Yeah, any kid can then boot it from that same USB port with another USB with OS on it, then format it and sell it.
BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
41–50 of 339 posts
Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
#42Why not use an accelerometer IC? Then you don't need the cord. Another idea is to use voice recognition.
I like the accelerometer idea. Hardware would be more dependable than a sequence of events that requires being able to speak and the mic to be working.
Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
What I'm saying is that they wouldn't get a chance to use the kill switch because they would have focused on "containing" the suspect before they could activate it.
In theory, I agree. But it is somewhat akin to saying - why use strong encryption since a three letter agency can just brute force your device. If you're in that deep, maybe it won't help. But for the average reporter in a hostile zone, keeping the local police from snooping on their machine would be preferential.
We actually agree completely. This thing may be useful, and certainly something to think about if you live or travel to places where electronic devices are often snatched and, like you said, prevents casual snooping since the local police WILL have to escalate to violence.
I just don't think it's going to prevent a Silk Road incident and could make it worse for the suspect.
Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
#44Am I the only one to think that if someone is close enough to physically yank your computer out of your hands they are also physically close enough to beat you with a wrench if you lock the computer containing what they are after?
Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
#45Why not use an accelerometer IC? Then you don't need the cord. Another idea is to use voice recognition.
That's not helping if the person is yanked from the laptop instead of the other way round.
Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
How would a more violent arrest have solved anything?
The kill switch is useless if the accused is incapacitated before they could trigger it. No knock raids, which are inherently violent, to "preserve evidence" and reduce the risk to LEO happen about 20000 times a year in the US.
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Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
#47Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
#48Am I the only one to think that if someone is close enough to physically yank your computer out of your hands they are also physically close enough to beat you with a wrench if you lock the computer containing what they are after? https://xkcd.com/538/
This xkcd is exactly what came to mind when reading the "Who benefits from BusKill" section.
Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you be happier if the site prevented you from viewing it?
I would. It would save me the time spotting the red flags and backing away anyway. Though a couple of relevant regulations state this should not be done, and no site is going to send away a potential customer by saying “we don't want to follow your laws/regulations so can't do business with you” when they can instead just get away with just ignoring, or in the case of sites run from elsewhere in the world claim to ha…
> no site is going to send away a potential customer by saying “we don't want to follow your laws/regulations so can't do business with you”
Many local US-based TV news/newspaper sites do this albeit with a slightly more opaque message. And customer still mostly fits because these sites are ad-supported (usually with a mix of local/non-local ads.
Re: BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops
#50Maybe I'm "spoiled" because in Germany there's a need to publish an imprint on all websites that are somehow "commercial" (having ads on it would be enough), but this is highly "dubious". No contact information (as in "who runs this?") is provided on the site. Privacy policy is not GDPR compliant (no contact information provided), no names, nothing. This might be fine for a personal blog, but for doing business this…
It seems to be from (or in partnership with) https://www.altshift.in/ in Estonia, leading to https://twitter.com/MichaelAltfield