[ mirror net ]

[performance]

[ The following message is an anonymous bulletin, posted to a mirror network that some of you may have gotten word of (outside the usual communication channels, of course). Feel like a real hacker yet? ]

If you're reading this message, someone out there trusts you. Congratulations, and welcome to the secret clubhouse.

Up until now, if we wanted to share information, we've had to go through the channels that they gave us. Even encrypted, anything we put on the network was on their space, and subject to their scrutiny. And the more suspicious we were of their motives and methods, the less we wanted to discuss it on the platform they gave us. That's no way to share important intel.

Not anymore. What this is is an alternative. A way to share information we don't necessarily want them finding out about. It's completely encrypted, and totally off their radar. And if the government wants to break into this network… well, they'll have to find it first.

Here's hoping this leads to some more productive discussion.


P.S. Any tech wizards out there: go ahead and tear through the security as best you can. We'll be keeping an eye out for holes. Think of it as a public service.

( ooc: for more information. imports, chat amongst yourselves to your heart's content! )

Comments

[selfequipped]

[Kate deliberates for a long moment over her response to this. On the one hand, the whole thing is exactly what they were looking for for ages. On the other hand, it might undermine some of what they have accomplished. She's also not the most tech savvy, so she figures her lack of understanding isn't entirely unwarranted.]

Hey, so this is actually really great. Yay, a win for imPorts! But I was talking to Kanaya recently and it occurred to be that something like this (ideal as it is!) might end up restricting info.

That's always been the catch-22 of the communicators, and for the first few months there, it became really clear that "damned if you don't" was the nature of the sharing game.

Does anyone have any ideas how we can make sure this information is still getting out there to everyone (underline everyone, with exceptions, if people have them) while still keeping the government from ... maybe using us as moles on plots we don't want to be moles on? (I'm still worried we caused Holiday a world of trouble with the Quisma ordeal.)

[reabled]

I could come up with an algorithm that might weed out likely moles, maybe? Kind of agree on the whole getting it out to everyone.

[selfequipped]

We definitely had a mole crop up last month under the name of "Hans." Hans was not really the type to drop a piece of hidden information and say nothing else, so our best guess was that "Hans" was just the name we all saw. Our communicators aren't connected to us. Anyone can use them.

Which is a huge security flaw, right? Not that I can really ... suggest algorithms to fix them.

[Kate has a hard enough time downloading music from illegal sources.]

[reabled]

Hans? Interesting choice of name. I mean I get the whole 'my phone was stolen' shtick, so maybe something that requires you to log in. But less of a password and username and maybe more of a biometric fingerprint recognition or something.

[performance]

You're completely right about it being a catch-22. Secrets are the problem... they can't be the solution, too. It's a tough nut to crack.

It's only a start, but it might be a good idea to have something like a dedicated PR team. Spread the good word to the newbies as they arrive while still keeping this thing on the down low.

In the meantime, I don't think we should completely stop sharing on the main network. One, there's info and there's INFO. And two, I bet that would be the first thing to raise suspicion.

[selfequipped]

Do you think my imPort FAQ could be some source of spreading information to imPorts only? I've seen people do some amazing tech stuff, and my friend David devised a system in October that would allow us imPorts to ensure our voices were heard in a grass roots movement. Of course, the bombings happened, so we never got it off the ground, but I've still got his files. The idea was that the ... information would clearly be coming from us, thanks to our tattoos, and not our communicators or anything else. I just asked him to do it, and while it might not be secure yet, the two of you who have spoken to me might be able to make something of it.

If you'd like to have a look at that, it might be a way of getting the information out there. One that's a lot more stable than relying on people hopping on that network in general.

And somehow the government is encrypting to both imPorts and otherwise, so this might be just our failsafe way of doing it.

[performance]

That's a brilliant idea! I'd love to take a look. Security's kind of my specialty. I bet I could work something out.

And honestly, the more avenues we have for getting information out there, the better.

[reabled]

Oh. This is beautiful. I think I might actually have tears in my eyes this is actually beautiful. What a day to be alive.

Here, I mean. Or what a week to show up. From a shady network to this. Not that I won't be digging for imperfections, but as a whole this is just. Ugh. Gorgeous.

[performance]

Not too shabby, right? I take it you weren't too impressed by what we were handed by the folks in charge.

[reabled]

It was pitiful. I mean I made the best of it, but it was like surfing on AOL or Runescape. But this. This is practically a work of art. Did you make it?

[performance]

It was a collaborative effort. But I'll take some credit.

video;

[daimeinashi]

What will you do if someone here chooses to leak this information back to the government?

[Too bad you can't put cursed seals on everyone so they can't talk about this without being rendered paralyzed, huh.]

text

[performance]

[ still anon here. ]

That's something we considered. Ultimately, there's nothing we can do to stop someone from doing exactly that. But if we get shut down, we'll just set up another.

oops permavideo sorry

[daimeinashi]

It's more likely that rather than shut it down, they would receive access to said network from such a person and continue to monitor it silently.

[darwinatrix]

Interesting. What guarantee do you make that this is not viewable by the government of this nation?

[performance]

For one, they have no way of knowing it exists.

But to answer your question more thoroughly: we'll be doing ongoing security tests, and we welcome other tech-savvy ImPorts who want to test the network themselves. It's a collaborative process.

[darwinatrix]

And yet, the only source on any of this is your word. You could be a government plant.

How can any of us trust you?

not heeeeere

[sizetwelve]

[ Even if it's not accessible to the government, Mary says nothing. Any imPort could easily turn this news in, and she would rather not incriminate herself and her fiancé by association just for the sake of curiosity.

But for now she's content to read everything on here to gauge the reactions. She is impressed with the boldness of this attempt, for certain. ]

[earnedmystripes]

whoa
do we need to understand techy stuff to use this

[He doesn't want to be the guy who accidentally exposes anything because of sucking at technology okay]

[performance]

[ Anon again. ]

Not any more than you already do. It runs exactly like the network.

[earnedmystripes]

so i dont have to worry about accidentally posting stuff to the regular network when im replying to stuff here?

and how do i post here in the first place instead of regular network

[beware, you're dealing with a man who thinks a good solution to technical problems is to hit the electronic device in question]

anonymous

[chiroptophobic]

Congratulations.

Now you must attempt not to compromise the integrity of what you have constructed with your own.

There will always be secrets, those who need access to them and those who do not, and there are as yet problems with your model. You'll improve on them, just take care that you do not end up chasing the tail of your own redundancy. Not every amendment will be a good one, particularly should you allow the head to win out over the heart.

[ Anonymous, but there is a cipher in the encoding that if the word ROBIN is used will yield - for a fraction of a second - the symbol of the bat. ]

[performance]

[ Hah. Even without the cipher, he'd probably recognize this inspirational lecture. ]

I appreciate the vote of confidence.

I know this is bigger than me. I have people I still need to reach out to — people who have strengths I'm lacking. Together I know we can make this as good as it needs to be.

[chiroptophobic]

You know what you're doing.

[ That's all he's giving. Actually Dick is better at this than he is, but technically - despite his age - Dick had been doing it for longer, and he had a better head for computers.

Bruce has every reason to have faith in him, and judging from his remark, it sounds like he might at least come to him for help if he needs it. ]

permatext »

[verification]

[ After getting an invite from Kate, Verity hops onto the broadcast via text, since that's the easiest way of organizing her thoughts on the subject of the mirrornet. ]

i can read programming and verify it works, that it's correct and in order. if any of the bigshot encryption experts need someone to look over their algorithms, i'm your girl. give me the raw coding and i can read it easily. my name is verity willis, i'm a lie detector. that means a whole hell of a lot can't be obscured from me, including flaws in computing science.

ps: if you want to use an alias that's fine, but don't falsify information. i'd rather not get into any arguments with you guys.