Eridani Edict Violation of the most Dismissive Kind...

Weird Harold wrote:
That wouldn't be very likely. The Assassin Nanos only affect muscle memory and the victim is mentally aware but disconnected. It pretty much has to be restricted to suicide missions only -- especially if secrecy is paramount. Anyone who survives can provide clues about who, how, and where the nanos were administered and will remember any address they sent information to if a way to program that extensive of an "event" into just muscle memory.

Even better if they remember. Can you imagine Commander
Black going to Admiral White to tell him with wide eyes. "I was listing all the top secret information and couldn't stop myself sending it to the Manties."

That would freak out all the Dets.

Weird Harold wrote:

ldwechsler wrote:Not to mention that it might be used as a boomerang. If Manticore got the secret, there could be people used not to kill necessarily but to be spies, writing down information that could be used.

That wouldn't be very likely. The Assassin Nanos only affect muscle memory and the victim is mentally aware but disconnected. It pretty much has to be restricted to suicide missions only -- especially if secrecy is paramount. Anyone who survives can provide clues about who, how, and where the nanos were administered and will remember any address they sent information to if a way to program that extensive of an "event" into just muscle memory.

Well, perhaps not only suicide missions. Perhaps it can even herd cattle or baby chicks into the CSAPPS envelope, via an untapped more subtle use.

cthia wrote:

Weird Harold wrote:The Assassin Nanos only affect muscle memory and the victim is mentally aware but disconnected. It pretty much has to be restricted to suicide missions only -- especially if secrecy is paramount.

Well, perhaps not only suicide missions.

You'd have to figure out how to prevent the victim from immediately reporting the forced signature or other involuntary action(s) -- the easiest way, and Aldona's way the only time she's been associated with the assassin-nanos, is to make sure the victim can never talk about what happened.

cthia wrote:

Weird Harold wrote:The Assassin Nanos only affect muscle memory and the victim is mentally aware but disconnected. It pretty much has to be restricted to suicide missions only -- especially if secrecy is paramount.

Well, perhaps not only suicide missions.

Weird Harold wrote:You'd have to figure out how to prevent the victim from immediately reporting the forced signature or other involuntary action(s) -- the easiest way, and Aldona's way the only time she's been associated with the assassin-nanos, is to make sure the victim can never talk about what happened.

You have a point there Harold. Of course it wouldn't matter in the premise of this thread. Rescinding the signed materials (think UPS at your door) in travel times like the Honorverse may be too late to shortstop calamity.

Besides, this subtle use would be utilized when the MAlign are good and ready to pop Jack out of the box* -- Lenny Dets and Sharks ready, worked up and rarin' to go. The point in time when they could care less who knows about their tech as much as how to detect it, intercept it, or duplicate it. At that point it would be like Apollo. You know we have it. So? Can you do anything about it?

IOW, a day late and a centicred short.

*Nanite being a Jack of all trades.

Harold has caused me to have an

Is it possible to be infected by several nanites at once?

One causing you to sign form when you smell this. (Annachie)

A second causing you to self-destruct.

Our computers are infected by several different bugs at once.

cthia wrote:Harold has caused me to have an

Is it possible to be infected by several nanites at once?

One causing you to sign form when you smell this. (Annachie)

A second causing you to self-destruct.

Our computers are infected by several different bugs at once.

Think of the fun we could have. Sign form for one thing. Dance the funky chicken for another.

Tell your boss you are infected and have given up top secret information to your enemies and then shoot him.

Do the funky chicken again as you are shot down.

The current assassin nano can't be used to spy. It isn't able to extract any info from the target. If can't make the person type up secrets unless you already know what they are supposed to type.

If it COULD do that you'd have a way more potent weapon, and Manticore would be in much bigger trouble!

quite possibly a cat wrote:The current assassin nano can't be used to spy. It isn't able to extract any info from the target. If can't make the person type up secrets unless you already know what they are supposed to type.

If it COULD do that you'd have a way more potent weapon, and Manticore would be in much bigger trouble!

I was just trying to have a bit of fun. And there might be ways to do it anyway.

Just have the muscles sent out the latest intelligence info file to a set address. As part of the setup, the person must be alone and finishing an important analysis or report.

Possible? Possibly.

But having the guy doing the funky chicken is far more fun. OR the electric slide, if that's what you prefer.

ldwechsler wrote:
I was just trying to have a bit of fun. And there might be ways to do it anyway.

Just have the muscles sent out the latest intelligence info file to a set address. As part of the setup, the person must be alone and finishing an important analysis or report.

Possible? Possibly.

That not impossible, theoretically - but it requires luck plus a heck of a lot of very specific intelligence to pull off.

First the intelligence files you want to steal must be on a system that allows an authorized operator to send them to an externally accessible destination. If the intel pad is air gapped or on an isolated network I think the attack attempt would be DOA. There's no evidence that the nanites can control a person's action sucessfully for more than a minute or two. Defeating an airgap or isolated network (even if removable storage could be used to bypass it) would likely require controlling them for 30+ minutes. Make them take local storage into the secure area, copy the data onto it, leave the secure area, connect the storage to a non-secure machine, and finally send it to your drop point. Way more complicated, over a vastly longer time scale, than we've seen the attack manage before.

But even if the operator could take high security files and send them out to the public, I think doing so would require the attack programmer to have perfect knowledge of the UI of the target's pad. You can't program the muscle "memory" unless you know the keystrokes, clicks, etc used to select the files, attach them to the message, address and send the message. You basically need pixel perfect knowledge of the UI (and it has to be the possible customized or personalized UI on the pad the target will be using; so even getting access to the default UI layout might not be enough).

Not necessarily impossible - but way more likely to fail than making him chicken dance.

Jonathan_S wrote:

ldwechsler wrote:
I was just trying to have a bit of fun. And there might be ways to do it anyway.

Just have the muscles sent out the latest intelligence info file to a set address. As part of the setup, the person must be alone and finishing an important analysis or report.

Possible? Possibly.

That not impossible, theoretically - but it requires luck plus a heck of a lot of very specific intelligence to pull off.

First the intelligence files you want to steal must be on a system that allows an authorized operator to send them to an externally accessible destination. If the intel pad is air gapped or on an isolated network I think the attack attempt would be DOA. There's no evidence that the nanites can control a person's action sucessfully for more than a minute or two. Defeating an airgap or isolated network (even if removable storage could be used to bypass it) would likely require controlling them for 30+ minutes. Make them take local storage into the secure area, copy the data onto it, leave the secure area, connect the storage to a non-secure machine, and finally send it to your drop point. Way more complicated, over a vastly longer time scale, than we've seen the attack manage before.

But even if the operator could take high security files and send them out to the public, I think doing so would require the attack programmer to have perfect knowledge of the UI of the target's pad. You can't program the muscle "memory" unless you know the keystrokes, clicks, etc used to select the files, attach them to the message, address and send the message. You basically need pixel perfect knowledge of the UI (and it has to be the possible customized or personalized UI on the pad the target will be using; so even getting access to the default UI layout might not be enough).

Not necessarily impossible - but way more likely to fail than making him chicken dance.

And not nearly as much fun.

But even a simple task, perhaps using it knowing that it would fail, would freak out the Detweilers, et al.