Password protect your phones

[FiReSTaRT]

Techies don't need a password once they have their warrant. If for whatever reason they couldn't hack the phone, they'd just disassemble it and access the storage media directly without fussing with the OS and its password.

Unless storage is also encrypted.. Btw thanks, Rob

[daught]

Techies don't need a password once they have their warrant. If for whatever reason they couldn't hack the phone, they'd just disassemble it and access the storage media directly without fussing with the OS and its password.

Ummm depends. Not sure about phone cryptography but if you have a well encrypted HDD, for arguments sake triple encrypted with AES, Twofish, Serpent there's no way to crack it. Heck none of those can be cracked on their own anyways. So in such a case, can they force you to give out your password? What's the penalty for not complying?

Regarding the iPhone's vulnerability. It's not very clear if they can access the storage or the data. If the data is still encrypted, which it should be, it's not really an issue if the storage can be accessed.

[Rob MacLennan]

Ummm depends. Not sure about phone cryptography but if you have a well encrypted HDD, for arguments sake triple encrypted with AES, Twofish, Serpent there's no way to crack it. Heck none of those can be cracked on their own anyways. So in such a case, can they force you to give out your password? What's the penalty for not complying?

Regarding the iPhone's vulnerability. It's not very clear if they can access the storage or the data. If the data is still encrypted, which it should be, it's not really an issue if the storage can be accessed.

Failure to comply could be charged as contempt.

[toysareforboys]

If they get a warrant do you HAVE to provide your password? What if you refuse? Will they hammer your knees? Charge you?

They will ask you for your password but they don't really need it.

Techies don't need a password once they have their warrant. If for whatever reason they couldn't hack the phone, they'd just disassemble it and access the storage media directly without fussing with the OS and its password.

When the RCMP took my phone they were able to just call RIM with the warrant info and they removed my password remotely.

Unless storage is also encrypted.. Btw thanks, Rob

I had my computer hard drive encrypted with TrueCrypt and they were able to recover the data without the key. The RCMP officer said there is NO message or file that gets exchanged between anyone in Canada that they can't read.

-Jamie M.

[daught]

They will ask you for your password but they don't really need it.

When the RCMP took my phone they were able to just call RIM with the warrant info and they removed my password remotely.

I had my computer hard drive encrypted with TrueCrypt and they were able to recover the data without the key. The RCMP officer said there is NO message or file that gets exchanged between anyone in Canada that they can't read.

-Jamie M.

My guess is your computer was on with a lock screen or hibernating. Truecrypt warns about that and it's impossible for Truecrypt to protect in that scenario.

[toysareforboys]

My guess is your computer was on with a lock screen or hibernating. Truecrypt warns about that and it's impossible for Truecrypt to protect in that scenario.

For sure was the case, so they did all the data duplication right there, on the spot, without rebooting or powering down the computer? Damn I wonder if I can do a remote reboot from my phone or some type of emergency activation device to protect against that in the future.

-Jamie M.

[Rob MacLennan]

For sure was the case, so they did all the data duplication right there, on the spot, without rebooting or powering down the computer? Damn I wonder if I can do a remote reboot from my phone or some type of emergency activation device to protect against that in the future.

-Jamie M.

Suspend and hibernate are da debil. Don't use them, if you're really worried. Get yourself a solid state drive, if boot speed is an issue or get a hardware encrypted hard drive, if boot speed isn't an issue.

[daught]

Yes, you can do all that, but safest thing is to shut the computer down when you walk away.

Maybe disabling FireWire, USB and autorun would provide better protection. Police rely on FireWire to extract data.

[toysareforboys]

Yes, you can do all that, but safest thing is to shut the computer down when you walk away.

Maybe disabling FireWire, USB and autorun would provide better protection. Police rely on FireWire to extract data.

The computer was my e-mail server, so couldn't really shut it down ever

-Jamie M.

[FiReSTaRT]

If you think there is a chance of you attracting the attention of forces of law, order and everything that's good and pure about our great country, it pays to plan ahead. Another option is just to host a VPS in a country that's big on privacy and/or little on cooperating with said forces, like Iceland.

[Rob MacLennan]

Personal privacy isn't just the concern of people who are/planning to break the law. It is sad that desiring privacy has become a flag to law enforcement that you are up to no good. The practise of protecting your data is far more important in daily life, in the modern world, than it ever was in the past. I get rather upset when people start with the, "If you have nothing to hide...." comments. If you've got nothing to hide then you hide it anyway, or you're a target for identity thieves.

[FiReSTaRT]

Personal privacy isn't just the concern of people who are/planning to break the law. It is sad that desiring privacy has become a flag to law enforcement that you are up to no good. The practise of protecting your data is far more important in daily life, in the modern world, than it ever was in the past. I get rather upset when people start with the, "If you have nothing to hide...." comments. If you've got nothing to hide then you hide it anyway, or you're a target for identity thieves.

Which brings me back to 2 really good points in this discussion:

1) I've got nothing to hide, but I don't have anything to show, either

2) Do you own blinds or curtains?

[toysareforboys]

Another option is just to host a VPS in a country that's big on privacy and/or little on cooperating with said forces, like Iceland.

How easy do you think it is for our government to snoop on our VPN sessions? I'm SURE with all this anti-terrorist stuff they must just be able to snoop on all VPN connections, no??

I like your idea of hosting stuff off-site, in a location not easily intimidated by our police. I just got my first VPS (in california, lol) a few months ago, absolutely love it so far, unlimited bandwidth and storage for $15/mo and the speeds are absolutely retarded fast. I might shop for a more "secure" VPS if I can find something with similar features for the same amount of money, and start offloading all the stuff I normally host in-house.

-Jamie M.

[FiReSTaRT]

How easy do you think it is for our government to snoop on our VPN sessions? I'm SURE with all this anti-terrorist stuff they must just be able to snoop on all VPN connections, no??

I like your idea of hosting stuff off-site, in a location not easily intimidated by our police. I just got my first VPS (in california, lol) a few months ago, absolutely love it so far, unlimited bandwidth and storage for $15/mo and the speeds are absolutely retarded fast. I might shop for a more "secure" VPS if I can find something with similar features for the same amount of money, and start offloading all the stuff I normally host in-house.

-Jamie M.

If the traffic is properly encrypted, it's a huge hassle for them any way you look at it. The pricing will be through the nose compared to US data centers, but at least you won't have their alphabet soup routinely snooping through your stuff.

[toysareforboys]

If the traffic is properly encrypted, it's a huge hassle for them any way you look at it. The pricing will be through the nose compared to US data centers, but at least you won't have their alphabet soup routinely snooping through your stuff.

Ahhh, okies. Thanks for the info

-Jamie M.

[FiReSTaRT]

Ahhh, okies. Thanks for the info

-Jamie M.

No problem. The US is at least as bad as China when it comes to Internet traffic surveillance. They are just a bit lighter on blocking content (even though they're more likely to have any sites that offend their nobility for whatever reason, taken down). The reason data centers there are cheap is that they have a pretty hefty infrastructure, so you benefit from the economy of scale, as long as you don't care about your privacy.