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Message no. 1
From: "D. Ghost" <dghost@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Falsifying ID's in 2060 (Was: Another Skill Question)
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 00:35:47 -0600
On Sun, 8 Nov 1998 21:38:29 -0600 "XaOs [David Goth]" <xaos@*****.NET>
writes:
>> 3) THEN make him roleplay out ALL the decking runs needed to make the
>> false entries that he decided on when he made his knowledge skill
roll.

>In addition, consider proprietary materials used in the sticks
themselves.
>(At least the SIN type...dunno if it'd be effective in certified
>credsticks). Think along the lines of the recent changes being made in
US
>currency (if you're acquainted with that). They have a secret formula
paper,
>secret formula ink, secret formula mettalo-plastic-strip-thingie, etc.
And
>that's before you even get to the techniques used to help prevent
>counterfeiters. Certainly, there are ways to get around them (especially
in
>2060), but that should get you thinking along those lines.

Hmmm. Interesting Idea. But why can't they just take an existing stick
and rewrite it?

>The reason why I
>hesitate to say that certified credsticks should have proprietary
materials,
>is because I envision just about any entity being able to crank them out
>where they are convenient. (Unfortunately, if that's true, I can't think
of
>a method of preventing said entities from putting false funds in them.
By
>their nature, they're intended to be untraceable to the original source
of
>said funds).
<SNIP>

Well, those "entities" could be issued blank certified credsticks by the
government with records kept of who got which stick with what serial
number. Then all ID verifiers could check them for certain qualities
(Bad Sectors, Exact Size [ie, perhaps all credsticks have exactly 42 MP
of data], special properties of the plastic [optical density,
reflectivity, etc], etc.).

--
D. Ghost
(aka Pixel, Tantrum, RuPixel)
"Coffee without caffeine is like sex without the spanking." -- Cupid
re-cur-sion (ri-kur'-zhen) noun. 1. See recursion.

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Message no. 2
From: "XaOs [David Goth]" <xaos@*****.NET>
Subject: Re: Falsifying ID's in 2060 (Was: Another Skill Question)
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 02:33:17 -0600
> Hmmm. Interesting Idea. But why can't they just take an existing stick
> and rewrite it?

ROM/WORM memory, perhaps?

> Well, those "entities" could be issued blank certified credsticks by the
> government with records kept of who got which stick with what serial
> number. Then all ID verifiers could check them for certain qualities
> (Bad Sectors, Exact Size [ie, perhaps all credsticks have exactly 42 MP
> of data], special properties of the plastic [optical density,
> reflectivity, etc], etc.).

Possibly, but this also assumes that that level of traceability is is
present, or even desired. I look at certified credsticks like current day
cash...relatively untraceable.



-XaOs-
xaos@*****.net
-David Goth-
Message no. 3
From: K in the Shadows <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Falsifying ID's in 2060 (Was: Another Skill Question)
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 12:58:37 EST
In a message dated 11/9/1998 2:22:02 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
dghost@****.COM writes:

<snip concept of proprietary materials used in credsticks>

> Hmmm. Interesting Idea. But why can't they just take an existing stick
> and rewrite it?

I would presume to guess that the sticks are 'burned" in much the same manner
as a burned/cooked chipset. Hence, rewriting would be, difficult, at best.

> Well, those "entities" could be issued blank certified credsticks by the
> government with records kept of who got which stick with what serial
> number. Then all ID verifiers could check them for certain qualities
> (Bad Sectors, Exact Size [ie, perhaps all credsticks have exactly 42 MP
> of data], special properties of the plastic [optical density,
> reflectivity, etc], etc.).

All of this would make it the truly, IMO, more difficult part of replicating a
credstick than the actual information itself. The data could always be done
by a decker, the format for a credstick could be reverse engineered with
decompilation software (we have it now, I'm sure hackers continue to devise it
then, it may not be perfect, but it works). The materials in question though,
-that- would be worth the difficulty. Correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't
specific programming/informational factors be directly placed into the medium
itself? Literally, the plastic (or whatever material they are) contains a
specific kind of optic program.

THAT would be tricky.

And what kind of resources WOULD be required to formulate such a beast then?
A Chemistry Shop?

-K

>
> --
> D. Ghost
> (aka Pixel, Tantrum, RuPixel)
> "Coffee without caffeine is like sex without the spanking." -- Cupid
> re-cur-sion (ri-kur'-zhen) noun. 1. See recursion.
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
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