evading security checks

[Jo Zebedee]

You could just walk him in as a prisoner, (like Leia and Chewbacca), to get him past initial security, or even as a faked cadaver, "Hurrah our nemesis is dead, let's abandon our posts to celebrate!" then his men on the inside revive/release as necessary...

Sadly, I did that in book one. Worked a treat, though.

where are the security guys?

anyways, springs didn't the charlies angels movie have a simular situation? a false skin filled with false dna..

I have no idea. Anyone?

 

[Mr Orange]

If he has people in the palace you could make it nice and simple: guns stashed somewhere inside and security system overridden in one area by his mole. You could even throw a bit of mystery/twist about who his mole is...

 

[AnyaKimlin]

How about they just come into the castle through a long forgotten tunnel or entrance that doesn't bring him into contact with the checks?

 

[Glitch]

Just a thought...

Hacking into the security system brings its own risks. Could he hack into just one of the scanners. Program it to repeat the previous scan when it scans him.

As he's lining to to be scanned, he gets moved into a different queue. He could use his psi powers to cause a disturbance in order to get back in the right line.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

If he has people in the palace you could make it nice and simple: guns stashed somewhere inside and security system overridden in one area by his mole. You could even throw a bit of mystery/twist about who his mole is...

I think that the security systems/mole is starting to look like the most likely route.

How about they just come into the castle through a long forgotten tunnel or entrance that doesn't bring him into contact with the checks?

Sadly, whilst I like the idea in this story, the bad guys are the ones who might know about hidden tunnels and what not.

Just a thought...

Hacking into the security system brings its own risks. Could he hack into just one of the scanners. Program it to repeat the previous scan when it scans him.

As he's lining to to be scanned, he gets moved into a different queue. He could use his psi powers to cause a disturbance in order to get back in the right line.

I don't want to use his powers -- he needs to get as far as possible before he shows his hand, and using them potentially gives him away -- but I think either a system-wide hack, or a specified area hack will do it. Once past the security scan in one area they can go on into the palace, so that might make sense.

Right, to work. As they say on Twitter #amwriting.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Has there ever been an escape that they've never worked out? Even a royal who has run off sometime in the past with a lover.

 

[jastius]

springs what if they send in a trojan virus shoehorned into an innocuous email like a greeting card, to open up a sleeper system that twidles with the biometric scan readouts enough that he seems like someone else to the sensors who can pass through the security systems.. the sleeper system could be from an installed program, an app that everyone uses and is supposed to be safe, but is actually using all the phones and computers to scan for finger print retinal prints and other biometrics as well as code keys and so on that are triggered by the second incoming trojan to re-kajigger the biometrics scanners into a 'these are not the droids you are looking for; move on...' type thing as he passes through. that way you just need a physical disguise. i thought the app could be a personal assistant type thing so it has access to their facebook and social contact lists..

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Cheers, Jastius, I'll have a think about that.

Edit, no Anya, I don't think there is.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

If there was there might be information available that those within don't know.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

You said he designed the security system? And did he leave himself a back-door access into the system?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

You said he designed the security system? And did he leave himself a back-door access into the system?

He might well have done, DEO. Or a close colleague might have... i shall think on. Ty.

 

[Ursa major]

You said he designed the security system? And did he leave himself a back-door access into the system?

Now why didn't anyone else come up with him simply walking in the back door...?


I assume that they'd look very carefully at any routines that had anything to do with access, particularly from a remote terminal. However, there's nothing to say one couldn't build in a routine that looked for a particular set of events that might allow him in (such as coming up with a false report when it read his retina, or suppressing certain alarms or releasing certain locks). Those events could be certain dna/retinal scan results appearing within a shortish time window (like a permutation or, better, a combination).


EDIT: Or just his own DNA and retinal scan results, I suppose. (The system doesn't have to tell them who he really is.)

 

[Darkchild130]

Real world answer. Observe the site, create target packs for individuals who could be exploited over a period of weeks, at the same time building a pattern of life for security changes, any weaknesses in the system, possible entry points etc.
You can form a plan based on all your collated data.
This is all part of a process that could entails reconnaissance and agent handling in it's most basic form.

Fiction.
Biometrics can be mimicked to a certain degree, so samples of stuff from a relevant site staff member could be used.
This would entail tracking them to a bar or their home and getting fingerprints, retina scans from them, or simply killing them and removing body parts depending on the sophistication of the site security.

You could cut off a hand and gouge out an eye and keep them "alive" by piping them into a portable, powered blood supply, maybe concealed under some heavy clothing.

The exploitation angle is approaching a worker and giving them incentive to do your dirty work, maybe someone with sick family or dirty secrets that can be bought or blackmailed.
They can be equipped and briefed to do you work for you, meaning the team never have to set foot on site.

If time is a factor, do a site recon one night, scope out the whole external security suite, then plan for an infiltration the following night, going for the weakest spot like a vent or skylight (or other cliche).

If that's still too slow, attack the place. Split your fire to create a gap in defences as a diversion while your primary slips inside and does his business.

These are just vague suggestions off the top of my head, of course, as an infantryman I would just attack the place.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

That's very helpful, thanks, Darkchild. When I did book one -- which had a similar military set-up scenario (I managed to shirk such onerous thinking in book two) -- I had a serving major in the US army (hi! ) help me with my atrocious approach to such things. His thinking was if I invested the time explaining the plan and sounding confident (and having it half-way plausible) it became a stronger approach. So I think the recon -- to be fair, the commander knows the ground very, very, well as it was previously his palace -- is the way to go because then I can cover what the plan is?

 

[Darkchild130]

We have a phrase in the military "time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted" it is by far the most important phase of an operation. Even if you spend a week watching a road junction where nothing happens, that still tells you that the enemy does not use that junction, which opens it up for an approach route, crossing point, fire support location etc etc. recon is for winners.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

If he has a back door into the security system...perhaps he can't disable the system...so he routes all the alerts to his phone...turns it onto silent mode (if his phone keeps sounding alarms while he's along throughout security...)...and his phone keeps vibrating on silent alarm, distracting him...

 

[Gumboot]

Powercut?

In all seriousness though... the most effective way to actually defeat a security system is still brute force. In movies super-stealthy ninjas sneak into buildings like ghost, take what they need, and then vanish. But in the real world the way you normally do it is to hit the place hard and fast with overwhelming force, and complete the mission before the defenses have time to assemble.

Reconnaissance is absolutely essential for determining defense patterns and weaknesses, so that you can apply force to the right places to overwhelm and confuse any counter-attack.

I have absolutely no idea whether that works at all for your scenario, but that's how it works in the real world.

The other thing to bear in mind is that a palace is never really going to be completely secure. Someone has to deliver food, someone has to clean the place, and someone has to come and collect the rubbish. Those service access points are classic weak spots. They're daily interactions, and they're routine. No matter how serious your security is, routine leads to complacency, and cracks appear. That's where you hit them.

 

[DaCosta]

I'm pretty sure the NSA has flagged this post.

 

[Bowler1]

Bowler1 dusts off old posts, spraying polish while wheeling in an old battered hoover.

Who me?

I'm just the cleaner, no-one ever notices a cleaner. Always in the back ground placing bugs, hiding weapons and keeping track of everyone's movements.

Hey, get off, I just cleaned that....

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Bowler1 dusts off old posts, spraying polish while wheeling in an old battered hoover.

Who me?

I'm just the cleaner, no-one ever notices a cleaner. Always in the back ground placing bugs, hiding weapons and keeping track of everyone's movements.

Hey, get off, I just cleaned that....[/

Cleaning has been noted. although I don't think ex-Emperors are naturals at such things...
Gumboot - a frontal assault isn't possible under the set-up I have.