Re: [gentoo-user] Demise of Truecrypt - surprised I haven't seen t his discussed here yet?

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

Am 02.06.2014 16:52, schrieb J. Roeleveld:
> On Monday, June 02, 2014 03:23:03 PM Matti Nykyri wrote:
>> On Jun 2, 2014, at 16:40, "J. Roeleveld" <joost@××××××××.org> wrote:
>>> On Monday, June 02, 2014 07:28:53 AM Rich Freeman wrote:
>>>> On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 6:56 AM, Neil Bothwick <neil@××××××××××.uk> wrote:
>>>>> On Mon, 02 Jun 2014 05:27:44 -0500, Dale wrote:
>>>>>> The second option does sound what I am looking for.  Basically, if I
>>>>>> log
>>>>>> out but leave my computer on, leave home, some crook/NSA type breaks in
>>>>>> and tries to access something or steals my whole puter, they would just
>>>>>> get garbage for data.  That seems to fit the second option best.
>>>>> If they steal your computer they will have to power it off, unless you
>>>>> are kind enough to leave them a large enough UPS to steal along with it,
>>>>> so any encryption will be equally effective.
>>>> If you're worried about casual thieves then just about any kind of
>>>> properly-implemented encryption will stop them.
>>>>
>>>> If you're worried about a government official specifically tasked with
>>>> retrieving your computer, my understanding is that it is SOP these
>>>> days to retrieve your computer without powering it off for just this
>>>> reason.  They won't use your UPS to do it.  Typically they remove the
>>>> plug just far enough to expose the prongs, slide in a connector that
>>>> connects it to a UPS, and then they pull it out the rest of the way
>>>> now powered by the UPS.
>>>>
>>>> See something like:
>>>> http://www.cru-inc.com/products/wiebetech/hotplug_field_kit/
>>> Hmm... Those are nice, but can be easily built yourself with an
>>> off-the-shelf UPS.
>>>
>>>> Presumably somebody who is determined will also have the means to
>>>> retrieve the contents of RAM once they seize your computer.  Besides
>>>> directlly accessing the memory bus I think most motherboards are not
>>>> designed to be secure against attacks from PCI/firewire/etc.
>>> Hmm... add something to auto-shutdown the computer when a hotplug event
>>> occurs on any of the internal ports and remove support for unused ports
>>> from the kernel.
>>>
>>> I wonder how they'd keep a computer from initiating a shutdown procedure
>>> or
>>> causing a kernel panic when it looses (wireless) connection to another
>>> device that is unlikely to be moved when powered up?
>> Well i have a switch in the door of the server room. It opens when you open
>> the door. That signals the kernel to wipe all the encryption keys from
>> kernel memory. Without the keys there is no access to the disks. After that
>> another kernel is executed which wipes the memory of the old kernel. If you
>> just pull the plug memory will stay in its state for an unspecified time.
> You don't happen to have a howto on how to set that up?
>
>> Swap uses random keys.
>>
>> network switches and routers get power only after firewall-server is up and
>> running.
> networked powersockets?
>
>> There is no easy way to enter the room without wipeing the encryption keys.
>> Booting up the server requires that a boot disk is brought to the computer
>> to decrypt the boot drive. Grub2 can do this easily. This is to prevent
>> some one to tamper eith a boot loader.
>>
>> System is not protected against hardware tamperment. The server room is an
>> RF-cage.
>>
>> I consoder this setup quite secure.
> Makes me wonder what it is you are protecting your server from. :)
>

some people really want to hide their porn collection.

No, I don't know what is in that black aluminium case. Yeah, lost the
keys a long time ago. No, I don't want to throw it away, the plant looks
so nice on it ...