If Jyn’s data transmission in Rogue One was realistic to military operating systems.

WARNING: Mild spoilers below

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Jyn rushes to terminal uplink on the top of the archives tower on Scarif and slides in the data files. Director Krennic appears on scene and is shot by Cassian Andor. Jyn turns to the terminal.

Comms link blinks on. The screen lights up.

>Welcome to the Imperial Operating System’s Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. Please insert your common access card and enter your eighteen-digit Personalized Imperial Number<

Jyn frantically looks around, sees the body of Director Krennic nearby, rushes over, grabs his card, and slides it into the terminal.

>Thank you for accessing the Data Terminal Uplink System, part of the Imperial Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. Please enter your eighteen-digit Personalized Imperial Number<

Jyn rummages through the pockets of the Imperial officer and finds his PIN on a card in his pocket. She rapidly enters it into the terminal.

>PIN accepted…processing…this terminal requires a mandatory reboot, reboot beginning now<

The terminal shuts down, just as five Stormtroopers surge out of the elevator. Jyn dodges blaster shots while engaging them with her own weapon. After a brief fight, all five Stormtroopers are dead. Jyn sees that the terminal reboot is finally complete; a burning TIE fighter narrowly misses the tower.

>WARNING: this module is monitored at all times by Imperial security protocols, which reserve the right to terminate your life force if this module is used for anything other than government use, such as surfing cantina girls sites, buying Mandalorian armor off non-Imperial authorized vendors, or sending encrypted messages that are remotely critical of Grand Moff Tarkin’s skull structure. Any and all cyber violations are punishable by revocation of security certificates and immediate death<

>Director Krennic, the Imperial Cybersecurity Center of Excellence shows that your information assurance certificate is out of date. Please contact your network administrator to complete the Imperial Cybersecurity Center of Excellence’s Information Assurance Hologram. No further actions may be taken until your certificates are up to date. We apologize for any inconvenience this may has caused you.<

Jyn swears loudly and grabs a comms voice link.

“Um, is there a system administrator anywhere on this?”

“This is System Administrator Droid XM-95, Imperial Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, the current wait time is now five minutes.”

Jyn kills ten more Stormtroopers while she’s waiting.

“This is System Administrator Droid XM-95, what is your issue?”

“I need to send a data file message to, um, the Death Star!” says Jyn. “It’s vital to, uh, the Imperial Cybersecurity.”

Pause.

“I’m afraid your IA certificate has expired, Director Krennic. One moment, let me do a security override.”

“Oh. That’s all?” replies Jyn, surprised.

“My processors are out of date so I may not be adhering to the latest security protocols. I apologize if this angers you, but you should really keep all of your system administrative droids up to date, sir. I have restored all functions to your terminal. Please keep all systems up to date to prevent tampering from Rebel operatives or malware. Have an excellent cybersecurity day.”

Jyn turns back to the terminal and tries again.

>Thank you for completing your IA training. To access data files, please enter the Imperial Army Knowledge Operations module, by clicking here.<

>You are now entering I-AKO. Please re-enter your eighteen-digit PIN and select your security certificate<

>That security certificate is incorrect. Please close all system windows and try again.<

>That PIN is incorrect. Please close all system windows and try again.<

>Transmission successful. You have now accessed I-AKO. To upload data files in a secure transmission, please insert your security token and enter your twenty-five digit PIN.<

Jyn swears again and chooses the “send unencrypted message” option.

>You are attempting to send the files unsecured and without encryption. Doing so exposes the system to malicious attacks from outside sources. Do you understand and accept the risk, which could be punished by a fine and death?<

>You have certified that you understand and accept the risk. Uploading files….scanning…creating link…connection lost.<

>Error message: a fatal error has occurred. Please contact your system administrator; this terminal is now locked and inaccessible.<

Jyn blasts the terminal to pieces and kicks Director Krennic’s body off the tower.

 

“It doesn’t matter anyways,” she mutters to Cassian as the Death Star appears in the ether. “If that’s the way the Empire does communications and information security, the Death Star is one E-Mail (Empire’s Mail) message away from falling out of orbit.”

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About the Author: Angry Staff Officer is an Army engineer officer who is adrift in a sea of doctrine and staff operations and uses writing as a means to retain his sanity. He also collaborates on a podcast with Adin Dobkin entitled War Stories, which examines key moments in the history of warfare.