The Radio Signal Scanner does the sniffer program part, and doesn't say anything about being a Scan program unless its description implies it just automatically succeeds.
Radio Signal Scanner: The radio signal scanner locates and locks in on radio traffic from RFID tags, wireless networks, and other transmitters, and is especially useful at capturing signals originating from nearby. The scanner can also measure a signal’s strength and pinpoint its location. Treat the scanner as if it were a Sniffer program (p. 234) equal to its rating; see p. 229 for rules on detecting and intercepting wireless signals.
Also, RFID tags have a Signal rating of 1, not 0.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags form an integral part of every product that leaves the production line. Ranging in size from microscopic to the size of a price tag, tags have a stick-to-anything adhesive backing and can sometimes be difficult to spot. Tags are pro-grammed to transmit small amounts of data: serial numbers, product specs, and pricing (for distribution and retail); arrows and advertise-ments (for geo-tagging locations and objects, leaving a virtual AR message for anyone who comes by); ID (for employee tracking and access control); owner contact information (in case an item is stolen); vehicle registration; etc. Tags can be used as tracking devices, periodically transmitting to local scanners or to the wireless Matrix (along with the local access point’s GPS data), though their limited range makes them useless in dead zones. RFID Tag data is often fixed, but in some cases is reprogrammable. Tags are readable by anyone with a commlink. They have a Signal rating of 1.
The physical location of a tag can be found with a radio signal scanner (p. 334). Tag data can be erased with a tag eraser (p. 330) or programmed with an Edit program (which is what runners do to create fake tags). Fixed tag data can only be altered if the tag is physically accessed, requiring a Hardware + Logic (5, 1 minute) Extended
Test. Data on a tag may be encrypted.
I don't think most RFID tags would be hidden, either. Though it doesn't say either way, aside from specifying in the entry about Stealth tags that they're apparently impossible to just find on their own.
Intercepting wireless traffic only works if you've got access to a node that all the information passes through (" When information is routed between devices, it is non-sequentially sliced into a number of pieces and sent to the recipient via multiple paths; this makes it almost impossible to intercept the traffic except within Signal range of the sender or the receiver") (thus why it says it's mainly useless outside of wired networks), and capturing wireless traffic only works if you're within mutual signal range
explicitly (being one of the few actions that requires it). Does this mean that in order to use an RFID to track something, you'd need for it to constantly be set to send out data (via routing) to a single specific node? Though at that point, you could just Trace User it from the data the second node received and there'd be no use in using Sniffer...
I am confused because Sniffer seems almost entirely useless (save for one use-- stealing a copy of a message someone within mutual signal range of you is sending) and just want to know what's needed to use Trace User on an RFID chip. What accounts as an "icon" from a chip so you could trace it back to the chip. I'm so confused that I can't even remember the thought behind the question anymore. x.x
