Based on material presented in Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell, Ghost Hacking marks the next great leap for netrunning software. Rather than simply hacking a computer or a deck, or sending ICE to fry the mind of a Netrunner it will eventually be possible to read memories or control actions all from inside a target's mind. The progression is quite logical, as netrunning attack programs get more sophisticated they'll eventually be running the runner in a sense. And as cybernetics becomes more prevalent and more common it will be possible to attack a cyborg without ever being in the net, in the same way a micronet can allow a runner to break into your car.
The Ghost is essentially the mind in the machine, the part that makes a cyborg human. All humans have Ghost, and some sufficiently advanced AI's have ghostlines that approach the complexity of a humans. The Ghost is the only part of you that is truly unique, your brain can be copied, you cell's uncoded and cloned, but no matter how perfect the duplicate it will still have a different mind, different memories, a different ghost. Of course they could always dub your ghost onto it and fake it pretty well.
For hackers and users a ghostline is both the pattern of energy that can be recorded from a functioning brain and the point at which direct neural interface moves beyond surface details and moves into more invasive procedures. New sensors and software are used to identify people by their Ghostline, it can be used to tell what type of being they are, if any attack programs are affecting them, and what they have in the way of barrier programs.
This is the process by which a runner can examine all the details housed with in a mind. Usually the sheer mass of material makes this unworthy of the effort, and barrier programs cause problems. The most usual approach is to drop a program in and let it do the work. But should one chose to dive unguarded into an unguarded mind the effect is very much like telepathy, both minds are aware of each other on a very personal and very intimate level.
More likely the runner will be after something specific, visual data from the subject's eyes, or their current pain response. This is like a surface dive, the more immediate things the subject is dealing with. Deeper dives require more preparation and support. We won't get into them right now.
But why would you want to do any of this? Well essentially what ghost hacking does is it turns the enemy's mind and body into a datafortress that can be raided. If you can get control over a body long enough you can literally have them commit crimes and stay safely distant. Paralyze a foe, put someone to sleep, blank their memories for a few moments. Combined with SimEx this can literally erase and rewrite minds.
In 2020 Ghost hacking has a ways to go yet, the level of sophistication isn't there. However since I set my games in 2099 I have a great deal more freedom. As cybernetics becomes more common and more pervasive the possibilities of ghost hacking get increasingly more likely. I've always hated the concept of cyberpsychosis, since burn victims and amputees don't go nuts cause of prosthetics. But there needs to be something to balance the game, give flesh and blood types a way to beat the borgs. I used something much like ghost hacking before I saw how neat masamune Shirow's take on it was. I called it Dependency Syndrome, the point at which each person cannot exist without all the cybernetics they have, even if it makes them vulnerable.
Over time I'll add to this file, maybe fill in the rest of the details. Ghost hacking for the most part in Shirow's books is left vague and open, as far as I'm concerned it becomes a test between willpower and barrier program versus runner's interface and program strength. The possibilities are endless and for the moment open to anyone's imagination.
Reformatted December 16th, 2000