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Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

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Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

#21

Post by SoftwareMaven »

blhack wrote: post #19

Interestingly, I just had a discussion with my roomate about this. We were sitting in a coffee shop, and he was mad at himself because he forgot the latest copy of a game he is working on at the house... Why is this a problem at all anymore? Hosting is cheaap . I have a linux VPS at linode that I pay $20/mo for and almost everything that i do is stored there. Honestly, the only things I can think of that aren't store…

There's no excuse for data loss, but the inconvenience of trying to work remotely from an aircraft is very significant (heck, it wasn't even possible a couple of years ago).

Sad that Obama has continued the Bush legacy of trouncing our freedoms at the border. There needs to be a better balance between government power and civil rights at the border that still allows the government to manage what is coming and going.

Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

#22

Post by blhack »

mcav wrote: post #20
blhack wrote: post #19

Interestingly, I just had a discussion with my roomate about this. We were sitting in a coffee shop, and he was mad at himself because he forgot the latest copy of a game he is working on at the house... Why is this a problem at all anymore? Hosting is cheaap . I have a linux VPS at linode that I pay $20/mo for and almost everything that i do is stored there. Honestly, the only things I can think of that aren't store…

Do you do your work on that linode directly (via ssh), or do you just use it for syncing?

Directly via SSH.

Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

#23

Post by jarin »

mbreese wrote: post #13
pavel_lishin wrote: post #2

If I were him, I'd be tempted to make an image of his drive, and compare that to an image made after the agents tampered with it, to see what changes occurred in the process. But like he said, he couldn't even trust them physically. I'd be tempted to just toss them in the trash, if I could afford to easily replace them.

I'd just start FedEx'ing things and just take a book... Perhaps travel with just a SIM card and pickup a new phone when I landed. That's about the only thing you could really start to do.

You'll have to buy toner cartridges at your destination too, probably not a good idea to ship those anymore.

Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

#24

Post by sev »

snissn wrote: post #12

slightly relevant: To protect his privacy and that of his clients, Mitnick encrypts all the confidential data on his laptops, transmits it over the Internet for storage on servers in the U.S., and wipes it from the computer before returning from any international trips, just in case officials decide to search or seize his equipment. He also encrypts his hard drive. And now, he says he is going to keep a "clone" of hi…

Why would he tell people where he keeps the clone?

Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

#25

Post by jdp23 »

Super74 wrote: post #9

Let me get this straight. This is a person who has openly admitted to knowing how to hack banking systems among others, then travels to countries like Abu Dhabi and the Dominican Republic to present that information. We are surprised that he is searched at the border to the US? He was treated politely, not physically harmed and had his hardware returned. Sounds like the government is finally doing their job. Maybe th…

i suspect that many people on HN have the skills to break into quite a few computer systems, and travel to places that are hotbeds of computer crime such as New York, SF, and of course internationally.

does that mean we should all be detained and have our computers ad phones taken away and searched whenever we go within 100 miles of a border?

Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

#26

Post by wnoise »

nubian wrote: post #15
jwu711 wrote: post #5

That's completely ridiculous. Makes me want to travel even less now ...

"The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution contains a border-related exception to unreasonable search and seizure laws, permitting searches at border checkpoints that wouldn't be permitted elsewhere. But federal statute 8 CFR 287.1 (a)(1-3) defines the border zone for enforcement purposes as encompassing an area within 100 miles of the actual border, with the possibility of extending it further under certain circumsta…

Well, it's not so much "contains" as "has had read into it".

Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

#27

Post by davidwparker »

sev wrote: post #24
snissn wrote: post #12

slightly relevant: To protect his privacy and that of his clients, Mitnick encrypts all the confidential data on his laptops, transmits it over the Internet for storage on servers in the U.S., and wipes it from the computer before returning from any international trips, just in case officials decide to search or seize his equipment. He also encrypts his hard drive. And now, he says he is going to keep a "clone" of hi…

Why would he tell people where he keeps the clone?

To make people think he's keeping it there but he really isn't? A bluff?

Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

#28

Post by _delirium »

nubian wrote: post #14
mmaunder wrote: post #8

Border search exception (to the 4th amendment warrant requirement): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception In a similar vein, check out Exigent Circumstance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exigent_circumstances The text of the fourth amendment to the constitution: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be v…

The government has decided that the "border" extends 100 miles inland from official land/sea borders. This apparently covers 2/3rds to 4/5ths of the U.S. population. Coverage on the 100-mile-thick ACLU-dubbed "Constitution-Free Zone": Wired: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/10/aclu-assails-10/ Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/security/news/2008/10/aclu-23-of-us-p... (Note the entire land area of the Hawaiian…

I remember being pretty surprised by this when I was a kid, and we had to stop at a checkpoint on I-10 in West Texas, where it turns away from the Mexican border (eastbound) to head into central Texas. I recall thinking that it must be some sort of emergency, like they were looking for an escaped criminal or something, because surely those kinds of checkpoints aren't allowed in a free country in routine circumstances?

Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border

#30

Post by ghostwunder »

jdp23 wrote: post #25
Super74 wrote: post #9

Let me get this straight. This is a person who has openly admitted to knowing how to hack banking systems among others, then travels to countries like Abu Dhabi and the Dominican Republic to present that information. We are surprised that he is searched at the border to the US? He was treated politely, not physically harmed and had his hardware returned. Sounds like the government is finally doing their job. Maybe th…

i suspect that many people on HN have the skills to break into quite a few computer systems, and travel to places that are hotbeds of computer crime such as New York, SF, and of course internationally. does that mean we should all be detained and have our computers ad phones taken away and searched whenever we go within 100 miles of a border?

a good number of us don't have wired writing about us. a good number of us don't care enough. a good number of us are just cooler versions of dilbert.

being detained really means free coffee and donuts.

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