Comments on: Locking down laptops from the TSACustoms

By: floyd

floyd — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:17:58 +0000

1. use GHOST to back up your hard drive to a dvd or two or three.
2. zero-write your hard drive to completely wipe it.
3. either use the bootable Ubuntu CD or install linux.
4. when back at target destination, GHOST your drive back to its original condition.

all you have to do is protect the contents of your DVDs. you could probably mail them or hide them in your baggage.

By: J

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:09:22 +0000

This only applies to international flights..

By: Michael Reiley

Michael Reiley — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:43:39 +0000

I am running Linux, and my entire hard drive is encrypted. In addition, all of my sensitive files are hidden in encrypted filesystems inside the encrypted hard drive. Nobody is getting in.

By: Cynic

Cynic — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:10:04 +0000

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison

Irony … that’s what keeps me happy.

By: Satch

Satch — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:45:26 +0000

Read up on the Patriot Act. If the government deems that it is to find Terrorists and protect the country it is completely legal. Not to mention the Act also lets the government define what can be terrorism…

By: Surfed

Surfed — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:35:41 +0000

If you really want to transport sensitive files there are many options. If you have linux you could store encrypted data in a directory, then have it hidden by mounting another small partition over the top via a permanent fstab entry. For example:
create directory, partition and set it up in fstab
unmount partition
put data in directory
mount partition
Now the only thing visible after booting your laptop is the information in the mounted partition, the directory below is not accessible/visible unless you have a linux guru sitting at customs and he knows what to look for.

By: Darth Obivous

Darth Obivous — Fri, 23 May 2008 03:31:09 +0000

anyone who advocates amazon-anything either works there or gets a commission … what a joke, too bad I’m not laughing.

By: Wm

Wm — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:26:44 +0000

Be careful about using the Windows encryption system. It is thought that it might be crackable. Use the free Truecrypt or commercial PGP.

By: James Bond

James Bond — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:40:13 +0000

I’m just an average joe like everyone else, but if you have legitimate information that needs to be protected, then you will have access to the proper paperwork. My response is not aimed at someone who just doesn’t want someone to peek at their stuff, its aimed at the person who flat out cannot let someone look at their data. While this is a complete invasion of privacy, no argument can mask that truth, if you have nothing to hide and your life isn’t based entirely on principle, this is just another minor inconvenience

By: Kn10

Kn10 — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:42:19 +0000

To all thos people saying to compress it and rename the extention to a .JPG, their biggest issue with your laptops is CHILD PORN. I have seen customs look for this at checkpoints even outside of the USA (especially if you are coming from somewhere like Vietnam or Thailand). Guess what their search string is? Thats right, .JPG.

By: John

John — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:13:21 +0000

Sorry, forgot the link: http://www.1nova.com/blog/?p=86

By: John

John — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:12:27 +0000

FYI; good article on wiping hard drives under a variety of OS’s.

But this is what the work server and VPN is for. On the off chance I’m going to be in a country with little or no Internet I Fed Ex a cd with that info ahead of time. It’s not optimal but my companies secrets are secret for a reason.

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:59:53 +0000

Har, Har, Har. These extra “security” measures have already been rendered obsolete. No one who has suspicious data is going to travel with it ON them, they will either post it to themselves or keep it stored on encrypted storage on the internet. Silly Americans, one step away from democracy and another one towards fascism.

By: John Woo

John Woo — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:20:45 +0000

Create a dummy account with your name, picture and some random bullshit. Hide the real account and you are in the money. Don’t think they got 1377 h4ck0rz there.

By: clesch

clesch — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:34:31 +0000

wow. this makes me think twice about traveling to the states this summer. what a sad state of affairs.

By: ~M

~M — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:56:00 +0000

Yep, sooner or later they will image all HD’s before you are allowed to proceed. The department of homeland security needs every single bit of confidential corporate and financial information to keep us all “safe” of course.

Just like everything else. Turn our once proud nation into a police state all the while convincing us how our country is such a better safer place for it. “Oh you would want us to do this… it’s for you own good of course.” It’s sickening.

By: Amit

Amit — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:04:00 +0000

this is a ridiculous solution.

By: Razor512

Razor512 — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:39:27 +0000

No company will allow this, companies will stop doing business with the US

if you are a business person and you have millions of dollars worth of company info on your laptop that you need for a meeting in the US

do you really want that info in the hands of a person making $5 a hour who can easily sell it to a competitor

idiots who take their pcs to geek squad will wind up with a lot of info in the hands of a $5 a hour worker who will copy what they find interesting (many articles on digg.com about this

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:25:05 +0000

This is a rediculous joke. This will be a waist of time for the TSA just making travelers more pissed off for their stupidity in new guidelines. This should be considered an invasion of privacy.

By: denalisr

denalisr — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:01:41 +0000

This is freaking rediculous…. i don’t wan’t people looking at my porn… This is invasion of privacy !