@OP sorry for lame question:
Does the dis connection of USB formats the laptop or just shuts it down?
BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
111–120 of 272 posts
Re: BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
#112Archive link because the website is down: http://web.archive.org/web/20200102140351/https://tech.micha... I was expecting a "kill switch" destroying the computer, but that's just a thing that switch off your laptop when unplugged. I guess you could also do this with bluetooth, for example.
"Kill cord" is jargon from jetskis, powerboats and treadmills, which often have a cord you attach to your body that cuts power if you are thrown off. [1] On Linux there is blueproximity [2] that can lock (and if you like, unlock) your computer based on the proximity of a bluetooth device. My personal experience is that Bluetooth is frustratingly unreliable, and this package was no exception. But it's there if you'd l…
Bluetooth on Linux is an unprecedented abomination.
You’d think most of it would be similar to network interfaces, handled by the kernel with commands such as ip, iptables, etc to configure it?
Wrong! Instead it’s mostly done in userspace and the tools to talk to it are using D-Bus which is an opaque, inconsistent, hard to understand mess which you can’t easily interact with programmatically.
As horrible as BT itself is I’d give the protocol itself a break in this case and focus on the terrible implementation.
Re: BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Whenever I read stuff like this I am forced to wonder just what the fuck people are doing that they feel such a pressing need to hide their data from law enforcement. I mean, I have plenty of things to hide just like any other reasonably interesting person, but none of it is outright criminal.
If you happen to have an opinion that is not shared by the current powers-that-be, law enforcement will be happy to look at your data under any pretense it can cook up. And they'll be equally fine with - ooops! accidentally, of course! - leaking info that you'd like to stay hidden, even if it's not anything criminal.
In other words, it's just a bunch of self-important tech asshats deluding themselves into believing they are important enough to warrant FBI attention?
Eh, believable, but I think it's more likely a lot of them are evading taxes or committing securities fraud.
Re: BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
#114A man just died in Oakland today trying to recover his laptop that was snatched from him in a Starbucks. http://nypost.com/2020/01/02/man-dies-after-trying-to-stop-t... Definitely don't go running after your stolen laptop, let it go.
I'd definitely give chase. To me, it is worth dying for. Not because of the laptop, but out of principle for vigorously fighting these ridiculous crimes. We all need to collectively fight back against crime or it will be normal (as it is now).
Re: BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not quite ready to go, but it's doable with TrueCrypt/VeraCrypt: https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/VeraCrypt%20Hidden%20Operating%2...
Why is it not ready to go? I used truecrypt hidden systemvolume years ago? I do not anymore, but did it decreased?
Deniable encryption is part of a few encryption solutions (probably more than listed below). [0]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deniable_encryption#Software
Re: BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
#116A man just died in Oakland today trying to recover his laptop that was snatched from him in a Starbucks. http://nypost.com/2020/01/02/man-dies-after-trying-to-stop-t... Definitely don't go running after your stolen laptop, let it go.
I'd definitely give chase. To me, it is worth dying for. Not because of the laptop, but out of principle for vigorously fighting these ridiculous crimes. We all need to collectively fight back against crime or it will be normal (as it is now).
Don't chase criminals because it's foolish. You are letting the opposition lead you into their plan where they control the setting.
Be smart, be the one in control of the situation.
Re: BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not quite ready to go, but it's doable with TrueCrypt/VeraCrypt: https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/VeraCrypt%20Hidden%20Operating%2...
Why is it not ready to go? I used truecrypt hidden systemvolume years ago? I do not anymore, but did it decreased?
The "plausible" part is what seems not out of the box to me. Some easy way for the decoy image to show recent real looking activity, and an easy way to use the real image. Probably some integration with a VM or container.
Re: BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Kill cord" is jargon from jetskis, powerboats and treadmills, which often have a cord you attach to your body that cuts power if you are thrown off. [1] On Linux there is blueproximity [2] that can lock (and if you like, unlock) your computer based on the proximity of a bluetooth device. My personal experience is that Bluetooth is frustratingly unreliable, and this package was no exception. But it's there if you'd l…
Bluetooth on Linux is an unprecedented abomination. You’d think most of it would be similar to network interfaces, handled by the kernel with commands such as ip, iptables, etc to configure it? Wrong! Instead it’s mostly done in userspace and the tools to talk to it are using D-Bus which is an opaque, inconsistent, hard to understand mess which you can’t easily interact with programmatically. As horrible as BT itself…
D-Bus is not part of the problem... it is just the common bus for communication between user processes. It is in fact a very straightforwards and well implemented specification.
Re: BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
#119Re: BusKill: A kill cord for your laptop
#120Saw a demo 20 years ago at Infosec(UK) of a company selling a dongle which with corresponding pass, acted as a proximity authentication and locking when you walked away. Today, most laptops have cameras which can offer the same level of proximity detection if you away from the laptop. That would make this type of solution doable via software that way, albeit a bit more of a software load overhead. But for some killco…
> most laptops have cameras which can offer the same level of proximity detection
Most people who would want a kill cord probably have the camera blocked :P