Spoofer

This article is about the infiltration device introduced in Halo: Combat Evolved. For the technology used to fool biometric sensors, see biometric spoofer.

"Until we find a way to cram an AI into that suit of yours, it's the best option we got."

— Avery Johnson to John-117 while using a spoofer to unlock a door aboard a Covenant ship.

A spoofer attached to a Forerunner door.

A spoofer is a versatile electronic device in service with the UNSC to override, infiltrate, or decode electronic equipment. It has the capability to perform a variety of tasks, including forcing open doors and accessing navigation computers, even those of non-human varieties.

Overview

Design details

The spoofer is a small, hand-held device with a boxy profile. Its external components include a screen at the top of the device with a keypad below it. Spoofers have also been known to include an antenna protruding from the device's top. The devices can be affixed directly to the equipment it is meant to interface with, presumably through the use of a magnetic component on the rear of the spoofer.

Operation

When interfacing with a piece of technology, the user presses a series of keys on the spoofer's keypad to activate the infiltration process, often making beeping noises as it operates. A spoofer has the capability to attempt thousands of code combinations each second as it attempts to access a piece of equipment. If a spoofer is utilized in the decoding of information, its screen displays the information it records as well as a progress bar. A spoofer can be physically attached to the piece of equipment it is intended to infiltrate, but it may also be simply held in close proximity to the equipment. Spoofers are capable of interfacing with both Covenant and Forerunner technology, though their infiltration capabilities are considered inferior to those of artificial intelligences. They can also suppress internal alarms for a time.

Johnson utilizes a spoofer to open a door aboard the Triumph of Tolerance.

Usage

In July 2551, Avery Johnson and John-117 were equipped with at least one spoofer as they infiltrated the Triumph of Tolerance over Promise. The two used the spoofer to open doors to progress further into the vessel, as well as to collect data from the kelguid on the Tolerance's bridge.

During the Battle of Installation 04 in September 2552, a UNSC marine private used a spoofer to open a door within a subterranean facility by order of Captain Jacob Keyes, who believed it to be hiding a Covenant weapons cache. Inside, the marines and Captain Keyes were ambushed by the Flood, which presumably escaped afterwards, adding to the ongoing outbreak on Installation 04. When John-117 arrives later on, he opens the same door by pushing a series of buttons on the spoofer.

Production notes

• The spoofer is referred to as the "lockpick" in the game files of Halo: Combat Evolved.
• In the action horror film Aliens and the video game Aliens vs. Predator 2, one of the marines uses a device similar or identical to the spoofer. In fact, considering how much of Halo: Combat Evolved is inspired by aspects of Alien, it may have been inspired by the device in the movie.

Gallery

Halo: Combat Evolved

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  Private Manuel Mendoza uses the spoofer on a Forerunner door in Halo: Combat Evolved.
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  Footage from Private Wallace Jenkins's helmet recorder of Mendoza activating the spoofer in Halo: Combat Evolved.
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  The spoofer device attached to a Forerunner door in Halo: Combat Evolved.
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  The texture file for the spoofer in Halo: Combat Evolved.
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  In-game profile views of the spoofer lockpick device from Halo: Combat Evolved.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

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  The spoofer attached to the door in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.