How Can I Portray A Hacker?

[Cartoonhead]

Just now, Gamble said:

I’ve tried RPing that stuff and made a scheme but unfortunately it’s very restrictive.

Well that's pretty ass, that's a damn shame.

 

[elknotch]

8 minutes ago, Gamble said:

I’ve tried RPing that stuff and made a scheme but unfortunately it’s very restrictive.

What’s the maneuverability like in schemes? Do you think there’s any legroom for hacking?

[Vice_]

My advice is to also target players who have a proclivity for writing elongated emotes and enjoy a slow-burn, nuanced roleplay. Usually players of that variety will be more than willing to communicate, not take things personally, and have an affinity for helping your character grow in parallel to their own. For example, you /definitely/ don't want to try and hack anyone who does /me pulls gat, or emotes of that nature -- most likely they won't be indulgent on exactly what's on their personal computer; possibly due to a lack of creativity from their end.

The more creative the player, the more rewarding your hacking will be, I'm sure. Obviously, you should learn a little about what it might take to install "man in the middle" attacks, and other variants of accessible techniques. If you were to hack me, I'd probably enjoy the following sentiment...

/pm Vice "Hey, my name is ___ and I've recently been writing about ___ and I think it justified to do ___. I've seen your writing and roleplay, and I couldn't be more interested in respectfully moving forward against your character. I'm hoping I could have a moment of your time, and I'd love to talk about what you're comfortable letting happen. I understand this can be an odd thing to ask for, but don't worry, I'm easy-going!

/pm Hacker "Wowee, that's incredibly kind of you to say. Absolutely! Let's make this something interesting for the both of us! Okay, so, on my personal computer I have data files and spreadsheets about ____. Further inspection of my browser history may indicate my character is a total ______. Unfortunately, my character does not keep bank data on their computer, so you can't have that! But, let me know what you're searching for and I'd be happy to provide further information."

/pm Hacker "Cool, cool -- I'll PM you over Discord with screenshots as well! I look forward to this RP!"

 

[Mecovy]

I was always under the impression those wanting to do schemes like this are a bit shit out of luck unless they know their stuff. Because Panda works cyber security and in the past he used to be involved in discussions related to these schemes. I distinctively remember an announcement about rping it in the past, and there have been some super successful schemes done by people who genuinely understand it all.

 

I also think the realism aspect is important as a hacking scheme could be pretty fucking overpowered in a city of no ic tech support.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Mecovy

[Sebz]

I'd start by learning at least the fundamentals of how hacking actually works so that your portrayal is realistic. Once you've gotten an understanding of how black hat hacking works at least on a basic level, go from there. However, I'm not entirely sure how it'd work in execution as there's many layers to hacking which would be hard to emulate on this medium. In most cases, I assume it'd be as simple as using /me and /do to communicate hacking and to confirm if you were successful. It'd be a consent based thing where you'd have to go through the player/entity you're breaching oocly to get what you're after on an ic basis.

[AugustusInRoma]

Watch Mr. Robot (2015) for references.

[varthshenon]

There was a concern that an IT tech won't have any rp because there's lack of incident or crime around it. You might be able to provide the solution XD

[kypchak]

you can't

[CowboyYoda22]

I write it myself but don't really do it for script money, but I work in cyber so I can tell you a few things. Hacking is not how it is on TV. It's mainly automated through code you researched or most likely bought. 

 

You focus on research, you read a ton on targets, you look for a way you can break in, etc. If you want to portray this aspect, you could rp it from a house and then call and talk to specific target businesses or locations and try to do social engineering to get a way inside so you can execute your hack. 

 

This would allow you to engage with other players, but ultimately it's going to be something you can't stretch into full rp. I've simply made it a background element of my character. 

[Mecovy]

3 hours ago, CowboyYoda22 said:

I write it myself but don't really do it for script money, but I work in cyber so I can tell you a few things. Hacking is not how it is on TV. It's mainly automated through code you researched or most likely bought. 

 

You focus on research, you read a ton on targets, you look for a way you can break in, etc. If you want to portray this aspect, you could rp it from a house and then call and talk to specific target businesses or locations and try to do social engineering to get a way inside so you can execute your hack. 

 

This would allow you to engage with other players, but ultimately it's going to be something you can't stretch into full rp. I've simply made it a background element of my character. 

Isn't it ironically the biggest part of hacking isn't done on a computer, its the social engineering involved to deliver your payload to the target. Either by using the old fashioned hi-vis tactic if your target is blue collar or adapting depending on target. Phishing links etc whilst "effective" they kinda aren't when you consider just the RAW amount have to be sent out to land a mark, but if your able to blag your way into a venue you get a direct way of getting your software on their pc's without immediately flagging the alarm bells like emails do.