If you combine the design of threshold benchmarks (pg 45) with the host benchmarks (pg 247) they pretty well line up with the results as if the host bought hits.
EDIT: I guess technically, they'd line up if you added +1 to the threshold value, since you need that NET hit. Still, it satisfies my suspension of disbelief to call hacking a Stuffer Shack "Average" in a formal game mechanics sense, and your local Lone Star precinct "Hard".
Thresholds:
Easy 1 (corresponds to a host rating 1-2: Personal sites, pirate archives, public education)
Average 2 (roughly corresponds with a host of up to rating 4: Low-end commercial, private business, public libraries, small policlubs)
Hard 4 (represents 16+ dice, corresponds well with hosts up to rating 8 )
Very Hard 6 (hosts up to 10 or 11, the hardest stuff you'd normally attempt to hack)
Extreme 8–10 (the stuff off-scale hard for the chart on pg 247)