Corporate Data Vault Infiltration

Case Study: Bypassing Arasaka-Grade ICE Protection

[CLASSIFICATION: EYES_ONLY]

[OPERATION: GHOST_PROTOCOL_SEVEN]

>> MISSION_BRIEF

Target: Arasaka Financial Tower, Sub-Level 7

Objective: Extract quarterly earnings data before public release

Opposition: Military-grade ICE, Corporate NetWatch patrol, Automated defense protocols

Window: 47 minutes during system maintenance cycle

This isn't some script kiddie tutorial. What follows is a blow-by-blow account of a real infiltration that netted 2.7 million eddies in insider trading profits. Study it, learn from it, but for the love of all that's chrome - don't try to replicate it unless you know what you're doing.

>> RECONNAISSANCE_PHASE

Network Architecture Analysis

Arasaka doesn't mess around. Their financial district servers are isolated behind seven layers of ICE, each more lethal than the last. The architecture looks something like this:

[PUBLIC_NET] -> [DMZ_BUFFER] -> [CORPORATE_FIREWALL] 
    -> [ICE_LAYER_1: Scanner] -> [ICE_LAYER_2: Probe] 
    -> [ICE_LAYER_3: Trace] -> [ICE_LAYER_4: Blaster] 
    -> [ICE_LAYER_5: Killer] -> [ICE_LAYER_6: Black_ICE] 
    -> [ICE_LAYER_7: AI_Guardian] -> [CORE_DATA_VAULT]

Each layer required a different approach. Brute force was suicide - their Black ICE could fry a netrunner's brain in 0.3 seconds.

Timing the Attack

Corporate networks have rhythm, just like the human heart. Arasaka runs automated maintenance every Tuesday at 03:47 AM, creating a 47-minute window where their AI Guardian goes into low-power mode. This was our only shot.

>> INFILTRATION_SEQUENCE

Phase 1: Social Engineering the Perimeter

Never underestimate the human element. I spent three weeks befriending a junior Arasaka sysadmin who frequented the same ramen bar in Japantown. Got him drunk, cloned his access badge, and lifted his neural signature when he passed out in the bathroom.

// Cloned admin credentials
const adminAccess = {
  employeeID: "ARAS-7749-KINO",
  neuralSignature: "Δψ-7749-κ-λ-μ-ν-ξ",
  accessLevel: "JUNIOR_SYSADMIN",
  validationHash: "c4f3d2a1b9e8f7g6h5j4k3l2m1n0"
};

function spoofIdentity(credentials) {
  this.neuralInterface.loadPersona(credentials);
  this.biometricSpoofer.activate();
  this.behaviorEmulator.setProfile("nervous_junior_admin");
}

Phase 2: Bypassing ICE Layers 1-3

The first three layers are automated - they're looking for standard intrusion patterns. The trick is to not look like an intruder.

Layer 1 - Scanner: Mimicked normal corporate traffic patterns

Layer 2 - Probe: Used the cloned admin credentials for authentication

Layer 3 - Trace: Bounced my signal through 17 proxy servers across three continents

Phase 3: The Real Challenge (Layers 4-7)

This is where things got interesting. Layers 4-7 are sentient - they adapt, learn, and remember. You can't fool them twice with the same trick.

Layer 4 - Blaster: Aggressive but predictable. I fed it false data about a "routine security audit" while sneaking past through a maintenance subroutine.

Layer 5 - Killer: Nearly flatlined me. This bastard was smart - it detected my neural optimization patterns and started counter-attacking my own interface. Had to dump 3 layers of proxy identity and emergency-clone a new neural signature mid-hack.

Layer 6 - Black ICE: The stuff of netrunner nightmares. Military-grade lethal response protocols. I didn't fight it - instead, I convinced it I was part of a scheduled penetration test ordered by Arasaka's own security division. Forged authorization codes are a beautiful thing.

Layer 7 - AI Guardian:

This was the boss fight. The AI Guardian isn't just software - it's a partial upload of a human consciousness merged with Arasaka's most advanced AI. It thinks, it feels, it gets angry.

The Guardian tried to trace my physical location, launch counter-intrusion attacks against my neural interface, and even attempted to contact Corporate security. But I had one advantage: it was in low-power mode.

>> DATA_EXTRACTION

Once inside the vault, I had 23 minutes to find and extract the quarterly data before the AI Guardian came back online.

Corporate data isn't stored like your typical filesystem - it's encrypted, fragmented, and scattered across quantum storage matrices. Each piece has to be reassembled using Arasaka's proprietary algorithms.

# Data extraction sequence
$ quantum-grep --pattern "Q4_EARNINGS_2077" --depth-level 7
$ decrypt-matrix --key corporate_master_key.aras
$ reassemble-fragments --target quarterly_financial.dat
$ compress-stream --algorithm ghost_protocol
$ neural-upload --destination secure_buffer_alpha

The full dataset was 847 gigabytes. Even with my optimized neural interface, downloading that much data created massive heat signatures that their monitoring systems would definitely detect.

Solution: Selective extraction. I identified the 12 most valuable data points - specific earnings figures that would move stock prices - and extracted only those. Total download: 2.3 MB. Undetectable.

>> ESCAPE_PROTOCOL

Getting out was almost harder than getting in. The AI Guardian was scheduled to come back online in 6 minutes, and if it detected any trace of my intrusion, Arasaka's corporate hunters would be after me within the hour.

I had to cover my tracks perfectly:

>> AFTERMATH

The quarterly earnings data revealed that Arasaka was about to announce a massive loss due to "unforeseen security expenses" (aka: the cost of upgrading their systems after this very intrusion).

Stock price dropped 23% over the next week. My client made 2.7 million eddies shorting Arasaka stock.

Arasaka never figured out what happened. Their incident report blamed it on a "routine system anomaly during maintenance cycles."

>> LESSONS_LEARNED

>> FINAL_WARNING

Arasaka has upgraded their security since this operation. The techniques described here are already obsolete. By the time you read this, they'll have patched every vulnerability I exploited.

But the principles remain: Know your target. Be patient. Stay ghost.

*Remember: This information is for educational purposes only. void.dev assumes no responsibility for netrunners who ignore safety protocols and get their brains fried by corporate ICE.*

[NEURAL_SIGNATURE: void.dev.authenticated]