It's an interesting situation: What you say to your doctor, lawyer, or spouse is protected, but what you say to yourself, is not.
Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
11–20 of 190 posts
Re: Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
#12The problem here is what are they going to find that ISN'T Illegal? Everyone has cracked software, pirated movies, & torrents. Then there's content that isn't illegal but very personal: chat logs, email archives, contact lists, usernames & passwords, FTP info, master passwords to everything, OH and my entire life's worth of inventions and ideas. I'm not saying they'd steal them but remember, we're talking about the A…
> The problem here is what are they going to find that ISN'T Illegal?
This isn't really a problem. Cops can get a warrant to search your house, and I'm pretty sure they'll find some things that aren't illegal, but are very personal.
If you restrict evidence finding procedure to those in which only evidence (and nothing else) can be found, then I'm pretty sure you'll end up with no evidence.
Re: Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
#13“I’m sorry, Your Honor. I have forgotten my password.”
If it’s good enough for Bob McFarlane and Alberto Gonzales, it’s good enough for regular Americans, too!
Re: Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
#14The problem here is what are they going to find that ISN'T Illegal? Everyone has cracked software, pirated movies, & torrents. Then there's content that isn't illegal but very personal: chat logs, email archives, contact lists, usernames & passwords, FTP info, master passwords to everything, OH and my entire life's worth of inventions and ideas. I'm not saying they'd steal them but remember, we're talking about the A…
http://16s.us/TCHunt/index.php
Finds hidden TrueCrypt volumes... :(
Re: Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
#15The problem here is what are they going to find that ISN'T Illegal? Everyone has cracked software, pirated movies, & torrents. Then there's content that isn't illegal but very personal: chat logs, email archives, contact lists, usernames & passwords, FTP info, master passwords to everything, OH and my entire life's worth of inventions and ideas. I'm not saying they'd steal them but remember, we're talking about the A…
I'm curious what the courts would say when told that it is possible to have a hidden inner volume that is impossible to detect and when I hand over my key it may just be the outer containers, not the hidden inner container that I have unlocked.
Re: Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
#16The problem here is what are they going to find that ISN'T Illegal? Everyone has cracked software, pirated movies, & torrents. Then there's content that isn't illegal but very personal: chat logs, email archives, contact lists, usernames & passwords, FTP info, master passwords to everything, OH and my entire life's worth of inventions and ideas. I'm not saying they'd steal them but remember, we're talking about the A…
>Everyone has cracked software, pirated movies, & torrents That's a bit of a leap, really. Also, Truecrypt's deniable encryption here doesn't seem like it would help, since they're talking at the computer level. Presumably, a power on or hard drive password. Assuming there's only one volume, you put that one in and the attacker has the keys to the kingdom. Besides that, most averages joes wouldn't go through this kin…
TrueCrypt supports Hidden OS partitions much like its normal hidden containers and it asks for these passwords at boot.
You could enter one password and have it boot into a boring Windows XP environment while the true password would boot to your actual environment with all your secret files.
Re: Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
#17This is an interesting case. From a civil liberties, card-carrying ACLU member standpoint, I'm all for the "anti" side of this - keep the gov't out. On the other hand, there's a decent case made that establishing this kind of precedent would basically mean that if criminals are smart enough to use PGP, then that data can never be used against them. Since you can be compelled to turn over a physical key via due proces…
Yes, it's very reasonable. The main problem with the decision is just that it magnifies the other inequities of legal system.
Re: Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
#18The problem here is what are they going to find that ISN'T Illegal? Everyone has cracked software, pirated movies, & torrents. Then there's content that isn't illegal but very personal: chat logs, email archives, contact lists, usernames & passwords, FTP info, master passwords to everything, OH and my entire life's worth of inventions and ideas. I'm not saying they'd steal them but remember, we're talking about the A…
I'm curious what the courts would say when told that it is possible to have a hidden inner volume that is impossible to detect and when I hand over my key it may just be the outer containers, not the hidden inner container that I have unlocked.
That is like saying that you are guilty but there is no way to prove it.
Re: Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
#19The problem here is what are they going to find that ISN'T Illegal? Everyone has cracked software, pirated movies, & torrents. Then there's content that isn't illegal but very personal: chat logs, email archives, contact lists, usernames & passwords, FTP info, master passwords to everything, OH and my entire life's worth of inventions and ideas. I'm not saying they'd steal them but remember, we're talking about the A…
http://16s.us/TCHunt/index.php Finds hidden TrueCrypt volumes... :(
No, it doesn't. This finds files suspected to be TrueCrypt volumes and it does so by looking for certain heuristics. If your file passes a chi-square distribution test it is likely to be a TrueCrypt volume. If I create a file with a bunch of random data TCHunt would also likely peg it as a potential TC volume.
However, it does not detect the existence of a hidden inner volume.
Re: Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops
#20The problem here is what are they going to find that ISN'T Illegal? Everyone has cracked software, pirated movies, & torrents. Then there's content that isn't illegal but very personal: chat logs, email archives, contact lists, usernames & passwords, FTP info, master passwords to everything, OH and my entire life's worth of inventions and ideas. I'm not saying they'd steal them but remember, we're talking about the A…
...unless Chris Norstrom is your real name and they know how to use a search engine to find this post.
Remember, who we're talking about here. They're not exactly CSI agents.
If someone really wants to smuggle data or keep it secret they WILL find a way. They could just cram it all on a MicroSD and put it under their tongue, or between their butt crack, super glued behind their scrotum, lodged up into their vagina, buried in their rectum, etc.... The methods are endless.
This won't catch terrorists or pedophiles, it'll just catch innocent people like your mom who have some illegally downloaded songs on their laptop.