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Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

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Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#241
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the minus side, they can install malware on your machine without your knowledge (even if your disk is encrypted).

Source? How is it possible to install malware when the disk is encrypted?

Drive firmware exploits have been around for long enough you can do it at home.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#242
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the minus side, they can install malware on your machine without your knowledge (even if your disk is encrypted).

Source? How is it possible to install malware when the disk is encrypted?

In one of the flash chips? Or a hardware module?

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#243
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the minus side, they can install malware on your machine without your knowledge (even if your disk is encrypted).

Source? How is it possible to install malware when the disk is encrypted?

There have been some reports about UEFI-based malware, which can hook into the OS boot process. I guess this could also work even if the disk is encrypted. First Google hit for "UEFI malware":

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2948092/security/hacking-team...

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#244
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nearly 36 here, and I concur. Everyone's been clothed in fear ever since.

Those of us who are 50+ remember The threat of nuclear war, and 60+ remember the reality of the Cuban Missile Crisis. When you've lived through "100 Million people could die in the next 24 hours" (like was a real possibility during the Cuban Missile Crisis), the current threat level just makes people look like panicked children.

That is still the case w/r/t nuclear war, we just don't worry about it anymore... all it takes is one false alarm.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_al...

We still need to worry about that. We seemingly keep adding things to worry about, antibiotic resistance, climate change, big data, and not solving many. Hmm.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#245

The Big 4 Middle East/Gulf airlines (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Turkish) have been giving legacy US carriers a lot of grief lately, since they're both cheaper and better on essentially all counts, so I can't help but wonder if they have their finger in the pie here. Few businessmen will opt to fly long-haul if they can't use their laptops, and they're specifically targeting 9 airlines here, not just airports or countri…

I'm not an expert here, but Kindles (readers, not tablets) seem like the most harmless things. They are almost the perfect devices for long haul flights since the battery life is so long. I usually devour books on long-haul flights on my Kindle.

I wonder if including Kindles is more a jibe against Bezos. Perhaps this is a stretch.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Liquids are already banned to a large extent. You have to buy it inside the terminal after you get security clearance.

In most of the airports (if not all) that I have been lately, there are water refilling stations, usually close to the restrooms or after you pass through the security checkpoint. I usually pass security with my plastic bottle empty, and then refill it with those machines.

" there are water refilling stations, usually close to the restrooms or after you pass through the security checkpoint. "

Done that, security check on one flight I was on at boarding forced all liquids to be emptied.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#247
post #217

The Big 4 Middle East/Gulf airlines (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Turkish) have been giving legacy US carriers a lot of grief lately, since they're both cheaper and better on essentially all counts, so I can't help but wonder if they have their finger in the pie here. Few businessmen will opt to fly long-haul if they can't use their laptops, and they're specifically targeting 9 airlines here, not just airports or countri…

As an anecdote, I've flown United and Turkish across the Atlantic and it's a world of difference. In 2016 , the United airplane I was in still did not have a seatback screen and they expected all 200+ passengers to connect to the wifi to try to get in-flight entertainment. Of course no one got on. So all of us were left craning our necks trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was on the CRT in the aisle. Meanwhile, Tu…

I'll never fly United again. I had a similar experience for 14 hours. It isn't just the in flight entertainment. In my experience their staff are rude and borderline incompetent. There must be a poor culture in the company as a whole. My wife just flew with them and went nearly 10 hours without a meal while she was flying with our two year old.

Edit: spelling

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#248
post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an anecdote, I've flown United and Turkish across the Atlantic and it's a world of difference. In 2016 , the United airplane I was in still did not have a seatback screen and they expected all 200+ passengers to connect to the wifi to try to get in-flight entertainment. Of course no one got on. So all of us were left craning our necks trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was on the CRT in the aisle. Meanwhile, Tu…

> In 2016, the United airplane I was in still did not have a seatback screen This just depends which plane you get. They all have new and old planes, you can get unlucky on any airline.

I haven't got "unlucky" on an international BA flight in 15+ years. So no, it doesn't just depend on the plane.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#249
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So who was Obama appealing to among his core supporters, when he attacked "brown people" in Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen?

...Those people who can understand the difference between a temporary stopping of visa processes and a blanket ban that extends to legal green card holders?

Obama bombed those places with drones.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#250

The Big 4 Middle East/Gulf airlines (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Turkish) have been giving legacy US carriers a lot of grief lately, since they're both cheaper and better on essentially all counts, so I can't help but wonder if they have their finger in the pie here. Few businessmen will opt to fly long-haul if they can't use their laptops, and they're specifically targeting 9 airlines here, not just airports or countri…

>"It's also beyond bizarre that the US trusts Abu Dhabi's security enough to locate its only Middle Eastern Customs/Immigration preclearance facility" This is not correct Quatar has one as well. I'm also unsure why you would find this "bizarre" as all of the Emirates are incredibly wealthy.

No, they don't...? https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/p...

And the bizarreness is that they're simultaneously trusting them enough to handle immigration, but not trusting them enough to handle passenger screening.

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