at least outline a standard response.
Initial thought is:
Someone steals your commlink.
You use someone else's commlink or a public telecom.
access your commlink - you should know your matrix ID and have admin privleges.
initiate whatever stock (or custom) commlink theft protocol.

I would think that a stock protocol would be a Trace function, relaying the information to either the local security contractor or maybe even a specialist freelancer (sort of like a phone bounty hunter).  To thwart this, a hacker would have to grab Admin access (part of the protocol would also trigger an active alert, or an active alert could trigger whenever your comm suddenly became out of range of three or more other components of your PAN), boot the original Admin account, and cut the trace.  Personally, as a hacker in that situation, I would also actively dial the signal rating down to 0.

does anyone else here have comm theft protocols that they have dreamed up?  while it can be a serious crimejust in terms of the value of a commlink, it also piggybacks into identity theft, but I also imagine it would be fairly widespread, unless particularly robust protocols were in place to prevent it from happening / prosecute offenders

[Fizzygoo]

Hehe, reading over On The Run for tomorrow night's game, I am.

I'm somewhat confused on what's going on, Kerebrus.

Runners stole a commlink.
To gain admin access they'd have to hack it (on the fly or over the long haul).
Once in, they could disable any Tracking program on the commlink that would alert the owner/authorities as to where the commlink is.

To just make the commlink think everything's on the up and up...Spoof.
To just kill the Tracking...Crash Program: Track (though this would be on the node of the tracker, I would say, so the PC would have to use their own Track to Trace to where the commlink's Trace is coming from, hack that node, then attack that Track program on that node).
To just get the data off the commlink without the Track Program recording what's going on: Jam Signals then hardline into the commlink and start downloading. Stop the jamming device once done....looks like a power outage or something similar.

Is this what you were looking for, or am I waaaay off?

[Kerebrus]

I had a number of ideas on how the pC would tackle the problem 9and yours are some good ones as well).

What I was looking for was thoughts on how polite, regular, work-a-day society doesn't have a rash of stolen commlinks. 

[Chaemera]

I had a number of ideas on how the pC would tackle the problem 9and yours are some good ones as well).

What I was looking for was thoughts on how polite, regular, work-a-day society doesn't have a rash of stolen commlinks. 

Call police, report commlink stolen, provide relavent commlink info (device's accessID) which then allows the cops to track it not only via Trace, but by going straight into the GPS system (this is stuff that IRL you can't disable short of taking out the battery). That phone ever goes "on the grid", the cops are on top of it like a cat on a mouse.

Remember, in 2072, your commlink's got the SIN and banking information encoded in it, so stealing a commlink isn't just theft, it's potential identity theft, bank robbery, falsification of identity, using a false identification to cross international borders (the minute they step between megacorp properties, this goes from being potential to real).

So, you steal a commlink and you don't purge it of the user's personal data, get it a new accessID real quick, the first time you connect that thing to the Matrix, you're liable to bring down police/corp sec hackers and security response.

That's where Jammer -> download data -> spoof accessID become critical commlink-thief tactics. If you hardware alter the accessID before giving it to your fixer, I'm sure he'll give you a better percentage.

[raggedhalo]

Bear in mind that 2070s online banking is going to be _more_ rather than _less_ secure than today's.  So you almost certainly need to input a code or password to access the accounts, which your commlink won't ever save.  Using the commlink to make purchases by "swiping" tells the banking system where you are and what you bought.  Transferring the cred to the runner's account identified their (presumably Fake) SIN as a thief.

The smartest thing to do is to transfer the cred to a certified credstick.

Otherwise, I definitely think that (much like with your wallet or phone today) you report it to the police and your MSP and they get stuck in.

[Kot]

There was a topic with that kind of stuff. The account is usually secured by demanding biometric readings. So you have to steal both the commlink, and the owned to drain his account.

[Morg]

There was a topic with that kind of stuff. The account is usually secured by demanding biometric readings. So you have to steal both the commlink, and the owned to drain his account.

If you have the Medical Data of the commlinks owner a half decent edit + spoof + Knowledge (medical) (ether with a Knowsoft or hard earned karma) and a strong enough psych profile you might be able to get somewhere past the biometric

not easy but the info is out there and it wouldn't take a good hacker long to get it together if it is important enough

[Kerebrus]

as i wanted my player group to have a degree of say in the matter, we made it a table discussion pre-game last night.

notions:
there would need to be some sort of location service where an individual could go to revalidate her identity, as a stolen commlink would also mean a distinct difficulty with EVERYTHING in your life.  cannot start your car, cannot open your apartment door, might have problems actually doing your job.

identity insurance would be a good thing to have (or business to be in).

considering how important a commlink is, and how the powers-that-be put the effort into writting out a whole bit on vehicle theft (in Arsenal) this seems like an oversight.

one challenge that I am still having though is gauging a proper level of response form law enforcement and complexity of theft countermeasures.  Knight Errant or Lone Star doesn't have the resources to go chasing down every stolen commlink.  Commlink recovery could be handled by a contractor from your wireless provider.
I imagine Commlinks would have some sort of standard theft protocol, (although how would it "know" that it has been stolen?) and with the complexity of agent programs I can certainly allow for creative parameters (my best idea, when two or more devices in your PAN suddenly leave range, engage passcode security - but since most of my players sprung for skinlink, a skinlink protocol makes sense too).
The Sixth world doesn't strike me as the kind of place where it would be particularly easy to confirm your identity in the event of 'comm-napping' - because if it was too easy the hackers would be using it to generate (steal) ID's.  Although, now that I think about it, if DNA is a stock part of your ID profile, that is pretty easy to handle, and pretty hard to fake.  Okay - consider the confirmation of your (real) identity is a done deal.

another idea for a custom (or common) security measure is a Scan and Report style function.  Scan all public nodes in an area, and send those as a report to the recovery contractor.  then the contractor can query those nodes for video footage, ID's, whatever.  probably can even be introduced as a cautionary tale:
"did you hear what happened to Thin Lizzie?  Apparently she snagged some corper's 'link the other day, the comm-cops pinpointed the time of the snag, and they ping'd her ID off of several other nodes in the same area.  I guess they interviewed everyone that might have seen anything.  Damn shame."

still not sure on how to report / trigger a commlink as stolen.  another case of of damned if you do / damned if you don't.  If it is too easy to report a commlink stolen, it becomes a handy, effective, and annoying tactic to use on ANY target (We could spend time jamming his signal, and what not, or ... just shut him down, seems he just reported his commlink stolen).  if it is too hard to do, then how would joe average do it? (where is the nearest payterminal in the area with a DNA scanner? - and even then, mr joe average has established his commlink as stolen, but theat doesn't help him get home tonight, nor get a room for the night.

Such a simple little thing, yet - boom!  However we decide it, I think all my players are going to be putting their commlinks in armored pouches with no easy access (one of them already carries his fake SIN commlink in a Skin Pocket).  Skin pockets just are not worth it for the 4 magically active party members.

[Morg]

here is the wiki on credit card fraud there maybe some similarity to how the cops would treat it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_fraud