DISCLAIMER: This is for me, myself, and I. It is a system to have MY comms intercepted. It is in no way related to hacking OTHER people's comms, and nobody is obligated to allow their comms to be hacked.
This is an idea that has been knocking around in my head for some time now, so I'm gonna give it a spin and see how it goes. Everyone has their different levels of encryption they use (including unbreakable, to my chagrin), and that's neat and adds RP flavor and all. What it doesn't do is provide anything tangible. I've recently set up a new comms template with four encryption levels; Heavy, Moderate, Weak, and None. The idea is to assign a hack % chance to each of these levels, and provide a hack multiplier to each faction in the game. The one thing I absolutely do not want to see here is people petitioning for a higher hack chance for their faction, as the ones I have set up here are categorized by faction type and is a very fair system, even if it does not represent the size or tech level of the faction (ie; no petitioning for the Council to get a higher hack modifier because they're a larger revolutionary faction than the Blood Dragons or Hessians) with one obvious caveat, the Lane Hackers.
How it works
These are the preliminary numbers I came up with and are subject to change if the system seems to be working a little too well or a little too poorly for the hackers. As an example, since a post with Heavy encryption has a 2.5% chance to be hacked, an attempt to hack from Auxesia would result in a 7.5% chance to hack successfully. (2.5*3.0 = 7.5) A random number between 1-100 would then be generated, and the hack would succeed or fail based on whether or not the number falls within the success chance range. See @JorgeRyan's spreadsheet here for an example on how it works.
Hack detection
In addition, the inverse rules apply for hacks to be detected. For hack detection, the hack detection chance is divided by the hack multiplier of the faction attempting the hack. For example, if the Lane Hackers attempted to hack a heavily encrypted comm (base 10% chance of detection), the percent would be divided by their 4.0 multiplier, resulting in a 2.5% chance of detection (10/4 = 2.5)
Limitations
A comm can be hacked an infinite number of times by any party, but only while the communication roleplay thread is active. Once a comm has been concluded, it can no longer be hacked because it does not exist. Parties and individuals are limited to one hack per week on my comms, so as not to result in them spamming hack attempts on everything. They will have to pick and choose their targets wisely.
How to initiate a hack
To initiate a hack attempt, simply contact me on Skype, Discord or over the forums. A number will be generated and some mechanism to ensure transparency such as screenshare or a video will be done to ensure a fair hack attempt (unless you trust me implicitly and don't need me to go through the trouble of doing so!)
Hack chance -
Heavy: 2.5% Moderate: 5% Weak: 10% None: 20%*
Hack detection chance -
Heavy: 10% Moderate: 5% Weak: 2.5% None: 0%
*I know this may seem like an oxymoron, but I'm assuming the neural net has some basic crappy encryption in addition to proprietary stuff people tack on. 20% is still a pretty high chance to hack a comm.
Hack multipliers per faction -
Intelligence factions - 4.0x
Liberty Security Force
Bretonia Intelligence Service
MND
Kempeitai
Gallic Royal Intelligence
Lane Hackers*
Technological factions - 3.0x
The Order
The Core
The Wild**
Auxesia
Gammu AI
Military / Revolutionary factions - 2.0x
Liberty Navy
Bretonia Armed Forces
Rheinland Military
Kusari Naval Forces
Gallic Royal Navy
Outcasts
Corsairs
Gas Miners Guild***
Independent Miners Guild***
Bounty Hunters Guild***
Crayter Military
Battlegroup Harmony
Coalition
Hellfire Legion
Red Hessians
Blood Dragons
Mollies
Council
Ageira Technologies
ALG Waste Disposal
BMM
Border World Exports
Cryer Pharmaceuticals
Daumann Heavy Construction
Deep Space Engineering
EFL
Gallic Metal Service
Gateway Shipping
IDF
Interspace Commerce
Kishiro Technologies
Kruger Minerals
Orbital Spa & Cruise
Planetform, Inc.
Republican Shipping
Samura Industries
Synth Foods
Universal Shipping
Bretonia Police
Liberty Police Inc.
Kusari State Police
Rheinland Federal Police
Gallic Royal Police
Liberty Rogues
Xenos
Bretonian Privateers
Gaians
Golden Chrysanthemums
Farmer's Alliance
Hogosha
Bundschuh
Unioners
Gallic Brigands
Maquis
Unione Corse
Zoners
Junkers
Independent Pirates
Freelancers
*They're the Lane Hackers, deal with it.
**The Wild are mostly affiliated/descended from intelligence factions. This is a halfway point without giving them the full 4.0 bonus.
***Either are or possess well funded paramilitaries.
