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

[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. :)

--
Joost