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If the authorities got hold of my computer

V

Vernor

Senior member
How would they go about circumventing the 128-bit Win2k/NTFS encryption on my Office folder ?

Would it be just easier to break the user password ?

Does Microsoft provide some kind of backdoor for government agencies ?

 
The best solution would be some kind of device that has a catalytic heater or something to heat up and melt, or set fire, to your hard drive, if you don't want feds 😉
 
Originally posted by: PsychoAndy
The best solution would be some kind of device that has a catalytic heater or something to heat up and melt, or set fire, to your hard drive, if you don't want feds 😉
Click to expand...

So all you need is something to, with the simple touch of a key, remove the heatsink from your Athlon (unless your motherboard has a heatsensor) 🙂

 
First things first, I would not be asking something like this publicly, especially if what you're (hypothetically) hiding isn't all that interesting to the feds.
 
Originally posted by: Skyclad1uhm1
Originally posted by: PsychoAndy
The best solution would be some kind of device that has a catalytic heater or something to heat up and melt, or set fire, to your hard drive, if you don't want feds 😉
Click to expand...

So all you need is something to, with the simple touch of a key, remove the heatsink from your Athlon (unless your motherboard has a heatsensor) 🙂
Click to expand...


Ummm.. All that would accomplish is to fry the CPU, and maaaaaaybe the motherboard...but the HD would be fine. I think the best way would be to remove it from the PC and throw it really hard on some pavement a few times...😉

 
It's been rumored that MS providing a backdoor to it's encryption/programs was a non-publicised part of the anti-trust settlement.
 
Originally posted by: Jfur
First things first, I would not be asking something like this publicly, especially if what you're (hypothetically) hiding isn't all that interesting to the feds.
Click to expand...

I'm sure one could find this stuff on Slashdot or some other anti-MS site if one dug deep enough.



 
i had this idea a while ago, get a usb harddisk, and a 2 or 3 m usb cable, and hide the drive somewhere near your computer, simple. just plug and play whenver you want, if you were to get searched they shouldnt find it as they wouldnt expect it to be there, and after they confiscate your computer then you can dispose of it in the yard with some fuel. unfortunately if you are doing anything really illegal where a total search of your computer and unregistered areas of your harddisk happened then there are various files kept in windows, that im not to sure about, they would show what was on it, but if its just warez and game copying for friends then its a good solution.
 
The best way to destroy your hard drive w/o burning it would be to use an extremely powerful electromagnet over it. You could build a large electromagnet (fairly simple) in your case that is set to trigger with a button, or some sort of triggering mechanism if your computer is taken by the feds. Or you could just use extremely strong Neodymium Iron Boron Magnets and just put that on top of your harddrive.
 
If it truely is encrypted and not just password locked, popping it in another pc and taking ownership isnt going to do squat. 128-bit encryoption isnt easily breakable, but the might be able to subpoena the key out of you,
 
Ummm.. All that would accomplish is to fry the CPU, and maaaaaaybe the motherboard...but the HD would be fine. I think the best way would be to remove it from the PC and throw it really hard on some pavement a few times...
Click to expand...

actually... they would easily recover the data from a hd broken in that manner
 
Originally posted by: tigerbait
They'd hire Hugh Jackman to crack it in 60 seconds.
Click to expand...

LOL While getting a little something from a girl 😉 Didn't the movie claim he was going to crack a 512kbit encryption? Although incredibly unrealistic, the movie still had some decent action scenes😀

I also agree with the magnet on the harddrive idea. The coolest way to do it would be to have the magnet activated when someone tries to open the case. Just use some sort of encryption or whatever so the person will have to take out the harddrive, and when he opens the case, he ruins your harddrive! The person working the case would be incredibly furious with himself for destroying evidence. Far fetched idea, but I think it would be cool 🙂

No one thought of the obvious way to evade the authorities... don't keep any sensitive info like that on your computer!

Spac3d
 
just have a huge EMP bomb (there is a thread somewhere about it) that is linked to windows key.

not only would it give the windows key a use but it would delete your data too 🙂
 
The electromagnet thing really won't work unless you open the case first. What might work better is a system to inject a bunch of iron filings into the drive while the system is running. (which would cause massive scratching.)
 
not only would it give the windows key a use but it would delete your data too
Click to expand...
Hey! I use the windows key all the time! winkey+E opens explorer and winkey+m minimizes everything.
 
If youre really so worried about your documents being read, encrypt it using PGP or something thats damn near impossible to break. There is almost absolutely a government backdoor in office, theyve used them before to track viruses through word documents.

 
They're not allowed to subpeona you for the key. That was decided a few months ago.

If you use PGP, and they take your computer, they have your private key so all they really need to do is figure out the hash on the key, and the rest will fall apart.

My recommendation, for very sensitive documents, would be to PGP them and store them on a BestCrypt encrypted container, and then use Windows encryption to encrypt that entire drive. Three levels of encryption, 128bit, 256bit, and 512bit -- that would be nearly impossible to bruteforce.

So beyond bruteforcing, they would have to unhash three private keys ... which could be difficult just based on the obscurity of it all.

-Ankur
 
I read somewhere that some guy who was a big distributer of kiddie pr0n and sh!t like that, lined his door frame in those really powerful magnets. The fed's busted him, walked through the door with his computer, and everything was gone.

Not sure if it's true or not, but it's a sweet idea.
 
No one thought of the obvious way to evade the authorities... don't keep any sensitive info like that on your computer!
Click to expand...

That could get harder and harder to do, If the Hollings and Ashcrofts of this world had their way.
 
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: Skyclad1uhm1
Originally posted by: PsychoAndy
The best solution would be some kind of device that has a catalytic heater or something to heat up and melt, or set fire, to your hard drive, if you don't want feds 😉
Click to expand...

So all you need is something to, with the simple touch of a key, remove the heatsink from your Athlon (unless your motherboard has a heatsensor) 🙂
Click to expand...


Ummm.. All that would accomplish is to fry the CPU, and maaaaaaybe the motherboard...but the HD would be fine. I think the best way would be to remove it from the PC and throw it really hard on some pavement a few times...😉
Click to expand...

That really wouldn't do much.
I've had that happen to one of my hd's a couple of years ago. My neighbourgh at the time worked for a HD recovery company that also did work for the governenment. He recovered about 95%+ of the data for me for free. Pretty cool sh1t. 🙂 I still remember when he started working recovering government hds and i got a knock on the door from an NSA man in black type that was doing a background check on the neighbourgh. funny sh1t the questions he asked. 🙂
 
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