A word of caution to those keeping data on 3rd party machines...
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/06/third_party_co...
Also, note that this article is from 2007 and the law may have changed slightly since then.
Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
51–60 of 89 posts
Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
#52It could be worse. Here in the UK, they would have locked him up for refusing to hand over his passwords. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act makes it a specific criminal offence and people have been imprisoned for it. Personally, I'm worried that I might get locked up for refusing to decrypt the contents of /dev/urandom. I think we need to wake up to the fact that there are a lot of people in power who would…
Just bc those in power prefer something does not mean that their systems have the ability to enforce these preferences.
Whitfield Diffie showed the world that cryptography is NOT the exclusive preserve of the government.
Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
#53I find it amazing that there is so little outrage at what is happening in the USA. The country that paints itself as an example of freedom and democracy and aspires to spreading those values around the world is the same country that: * kidnaps and tortures people, * sets up a military prison with no civillian oversight, outside any legal jurisdiction, where it keeps people indefinitely, * kills people in various coun…
What amazes me is that the great swath of Obama supporters who decried the Bush administration's civil rights abuses are strangely quiet about the continuation of those abuses today. (Caveat: I'm not American, but if I was, I would have held my nose and voted for Obama in 2008.)
I think you're wrong about that. Obama has very vocal critics on the left.
Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
#54If 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.
I've heard that this is SOP for international lawyers. They don't want some border agent sniffing around confidential legal files.
Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
#55Interestingly, 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…
Not a good idea if you know that you're targeted by the government. ;) In fact this makes it much easier for them to get access to your data. If they know your name they can get to your credit card transactions. From you're credit card transactions they get to your hoster. And from your hoster they get the data that's stored on your VPS. You can somehow mitigate this issue by storing your important data on an encrypt…
I'm not saying do it via VPS, I'm saying keep a server in your houe.
_I_ do it over VPS because, as far as I know, nobody is after me :-P
Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
#56slightly 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?
Unlike the things you take with you when entering the country, your home is still legally protected from unwarranted search and seizure.
Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
#57Border 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…
This case was actually at the border though, which no one would dispute falls under the specific Constitutional item.
Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
What amazes me is that the great swath of Obama supporters who decried the Bush administration's civil rights abuses are strangely quiet about the continuation of those abuses today. (Caveat: I'm not American, but if I was, I would have held my nose and voted for Obama in 2008.)
But look at the greater problem: Obama or not, people don't actually do anything. Sure, there will be some forum discussions, but that's pretty much it. The EFF and ACLU seem to be the only organized movements that actually try to do anything. In the political landscape these issues just do not appear.
And when they do, they're demonized. See pretty much any protest coverage ever.
I know I personally don't do anything, because I feel pretty much powerless to effect any kind of meaningful change.
Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
#59I was a bit surprised by the fact that he didn't want his name revealed in the article. It's not like some people don't know who he is. [edit] decided to respect Moxie's request in the article and remove a small bit of identifiable info
as he goes by Moxie socially as well, doesn't want his true name to be revealed is a bit sensational
Re: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cell Phones Searched at Border
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would he tell people where he keeps the clone?
Unlike the things you take with you when entering the country, your home is still legally protected from unwarranted search and seizure.
If they really think something is going on, mandates will be emitted.