Hacker profile is very useful. It's WIP 14 so has a bit of an advantage over most hackers. It will also make your opponent deal with 2 hackers instead of just 1. With SS2 it can also force anyone trying to stealth through your hacking area, and their reaction will provoke the interventors wrath.
I am generally not a fan of defensive links with a hacker because anytime I want to activate supportware, I have to make the hacker the fireteam leader, and that leaves any member of the fireteam on ARO duty open to attacks. It is less of an issue with a fireteam that can go prone, but I have seen this be a problem a number of times for Onyx players with Unidrone Links. I did like how the old Securitate hacker had a repeater. That seemed like a nice way to protect them from enemy hackers in the reactive turn.
