History VideoGame / Hacknet

** [[spoiler: At the end of ''Labrynths'' you can potentially fight Kaguya's endgame by preventing the plane crash.]]

** [[spoiler: If you react quickly enough when they attack you, you can actively thwart both Naix and Striker's hacking by shell'ing and setting a trap on your own terminal and thereby shut their terminals down when it executes.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Naix refers to the player as a 'script kiddie' after you delete the data off their proxy. Which is correct, since you either steal or get given all your exploit tools from or by other people. [[spoiler:Even [=PortHack=] and [=HackNet=]. The endgame is all about how dangerous it is to have tools so simple even a novice like you can go around hacking pretty much anything you want to with just a little bit of training and dangerously powerful tools.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Naix refers to the player as a 'script kiddie' after you delete the data off their proxy. Which is correct, since you either steal or get given all your exploit tools from or by other people. [[spoiler:Even [=PortHack=] and [=HackNet=]. The endgame is all about how dangerous it is to have tools so simple even a novice like you can go around hacking mainframes.]]

** When Bit [[spoiler:hacked into Entech's mainframe one night and discovered their plan, he]] had a change of heart.

* SuperPrototype: [[spoiler: PortHack. The reason why the player is so easily able to hack isn't because they're good, but because PortHack is an absurdly powerful tool. As a metaphor, most in-lore hacking devices can be considered akin to lockpicking tools, while PortHack is like a battering ram.]]

** The [[ShmuckBait CCCHacksquad server]] also starts with a predetermined password. [[spoiler: The password is "honeypot", but attempting to hack it causes the password to change and, due to updates preventing certain exploits from working, renders the server's contents inaccessible forever.]]

* BonusBoss: One server, the CCC Hacksquad Filedump, traces any hacking attempts in mere seconds, making it even harder to hack than the final boss! There actually was a way to get through it, [[spoiler: by means of repeatedly letting the passive trace trigger active traces while you open the ports one at a time]]. This got removed in an update. There is an actual password, though if you even attempt to hack it, the password cycles, rendering the contents effectively [[PermanentlyMissableContent Lost Forever]]. [[spoiler: It's "honeypot", fitting given the server's purpose.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: In the DLC, [[spoiler: Kaguya]] ultimately uses this to defend their actions in the endgame. [[spoiler:It's a front, their actions are self-motivated and unquestionably unethical. See EvilPlan.]]

* LastChanceHitPoint: Unlike VideoGame/{{Uplink}}, getting traced does not mean immediate Game Over. [[spoiler: It does, however, start a "Trace Aversion Sequence" that the player must complete by getting a new [=IP=] address before the trace truly completes.]] [[spoiler:The Hacknet [=OS=] does this by triggering a self-induced crash at the very moment when the ping from the hostile server arrives, giving it no return, so that the hostile server assumes the ping never arrived.]]

* MultipleEndings: At the end of ''Labyrinths'', you are given the SadisticChoice to either [[spoiler:upload a working firmware to a crashing plane and save everyone involved while letting potentially catastrophic chemical weapons data reach its target; do nothing and let everyone on the plane die, more or less ensuring the data is gone forever; or help crash a second plane with the backups too, eliminating the data forever.]] Since there's no real "good" choice, only the final dialogue changes - the endgame is the same in all cases.

* NotWhatISignedOnFor: When Bit [[spoiler:hacked into Entech's mainframe one night and discovered their plan, he]] had a change of heart.

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: All [=eOS=] devices use "alpine" as the admin password[[note]]This actually was the default iOS device password for several years running[[/note]]. Justified as the end users don't have access to the console of their devices and can't change the default password. [[spoiler:Averted in Labyrinths in one particular device, as it was jailbroken [[ProperlyParanoid and the default password changed]], making the player have to root around for the password via other methods.]]

* ShownTheirWork: Even though the executables in the game itself are purely a case of HollywoodHacking, the descriptions for them, the various systems, and the internet are remarkably well written and based in real life. Also the command console actually uses real life Linux commands to navigate with and several of the missions in the game are based on real life events such as the giant Neopets data breach in May 2016.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To VideoGame/{{Uplink}}.

* AlternateRealityGame: [[spoiler:It is one. The very last line in the game confirms you're using the very [[TitleDrop HackNet]] software mentioned in the story.]]

* BonusBoss: One server, the CCC Hacksquad Filedump, traces any hacking attempts in mere seconds, making it even harder to hack than the final boss!
** There actually was a way to get through it, [[spoiler: by means of repeatedly letting the passive trace trigger active traces while you open the ports one at a time]]. This got removed in an update. There is an actual password, though if you even attempt to hack it, the password cycles, rendering the contents effectively [[PermanentlyMissableContent Lost Forever]]. [[spoiler: It's "honeypot", fitting given the server's purpose.]]

* BlandNameProduct: Macrosoft, [=eOS=], CFC... where to start? Although Windows and Linux are namedropped.

* ButThouMust: The mission "Project Junebug" (see NightmareFuel on the YMMV subpage) must be followed until a certain point,[[spoiler: as it is the only legitimate way to get [=KBT_PortTester.exe=], which is necessary to open port 104.]]

* DeadManWriting: Hacknet is one giant example from Bit, set to email 14 days after he goes dark (and is presumably dead). There's a bit of humor as Bit struggles with what tense he should be writing in. The program is set to guide you through the program and do a few introductory tasks and housekeeping for Bit before it sends you to Entropy to learn more and figure things out yourself. [[spoiler: At the end of the game, after [=EnTech's=] copies of Hacknet are deleted, you're sent one last message directing you to [=PortHack's=] "heart" in order to terminate it, which to one last message, this time a recording, thanking the player before your own copy of Hacknet gets deleted.]]

* DuelingHackers: During a certain mission, [[spoiler:Naix will trace you, delete a file on your in-game PC and then execute a forkbomb to force a reboot.]] Don't worry, you can certainly retaliate.

* EvilPlan: [[spoiler: The purpose of Hacknet is to kickstart a massive cybercrime spree by leaking it out to the public so that [=EnTech=] can sell their own Hacknet-proof software.]]

* FeaturelessProtagonist: You.

* FiveFiveFive: Averted. The servers use realistic, if randomized, IP adresses.

* GuideDangIt: The third faction [[spoiler:/el]] is this. [[spoiler: To get to them, the player needs to delete x-server.sys on Naix' root gateway and then following his missions. However, this [[PermanentlyMissableContent is not possible anymore]] if "Aggression must be punished" has been completed.]]

** The services on the servers are also running on the correct ports ([=FTP=] on port 21, [=SSH=] on port 22, [=SMTP=] on port 25, [=HTTP=] on port 80, Medical Services on port 104 and [=SQL=] on port 1433.)

** [[spoiler: Kaguya has one too, and hers include hundreds of fatalities. Step 1: Stage a very public computer attack using a group of hackers she assembled and trained. Crashing two passenger jets into the ocean would do nicely. Step 2: Introduce an untraceable back door into the security fix. Step 3: Have full access into all servers running the patched software.]]

** Explore Kaguya's server after the above events - [[spoiler: She is lying through her teeth about everything. See EvilPlan.]]

* DeadlyEuphemism:[[spoiler: Entech's [=CEO=]]] wanted Bit "to be discouraged". [[spoiler:He meant "Smash up his computers and have him arrested". Unfortunately, the person who was given the task interpreted it as "Have Bit killed".]]

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: [=Sequencer.exe=], a program in the [=CSEC=] Asset Server that doesn't seem to have any use, is used at the end of the game signal Vapor to start the attack on [=EnTech's=] backup servers.]]

* ShownTheirWork: Even though the executables in the game itself are purely a case of HollywoodHacking, the descriptions for them, the various systems, and the internet are remarkably well written and based in real life. Also the command console actually uses real life Linux commands to navigate with.

** And going through the game the normal way, you'll get dumped into what looks like a NonStandardGameOver with your system crippled. [[spoiler:You actually have all the tools you need to swipe a replacement file from the practice machine the tutorial pointed you at, but it requires using text commands that even the tutorial let you use a GUI for, and has to be done on the intimidatingly sparse terminal interface.]]

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Entech CEO. [[spoiler:Even if Bit's death was a miscommunication, Project [=HackNet=] is a horrifying breach of antitrust laws.]]

* ShownTheirWork: Even though the executables in the game itself are purely a case of HollywoodHacking, the descriptions for them are remarkably well written and based in sound practice. Also the command console actually uses real life Linux commands to navigate with.

** [[spoiler: If you react quickly enough when they attack you, you can actively thwart both Naix and Striker's hacking by setting a trap on your own terminal and thereby shut theirs down when it executes.]]

** [[spoiler: If you react quickly enough (or are careful enough to avoid detection), you can actively thwart both Naix and Striker's hacking by setting a trap on your own terminal and thereby shutting theirs down.]]

** [[spoilers: If you react quickly enough (or are careful enough to avoid detection), you can actively thwart both Naix and Striker's hacking by setting a trap on your own terminal and thereby shutting theirs down.]]