[MarmaladeEffect]

I'm in a group that's starting up a 5e game. None of us are really that familiar with the rules, including the GM, and none of us are interested in playing hackers, so that's where we're weakest. But since there isn't going to be a designated hacker for the group, and 5e has significant bonuses for leaving wireless on, I want to know what a bunch of non-hackers can do to get some basic cybersecurity.

I know that in 4e, a group without a hacker could do a lot of things to improve their security. They could upgrade the firewalls on all their gear, use laser or microwave transmitters for their wireless networks, buy agents to patrol their PANs with black IC, and put high-level databombs with the Pavlov mod on everything, forcing hackers to take a ton of damage if they couldn't make their disarm rolls. None of these would keep a determined enemy hacker out forever, but they could buy a few rounds for the combat guys to waste the opposition (and maybe get lucky and take out the hacker if he's on-site) before their high-tech gear went down. On the other hand, there were some security measures that seemed useless, like slaving devices, since that did nothing to prevent spoofing.

Are there any equivalent tricks in 5e for securing electronic gear? I haven't found laser or microwave transmitters in the books, and it looks like data bombs now take a dedicated hacker to set up. I'm not sure how much can be done to secure a commlink or any other devices, like smartguns, medkits, goggles, earbuds, etc.

[8-bit]

High rating commlinks, high willpower, running silent, abusing the public grid, and jammers are the only real defenses outside of a decker/technomancer.

High rating commlinks coupled with high willpower make hacking and bricking things quite difficult; nearly impossible to do without detection by your average hacker. Running silent makes it harder for hackers to spot your devices, and if they can't see the devices, they can't attack them (they'll need to take a few Action Passes with Matrix Perception to even spot your devices). The public grid imposes a -2 penalty on all hackers that operate on it. If they try to operate cross grid, it's still a -2 penalty. Basically, they are facing a -2 penalty, which, when coupled with a High Rating commlink and Running silent, makes it really difficult for hackers to get to your devices. Finally, Jammers provide a whole lot of noise, and while this can be mitigated somewhat, it's another penalty to add on. The only problem with Jammers is that they are very noticeable.

[JackVII]

A couple of tactics:

1) Everyone get the highest grade commlink they can get. The firewall of a commlink is equal to the device rating. You can get a Firewall (6) commlink at chargen

2) Have someone on the team have a high Computer skill to make Matrix Perception tests to occasionally check everyone's commlinks to make sure they aren't MARKed up.

3) This is a bit cheese as there should probably be some penalty for this, but anyone who has gear that doesn't actually perform matrix actions should set it up to run on the Public Grid as it results in a 2 dice penalty for any attempt to hack the device via wireless.

4) Area and Directional Jammers can be decent against deckers

5) Have the team use micro-transmitters to communicate. You can use them without accessing the Matrix, although the range is slightly limited and its voice only.

[firebug]

Remember that, no matter what you do, you can't be completely safe from hackers any more than you can be immune to bullets.  The overall idea of matrix defense should be to have the decker being pro-active (using an agent to regularly check for marks for him is a great option) and, as cybercombat is much more useful in 5th, to immediately identify and eliminate enemy hackers as soon as possible.  If the hacker is able to target you, your decker can target him.  The matrix is a two-way street.

Also, while it may take a decker to set data bombs on things, they can install them on important files with a code the actual file owner knows, allowing them to trap all their allies files.  After a few minutes, all the good stuff will have data bombs on it.

[Xenon]

there is no point in using wireless on devices that does not come with a wireless bonus or wireless functionality in the first place.
devices like this should probably always be turned wireless OFF by default (at least during a run).

and if you are really paranoid you can also run your other devices wirelesss OFF and spend the time and effort to only turn wireless ON during times when you really need the bonuses... For example; you can run a wire between your wireless OFF smartgun and your imaging device / datajack (depending on if you have where you have external or internal smartlink). This let you utilize the built in camera to shoot around corners without exposing yourself and you get an increased accuracy by 2. Right before a firefight you make sure your smartgun have a wireless connection working in concert with DNI so you can eject clip and change fire mode as a free action, get a positive dice pool bonus, ignore one level of wind and get both dice pool and limit bonus from Take Aim actions.

[Michael Chandra]

Slave to a rating 7 commlink owned by a mage with high mental attributes and has a low lifestyle so a hacker takes a minus two penalty, and employ a wireless area jammer for noise.

[Poindexter]

3) This is a bit cheese as there should probably be some penalty for this, but anyone who has gear that doesn't actually perform matrix actions should set it up to run on the Public Grid as it results in a 2 dice penalty for any attempt to hack the device via wireless.

This doesn't sound cheese at all. It sounds like some shit that a professional criminal would do; Turn the weaknesses of the oppressive system against itself and all.

[JackVII]

This doesn't sound cheese at all. It sounds like some shit that a professional criminal would do; Turn the weaknesses of the oppressive system against itself and all.

It's not cheese that someone would do it. It's cheese that there isn't a penalty for running a device on the Public Grid unless it is performing a Matrix Action. If a device receives a wireless bonus because it can access programs/data/etc from the matrix, as is what the fluff rationale seems to be, why would it work equally well over a reliable connection as it would over a spotty connection?

[Rift_0f_Bladz]

Every runner/team should have a micro transceiver. Range on the thing can be global with wireless on, but for this thread's topic, why? As for other defenses, those list above are currently the best you get. But decent Will plus device rating of the comlink can be pretty nasty defense pool.

[MarmaladeEffect]

These have been really helpful responses - thanks!

About data bombs - in 4e, they could be set up on devices, but as I read the 5e rules, they can only be set up on files, so they wouldn't be triggered by someone trying to access a node or spoof a command, just someone trying to steal data. Is that a correct interpretation?

[Xenon]

Yes, Data Bombs in SR5 can only be used on Files.

SR5 p. 242 Set Data Bomb
You set a Data Bomb in a file....The Data Bomb is triggered when someone attempts to read, edit, copy, protect, delete, or put another Data Bomb on the file without using the already-in-place Data Bomb’s passcode.

[incrdbil]

And don't forget to periodically reboot out of combat (or in combat if you think your device is getting marked) if you are really nervous--rebooting gets rid of those marks placed that you didn't manage to see.