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BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

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Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#321

Post by GekkePrutser »

zionic wrote: post #102
yholio wrote: post #77

Good to have if you run a dark net marketplace or a political disident ring from public libraries. An additional refinement is to autolock the device if a certain personal key combo (ex. Shit - vol up - vol down) is not pressed every few minutes in response to an audible click. If not unlocked in a minute or so with a complex password, the device halts to a disk encrypted state and unpowered ram, minimizing the windo…

Wouldn't it make sense to remove the battery on your laptop entirely? With a modified magsafe-like power cord any attempt to grab the machine hard-kills the system and RAM begins degrading immediately. Epoxy over the screw terminals would also delay an attacker long enough to prevent freezing the RAM with compressed air to try and dump RAM via an exploit kit.

A lot of laptops either refuse to run or heavily throttle while running without internal battery. I know pretty much all Mac portables do it.

Basically the internal battery is used as a buffer for power peaks. So the laptop can use more than the adaptor can provide for a short time. If it didn't throttle it would become unstable.

Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#322

Post by Doxin »

pmorici wrote: post #151
zionic wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it make sense to remove the battery on your laptop entirely? With a modified magsafe-like power cord any attempt to grab the machine hard-kills the system and RAM begins degrading immediately. Epoxy over the screw terminals would also delay an attacker long enough to prevent freezing the RAM with compressed air to try and dump RAM via an exploit kit.

Devices to transfer from wall power to battery backup for transport have existed for a long time. https://wiebetech.com/products/hotplug-field-kit/

I always wonder if you could make a similar device work for EU plugs. You can't wiggle a EU plug out an 8th of an inch and have exposed line voltage, so I imagine you'd need some sort of trick to make it work.

Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#323

Post by alias_neo »

somedude895 wrote: post #320
alias_neo wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems like a great expense to go to for the sake of a possibility the guy might do more than peek out of the window and then go back to what they were doing. Surely there were a bunch of other options to consider before "let's stage a car crash"?

I heard the story on the Darknet Diaries podcast. This article on Vice[0] seems to confirm it: > Phirippidis told the audience that the bureau managed to corner Cazes and arrest him while he was still logged in as the admin of AlphaBay by ramming a car through the front gate of his home in Thailand. [0] https://www.vice.com/en/article/59wwxx/fbi-airs-alexandre-ca...

Thanks for the link, that was an interesting read.

The part abour crashing it through his front gate makes it more likely he'll respond which makes more sense.

Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#324

Post by gambiting »

arpa wrote: post #317
gambiting wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>but they also just saw you reset it, what do you tell them? That you're not a computer expert and have no idea why your computer wasn't keeping logs correctly?

not an expert, yet you set up an encrypted partition?

Yeah, there was a tutorial online. Thought it was a good idea in case my laptop got stolen. Don't need to be an expert to click through an automated wizard, do I?

Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#325

Post by arpa »

gambiting wrote: post #324
arpa wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not an expert, yet you set up an encrypted partition?

Yeah, there was a tutorial online. Thought it was a good idea in case my laptop got stolen. Don't need to be an expert to click through an automated wizard, do I?

"rubberhose him just to be sure"

Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#326

Post by qwaxys »

Doxin wrote: post #322
pmorici wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Devices to transfer from wall power to battery backup for transport have existed for a long time. https://wiebetech.com/products/hotplug-field-kit/

I always wonder if you could make a similar device work for EU plugs. You can't wiggle a EU plug out an 8th of an inch and have exposed line voltage, so I imagine you'd need some sort of trick to make it work.

It's easier then you think.

For anything with more than one socket, you just plug in a second cable into a free socket, once the phases are synced up unplug the extension cord or cut the socket free.

For singular sockets straight into the wall, unscrew, clip on connectors with a V shaped knife and same as above.

Although when I was working we usually would take images onsite before even considering moving the devices.

It's definitely not bullet proof but I've set up my laptop to lock when Ethernet or the monitor is unplugged or any new USB device is plugged in. This stops most but not all live imaging.

Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#327

Post by jacquesm »

ozfive wrote: post #304
jacquesm wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You better make sure that 'tampering with evidence' carries a lower penalty than the thing that you're trying to hide.

How can you be charged with tampering with evidence by epoxying your ram dimms? It's not as though you tampered with the device after the confiscation. Intent is also hard to prove on such a thing. I didn't want my dimms to fall out at any time if the machine was dropped is pretty good plausible deniability.

Thinking that you are smarter than the judge you will appear before is not a strategy I would recommend.

Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#328

Post by yholio »

FpUser wrote: post #159
yholio wrote: post #77

Good to have if you run a dark net marketplace or a political disident ring from public libraries. An additional refinement is to autolock the device if a certain personal key combo (ex. Shit - vol up - vol down) is not pressed every few minutes in response to an audible click. If not unlocked in a minute or so with a complex password, the device halts to a disk encrypted state and unpowered ram, minimizing the windo…

Tried to find "Shit" key on my keyboard as it would save me a lot of time. No luck.

You have to admit, that's a shift joke.

Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#329

Post by mPReDiToR »

somehnguy wrote: post #244
ASalazarMX wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since Truecrypt bailed without explanation, do you know if Veracrypt also has this feature?

It does. Veracrypt is basically Truecrypt with some new features as far as I've been able to tell.

After TC killed the project (for all intents and purposes) is there the ssme level of trust in VC?

Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

#330

Post by gambiting »

mPReDiToR wrote: post #329
somehnguy wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does. Veracrypt is basically Truecrypt with some new features as far as I've been able to tell.

After TC killed the project (for all intents and purposes) is there the ssme level of trust in VC?

The question always was what kind of attack are you trying to guard yourself against. I imagine top level agencies have a way to crack truecrypt/veracrypt encrypted volumes, but I also imagine they aren't using that capability against just anyone to not show their hand and risk the issue being fixed.
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