t3h l33tn355 (Jake, pre-dawn Wed. 4/4/07)

[Detritus]

((I'm assuming Jake has a laptop somewhere on the premises that he will retrieve (?) before getting is h4x on.))

Sarah leads you upstairs to the second-floor study. It looks a bit like a converted bedroom. There isn't that much in the way of shelving in the room, and its prior occupant didn't look like much of a reader, from what you can see. There are a couple of guitars mounted on each wall, and the desk with the computer has a guitar mounted directly above the LCD monitor.

"Well, here it is," Sarah says to you. "I couldn't get anywhere. Red Hat, that's Linux, right? Seems kind of fancy for someone born at the turn of the 20th century, if it was the old Prince's computer."

When you get to the desk, you see there's a small ethernet hub with four output ports. Three of them are unused.

((For rolling, just give me a set of 5 or 10 rolls of 3d6, and I'll randomly pick one each time I need a roll from Jake. You can send the rolls to my UCSD account.))

[Chimaera]

Jake sets up his laptop quickly, eschewing connecting to the network for the moment. Instead, he quickly sets up an internet connection, tethering via his cell-phone. He takes a few minutes, perusing the old Prince's set-up, tracing wires, noting down information on the hardware and looking for anything obviously odd or out of place, as well as any interesting black-boxes he might have.

"Sarah, has the room been searched thoroughly? Are there any other electronic devices the Prince may have had? Thumb-drives, cell-phones, stuff like that?"

[Detritus]

Jake sets up his laptop quickly, eschewing connecting to the network for the moment. Instead, he quickly sets up an internet connection, tethering via his cell-phone. He takes a few minutes, perusing the old Prince's set-up, tracing wires, noting down information on the hardware and looking for anything obviously odd or out of place, as well as any interesting black-boxes he might have.

"Sarah, has the room been searched thoroughly? Are there any other electronic devices the Prince may have had? Thumb-drives, cell-phones, stuff like that?"
"I'll have a look around," Sarah says.

Inspecting the Prince's setup, you don't really find anything unusual. There aren't any backup drives that you can see that might afford easier access. You do think the network connection through the hub is active.

[Chimaera]

Jake sits at the computer. First, check the easy solution: he sees if he can just get it going.

[Detritus]

After several abortive efforts, you realize that Plan A seems unlikely to work out. Giving the matter a minute's worth of thought or so, a couple of alternate avenues of attack occur to you. You can try hacking the box, or it may be possible to divine the correct username and password by using The Spirit's Touch.

((Mechanically, the Computer Hacking roll will have a -4 penalty to skill level. You'd need to make your Spirit's Touch roll by 4 to divine the info you need outright, but a lesser success will reduce the penalty on the Computer Hacking roll by as much as you make the Spirit's Touch roll.))

[Detritus]

((Mechanically, the Computer Hacking roll will have a -4 penalty to skill level. You'd need to make your Spirit's Touch roll by 4 to divine the info you need outright, but a lesser success will reduce the penalty on the Computer Hacking roll by as much as you make the Spirit's Touch roll.))
I should also say, a partial success with The Spirit's Touch will reduce the time it takes to complete the hack, if you end up not divining the password outright. TST costs 6 Fatigue, or 3 Blood Points.

[Chimaera]

<OOC>I'll spend the 3 BP and go for TST first</OOC>

[Detritus]

<OOC>I'll spend the 3 BP and go for TST first</OOC>
((OK, I rolled a 3 on the d10 for picking which dice roll went for this skill roll, and the third roll on your list was a 7, so Jake crushed this one.))

You concentrate your efforts, and burn your vitae, and almost immediately you divine the proper username and password:

username: Mr. J.
password: K1ng0f$p4d3$

Given the ease with which the desired info came to you, you think that you might be able to glean a little more info with this reading.

((Jake can probably get a couple more pieces of info just from the reading -- 1 or 2 of the super-user password, whether anyone is snooping on the machine, the location of relevant files for Mr. Johnson's contacts, or anything else you can think of of similar value to the search. Just tell me what you want to know, in some order of priority.))

[Chimaera]

<OOC>Priority #1: Is anyone snooping the machine? Priority #2: superuser passwords and lastly, Priority #3: Where are the contacts?</OOC>

[Detritus]

You definitely get the sense that there's some form of keystroke logging going on with the machine, although it's really only impression.

The super-user password, on the other hand, comes to you in precise, and improbably long, detail:

17346721476C3278977763T732V73117188873247678976437 6

((There's not supposed to be a space between the last two characters of the password, not sure why it's getting put in there.))

As the password comes to you, it triggers a memory of a Star Trek epsiode you saw once:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oD7AwSbLFA#t=4m8s

[Chimaera]

<OOC>So, I'm sensing keystroke-logging, but not any active, online remote snooping?</OOC>

[Detritus]

<OOC>So, I'm sensing keystroke-logging, but not any active, online remote snooping?</OOC>
That's correct.

[Chimaera]

That's correct.

<OOC>Very well, then...</OOC>

Jake pauses a moment as he soaks up the various impressions.

"This might be a pretty thirsty evening, methinks."

With that, he proceeds to access the computer...

[Detritus]

<OOC>Very well, then...</OOC>

Jake pauses a moment as he soaks up the various impressions.

"This might be a pretty thirsty evening, methinks."

With that, he proceeds to access the computer...
Who are you logging on as?

[Chimaera]

Who are you logging on as?

I'll start off as the King Of Spades and see where that leads me.

[Detritus]

I'll start off as the King Of Spades and see where that leads me.
Sorry, one last question, are you logging on from your laptop, or directly from Mr. Johnson's machine?

Either way, once you get access to the machine, Sarah is duly impressed. "Did you just use The Force there?" she'll ask once you're on.

[Chimaera]

Sorry, one last question, are you logging on from your laptop, or directly from Mr. Johnson's machine?

Either way, once you get access to the machine, Sarah is duly impressed. "Did you just use The Force there?" she'll ask once you're on.

<OOC>I'm going to start on Mr. Johnson's machine.</OOC>

Jake waggles his eye-brows and gestures dramatically with his fingers.

"There is no try. Or spoon. Definitely no spoon either."

He grins and continues to type away.

[Detritus]

"Hmm, when 900 years old I become, look as good I will not," Sarah says, grinning. "I gotta say, you don't look a day over 350. What's your secret?"

After whatever reply, she then says, "I'll see if I can find us something to drink. No, I will find us something to drink." Then she leaves the room.

When you're alone, it doesn't take you too long to scope out the likely hiding places for the info you're looking for. You then find a directory for which Mr. J. doesn't seem to have read or write privileges.

[Chimaera]

Before I do anything fancy with the super-user password, can I isolate and check out the key-logger? I'm also looking to see if there are any contingencies built in. I guess I want to see what processes are running and make sure I'm no triggering an alarm or pre-programmed response.

[Detritus]

After a bit of poking around, you can determine that the keylogger is embedded in the kernel itself. Its name appear to be "hurricane," and there isn't any extension that you can see. It's presently active, but only locally, and not over the internet. Mr. J. doesn't have any relevant permissions for this file, of course, nor does he have any permissions for reading or altering any of the files in the cron folder, where you suspect a program must lurk that sends the products of the key-logger to whomever it is that's watching this machine.

[Chimaera]

Okay... I need to do a bit of scripting and sudo-ing... I want to isolate the machine inobviously -- I don't want anything going out without me knowing it. I'd like to see if I can find out where the logger is supposed to send stuff. And I want to access the contact files as well. Hopefully, sudo will do it.

[Detritus]

Sarah comes back just as you're finished physically taking Mr. Johnson's machine off the grid. She has a glass pitcher that's nearly full of a red liquid that looks perhaps a touch thin to be human blood and two wine glasses.

"We've got a little bit of the Prince's private reserve we can help ourselves to. It'll work well enough, though it's not exactly from a human, but wine that's been transformed into blood. It'll keep indefinitely until drunk, and then it's use it or lose it, because it all evaporates at sunrise."

When you get into the business of figuring out what's going on with Mr. Johnson's box in earnest, Sarah pours a small bit of the wine-blood in one of the glasses and then conjures a deck of cards. She plays Solitaire while you're busy working.

It's an hour and change worth of work to get everything you want. You do find a little script named "highnoon" that sends the results of the previous 24 hours worth of keylogging across the net at 12 noon. It takes a little while to map out the convoluted chain of proxies, seven total, that the data gets sent across, but you eventually figure out it goes to some place in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans.

You also manage to track down such contacts as Mr. Johnson saw fit to keep on this machine. There are little dossiers on each person, as well as underlings (not included, but available (i.e. I'll make something up) upon request) for each key member on the list:

Col. Jonathan Ball - CO 256th Infantry Brigade

Staff Sgt. Fred Baker - 256th Infantry Brigade

===================

Warren J. Riley - Superintendent of Police

Marlon Defillo - Asst. Superintendent, Bureau of Investigations

Kirk Bouyelas - Deputy Chief, Operations Bureau

James Scott - Deputy Chief, Criminal Intelligence Bureau

Major Robert Norton - 1st District Commander

Major Bruce Little - 2nd District Commander

Major Greg Elder - 3rd District Commander

Major David Kirsch - 4th District Commander

Major Bernadine Kelly - 5th District Commander

Major Robert Brady - 6th District Commander

Major Rannie Mushatt - 7th District Commander

Major Edwin Hosli - 8th District Commander

===================

Dr. Brenda Hatfield - Chief Administrative Officer, City of New Orleans

Penya Moses-Fields - City Attorney

[Chimaera]

Okay, I'll want to try a couple of things, so you let me know if it's doable:

I want to essentially clone the drive, copying all of the files onto my laptop (sans any automated scripts being active, obviously -- I'm curious to see if the keystroke logger stores locally as well or only remotely).

Eliminate any trace of my being there from the keylogger or any other logs.

Let the machine keep running.

Once that's done, I'll print the relevant contact dossiers from my laptop (I'm assuming the relevant hardware is available) after I've read them over once, quickly, and then I can report my findings to the relevant authoritahs. Does this lovely wine-blood restore any of my expended blood points, BTW?

[Chimaera]

Oh, assuming that the cloning is successful, I'd like to spend some time dissecting the key-logger and try to find it's destination, as it were. I suspect that the Prince may have a remote site set up, although it's possible his machine was infiltrated.

[Detritus]

Does this lovely wine-blood restore any of my expended blood points, BTW?
It does, but only until sunrise, when it all boils away. You have to use it or lose it before then. It's good for buffing and the like, but doesn't replace the need to hunt.

[Chimaera]

It does, but only until sunrise, when it all boils away. You have to use it or lose it before then. It's good for buffing and the like, but doesn't replace the need to hunt.

D'oh!

You said that already, didn't you? Shame that she didn't pass this around when I burned those BPs before... Well, how many BP's worth have I got? I might as well use them, right?

[Detritus]

D'oh!

You said that already, didn't you? Shame that she didn't pass this around when I burned those BPs before... Well, how many BP's worth have I got? I might as well use them, right?
Actually, if you're at full capacity (which we'll just say you were for simplicity), extra blood doesn't really do anything, so having the wine-blood on hand then wouldn't have really helped. In meta-game terms, the design of this particular substance is such that you have to burn "real" blood before getting any benefit from the synthetic stuff. The Tremere would probably be a lot more powerful than they are if they could just dispense with the need to hunt altogether by simply magicking up wine as needed.

I'll say the pitcher holds a half gallon, which is four blood points. Sarah will use one, you can have the other three.

[Chimaera]

Got it. I need to look again at what I can spend BPs on. As it stands, I'm down three, yes? Speaking of which, can I assume we'll feed appropriately at some point tonight?

[Detritus]

Got it. I need to look again at what I can spend BPs on. As it stands, I'm down three, yes? Speaking of which, can I assume we'll feed appropriately at some point tonight?
Yeah, you're down three BP right now. There probably will be a little down time for hunting, but not much, maybe an hour before the 430 am meeting. You don't necessarily need to spend the wine-blood right away, either, just do it before sunrise. There could be hunting time after sunset on Wed., too, if you're concerned about keeping up your blood supply.

[Detritus]

OK, to the hacking business at hand, the cloning and covering your tracks isn't too difficult. Your laptop is probably getting a bit on the full side when you do the clone. You can print out dossiers as needed.

Before going any further, I want to clarify whether or not letting the machine run entails reconnecting it back to the net.

[Chimaera]

Yes, assuming the track covering is successful. I'll inform Sarah of my suspicions and my reasoning. Unless the powers that be nix the idea, I want to leave the machine seemingly undisturbed and uninterrupted.

[Detritus]

Yes, assuming the track covering is successful. I'll inform Sarah of my suspicions and my reasoning. Unless the powers that be nix the idea, I want to leave the machine seemingly undisturbed and uninterrupted.
OK, that's fine. I think we'll let Jake deal with the powers that be in the next IC thread, after he gives his report. Is there anything else you want to do here? If not, then I'll call this thread a wrap.

[Chimaera]

OK, that's fine. I think we'll let Jake deal with the powers that be in the next IC thread, after he gives his report. Is there anything else you want to do here? If not, then I'll call this thread a wrap.

I'm just going to make sure that I'm clear on all the hardware and the network set-up. Beyond that, once I've got the drive cloned and my tracks cleared, I'll spend what time I have left before reporting to TPTB investigating my cloned version of the HD and seeing if I can determine the location of the computer that the logger reports to. Oh! Would it be possible to set up a covert IP trace or something on the machine, to trace the logger's next report?

[Detritus]

You can set up something to trace where the next report goes pretty easily. In fact, you've probably already got the location narrowed down enough that someone very good at Auspex would likely be able to pick out the location, if you told the searcher what to look for.

When you study the dossiers, perhaps the thing that stands out most is that they also identify the usual nighttime commanding officers for all the different police districts. ((I haven't made up or researched any names yet, but they're there.))

[Chimaera]

You can set up something to trace where the next report goes pretty easily. In fact, you've probably already got the location narrowed down enough that someone very good at Auspex would likely be able to pick out the location, if you told the searcher what to look for.

When you study the dossiers, perhaps the thing that stands out most is that they also identify the usual nighttime commanding officers for all the different police districts. ((I haven't made up or researched any names yet, but they're there.))

Coolio. I'm no slouch at Auspex and I've got 3 free BP's to burn; if it's alright with you, I'll give that a shot. Hmmm... Mind you, you *did* say *very* good at Auspex and I don't know if I rate that high. Still, I'll give'er a go. So, unless anything else pops up, we're dandy 'til the next thread. Thanks :D

[Detritus]

Coolio. I'm no slouch at Auspex and I've got 3 free BP's to burn; if it's alright with you, I'll give that a shot. Hmmm... Mind you, you *did* say *very* good at Auspex and I don't know if I rate that high. Still, I'll give'er a go. So, unless anything else pops up, we're dandy 'til the next thread. Thanks :D
I was originally conceiving the search to occur from the astral plane, which is a bit above Jake's pay grade in Auspex.

However, since you have the script right there in front of you, I'll rule that you can call up the highnoon program in a text editor and then make a contested roll between your Spirit's Touch and the other guy's Computer Hacking skill to divine where the info gets sent. It'll have to wait until I get home from work for me to adjudicate this. If it doesn't work, Jake can still suggest the astral plane search as a way to make further progress.

Once that's done, I think we're free to move on to the next IC thread.

[Detritus]

OK, you successfully pull off the Spirit's Touch thing, consuming all the wine-blood in the process. You come up with the following street address in your divination: 3203 St. Ann Street.

[Chimaera]

Awesome! Thanks, dude!