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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

#81

Post by philwelch »

levesque wrote: post #60
philwelch wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They're called "warrants", and they require probable cause.

The US is a weird country. We have insanely powerful and arguably excessive civil liberties in some cases (advocating fringe political viewpoints, owning guns, the exclusionary rule) combined with crazy police state antics whenever the feds can get away with them.

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

#82

Post by dnsworks »

jwr wrote: post #42

I 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…

At some point you open your eyes, accept that everything we've been told about democracy and representative republics and freedom is bullshit. Then you either decide to fight a futile fight, or try to enjoy this life that's way too short.

The system is too big to fix. It's run by a small number of wealthy people, and any notion of freedom is an illusion.

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

#84

Post by LiveTheDream »

jdietrich wrote: post #41

It 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…

TrueCrypt has a plausible deniability feature[1] which would allow you to provide an alternate password to your encrypted drive which opens a safe container (e.g. no secret stuff).

[1] http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=plausible-deniability

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

#86

Post by cakeface »

I wonder if the government is targeting this hacker for his involvement in Whisper Systems, http://www.whispersys.com/. Their main products are easy to use encryption software for calls and texts on android smartphones. From what I can recall the gov really does not want ubiquitous encryption for voice communication in the US. It totally breaks down the whole wiretapping paradigm.

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

#87

Post by Tamerlin »

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…

Note the "probable cause" part. The TSA doesn't have probably cause for most of its harassment, and there is definitely no probable cause to justify molesting children whose parents don't want them irradiated.

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

#88

Post by Super74 »

updog wrote: post #31
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…

No, try again. You did not "get it straight" at all. You seem to have a strong (negative) opinion on the matter, yet you demonstrate a very poor grasp of some basic infosec concepts. You should perhaps consider reserving judgement when that is the case. Not only did he NOT "admit to knowing how to hack banking systems", but he was not presenting anything related to that in Abu Dhabi. He was speaking, ironically enoug…

To say your reply to my opinion was blatantly aggressive (numerous caps) would be an understatement.

Actually, I was quite positive from my point of view. I believe the security officials were acting in their capacity to do so. They treated him with respect, returned his hw and left him with nothing but free publicity.

The fact that PayPal chose to take action as well, shows I am not the only one to hold the opinion that there was probable cause.

If you disagree, then that is your opinion.

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

#89

Post by tomjen3 »

borism wrote: post #62
tomjen3 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is worse than simple ignorance: He understand the abuses perfectly well, he just doesn't give a shit. Let that be a lesson to all of us: politicians lie, trusting them is foolish.

Everybody lies and blindly trusting anyone is hardly a good idea. But it's the political system in the US that makes things so much worse. There are other systems that do a little better, though no one is ideal.

It would have been one thing to blindly trust him, I don't really do that with anybody, except possibly very close family; I am talking about trusting him like you would trust a not that close friend.
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