[Cialug] OT: Macbook for sale

[Chris Freeman]

On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 8:36 PM, Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 7:16 PM, kristau <kristau at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 5:51 PM, Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org> wrote:
>> > Having just returned from overseas, my strategy was:
>> >
>> >  * Spare computer (light weight, long battery),
>> >  * clean OS install
>> >  * All important files on a thumb drive
>> >  * All private files on a hidden, encrypted partition on the thumb
>> > drive.
>>
...
> True. The only thing I have of value is my GPG keys. And really, the only
> reason why I'm paranoid about them is because of the inconvenience of
> revoking them and then creating new keys that are well signed.
>
> I'd love to hear suggestions for how to be even more paranoid. What I have
> now does not get detected by Mac OS or Windows computers so it looks like it
> works (my presentations and family photos and stuff are on the unecrypted
> area).


The way to be more paranoid is not to take any real data with you at
all. Clean OS install, no thumb drive. Download important data from
web when you're at your destination, and upload it before you go. Wipe
drives before leaving (or destroy them completely).

If you're really paranoid, buy a machine at your destination so
customs/border agents/whomever can't install keyloggers/etc while they
have the machine for 5 minutes. Destroy the drives before leaving.

If you're physically separated from your data, security agents can't
take it away.

This assumes that you have a decent data connection. If you're in
North Korea, this may not be feasible.

Chris