Your Laptop is Not Private or Secure at US Customs

zcksjdn wrote: post #4

b0o wrote: post #2

whys this guy's name in green?

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2434424 Also check out the parent thread.

hmmm. Never realized that before. Thanks!

Re: Your Laptop is Not Private or Secure at US Customs

#6

Post by GiraffeNecktie » Mon, Apr 11, 2011, 10:58 PM UTC

It's become routine for law offices to provide their lawyers with clean installs when they take a laptop across the border. They can then just download the encrypted client files when they arrive at their destination. It's not such a great idea to be crossing the border with encrypted files on your computer like the article suggests. Even if the border guards can't decrypt them, it still makes you look like someone who is, rightly or wrongly, avoiding their scrutiny.

For those of us without an IT department, Dropbox works nicely. Just remember to scrub the folder before you travel.

Re: Your Laptop is Not Private or Secure at US Customs

#7

Post by ericd » Mon, Apr 11, 2011, 11:15 PM UTC

b0o wrote: post #5

zcksjdn wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2434424 Also check out the parent thread.

hmmm. Never realized that before. Thanks!

It's an experiment, may stop happening.

Re: Your Laptop is Not Private or Secure at US Customs

#8

Post by Keith_Lee » Mon, Apr 11, 2011, 11:18 PM UTC

alextebbs wrote: post #3

b0o wrote: post #2

whys this guy's name in green?

Maybe because it's a new account? "created 43 mins ago"

Probably so. A valid concern and understandable...safety measure/warning to users that a new account may be spamming.

That's not the case for me, long time lurker. Finally decided to make an account and share some of the stuff I've been writing as I thought it would be of interest to some people. Not an attempt to SEO/spam/other crap.

Re: Your Laptop is Not Private or Secure at US Customs

#9

Post by lox » Mon, Apr 11, 2011, 11:18 PM UTC

The EFF's guide to protecting your electronic devices at border crossings:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/11/effs-guide-protecting-...

Re: Your Laptop is Not Private or Secure at US Customs

#10

Post by w1ntermute » Mon, Apr 11, 2011, 11:24 PM UTC

> Be aware that if you fail to provide a passphrase or decrypt information upon request, there are a number of possible consequences...[t]he agent may detain you at the border.

Encryption should always be accompanied by steganography when dealing with the government if you're concerned about your personal well-being as well. Preferably have an innocent-looking dummy OS that boots up by default.

Does anyone know of a way to boot a different OS based on what BIOS password is entered?