[3229] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
RE: Encryption is like a locked suitcase
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Matthew James Gering)
Sun Aug 23 19:20:49 1998
From: Matthew James Gering <mgering@ecosystems.net>
To: "'cryptography@c2.net'" <cryptography@c2.net>
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1998 22:11:41 -0700
> I am happy to host additional discussion on this topic on
> cryptography@c2.net, of course.
I tried to move the topic from coderpunks to cypherpunks, but it seems
to have better coverage in cryptography.
I had mentioned simply removing the harddrive and packing it separately
or carrying it in a jacket pocket (though it will look funny going thru
the change dish). Problem is it is much more usual to have customs
simply see if the laptop is operational (not a "b-word"). So, finally a
killer application for those old low-capacity laptop drives, the decoy
drive.
Similarly you can replace the MBR to boot to a benign partition, and
then switch it back afterwards. This is much easier, until they start
using boot floppies and fdisk to see partitions.
The real threat is if/when intelligence agencies decide to use customs
for covert commercial intelligence, and simply create a machine to do
byte-scan copies of harddisks for later analysis. Despite how easy it is
to "smuggle" data, they would gain a wealth of intel from business
travels who are too clueless to recognize the risk (see the already big
black-market for stolen exec laptops).
SETI Amateurs Club. There's a good front/excuse for carrying around lots
of random noise ;)
If you want to smuggle data, simply burn a CD with both audio and data
tracks and throw it into a walkman. It will be a number of years until
they numb the public enough to start confiscating walkmen from little
girls.
Why does Johnny Mnemonic come to mind?
Matt
