3 ms·

The feds and other serious folks are pretty careful these days not to turn off anything until they've had forensics evaluate the situation. And not just becaus

by trotsky 15y ago

The feds and other serious folks are pretty careful these days not to turn off anything until they've had forensics evaluate the situation. And not just because of FDE, memory analysis very frequently yields the best evidence due to it's timely and overlooked nature. Since most encryption systems retain their keys during lock and sleep, unless you usually leave your system powered off I wouldn't count on being afforded much privacy if you're interesting enough to bother. That said I still use it on both of mine and definitely suggest it, it's a very small performance penalty for what will be a godsend if your laptop turns up lost or stolen. https://code.google.com/p/cryptsetup/ https://code.google.com/p/cryptsetup/ It's an excellent precaution against the much more mundane and common threats like loss or theft though

fl3tch 15y ago
If you're worried about a state-level adversary, then yes, you should always turn off your computer when not using it. They could still be spying on you and wait until you turn it on to kick down the door. There are people who have thought about these things, too. One suggestion is a dead man's trap, like a pad that you sit on, so if the door gets kicked down (or they snipe you from outside the window), as soon as you stand up (or fall off the stool) it scrambles RAM and shuts down the system. That's a super high level of paranoia, but still makes encryption useful.
- epochwolf 15y ago
  You could just hold down the power button on your computer for 4 seconds and require a password to boot the system.
  - pyre 15y ago
    That depends on how quickly they can get guns pointed at you once the door is kicked in.
    - epochwolf 15y ago
      Okay, then you can set up your system to do a force shutdown if the power button is hit. If you're on a desktop, have a power strip near your foot so you can kick the toggle switch if the door comes down. (Or have a big red kill switch wired into the power supply on the front of the case.) The latter option probably won't earn you any favors with the judge or the jury.
- eneveu 15y ago
  Reminds me of Cryptonomicon.

by trotsky 15y ago

fl3tch 15y ago

If you're worried about a state-level adversary, then yes, you should always turn off your computer when not using it. They could still be spying on you and wait until you turn it on to kick down the door. There are people who have thought about these things, too. One suggestion is a dead man's trap, like a pad that you sit on, so if the door gets kicked down (or they snipe you from outside the window), as soon as you stand up (or fall off the stool) it scrambles RAM and shuts down the system. That's a super high level of paranoia, but still makes encryption useful.

epochwolf 15y ago
You could just hold down the power button on your computer for 4 seconds and require a password to boot the system.
- pyre 15y ago
  That depends on how quickly they can get guns pointed at you once the door is kicked in.
  - epochwolf 15y ago
    Okay, then you can set up your system to do a force shutdown if the power button is hit. If you're on a desktop, have a power strip near your foot so you can kick the toggle switch if the door comes down. (Or have a big red kill switch wired into the power supply on the front of the case.) The latter option probably won't earn you any favors with the judge or the jury.
eneveu 15y ago
Reminds me of Cryptonomicon.