4 ms·

A standard procedure in somewhat-security-concerned firms is that when you travel, you go and get a freshly installed travel laptop (a loaner) from IT dept, use

A standard procedure in somewhat-security-concerned firms is that when you travel, you go and get a freshly installed travel laptop (a loaner) from IT dept, use it on the trip, and after the trip, you return it to the department that wipes out everything on the disk and re-images it. This wouldn't protect against things like firmware-based malware, attacks that major three-letter spy agencies could deploy when they focus on a target, but because there is no absolute security and measures need to be balanced to the threat scenario, this is a model that works pretty well.

rastapasta42 12y ago
>A colleague of mine purchases fresh laptops for when he goes overseas and then never uses them again. He doesn't even work in an industry where commercial secrets are common. I'd hope that anywhere that features security implications or commercial secrets would also act at this level. IMO that's an overkill. Why not just use ICloak [1] or Tails [2]? They are both Linux distributions which boot from USB stick without touching hard drive, randomize MAC address and give you access to Tor and other goodies. [1]: https://icloak.org/ https://icloak.org/ [2]: https://tails.boum.org/ https://tails.boum.org/
- DanBC 12y ago
  Customs officals are agents of another, sometimes hostile, power. If your risk assessment says you're worried about AoHPs then you can't trust your computer after they've had it in their possession.
  - marssaxman 12y ago
    What are "AoHPs"?
    - ptaipale 12y ago
      Never heard the term, but by context I would guess "Attack on Hardware Platform" or some such.
- miander 12y ago
  I think the bigger concern (which has been backed up by recent research) is that there are vulnerabilities in the hardware that might be exploited to install malicious software. If that software lives in a BIOS or a hard disk firmware wiping your hard disk will not protect you.
jfoster 12y ago
That model may not always work well. At least one country I know of interviews you at your point of departure as to whether your IT department has recently had your laptop in their possession.
- ptaipale 12y ago
  Sure they may interview, but how does that make the model not work? The answer is going to be the same every time: of course my laptop is regularly in the possession of the IT support organisation.

rastapasta42 12y ago

>A colleague of mine purchases fresh laptops for when he goes overseas and then never uses them again. He doesn't even work in an industry where commercial secrets are common. I'd hope that anywhere that features security implications or commercial secrets would also act at this level. IMO that's an overkill. Why not just use ICloak [1] or Tails [2]? They are both Linux distributions which boot from USB stick without touching hard drive, randomize MAC address and give you access to Tor and other goodies. [1]: https://icloak.org/ https://icloak.org/ [2]: https://tails.boum.org/ https://tails.boum.org/

DanBC 12y ago
Customs officals are agents of another, sometimes hostile, power. If your risk assessment says you're worried about AoHPs then you can't trust your computer after they've had it in their possession.
- marssaxman 12y ago
  What are "AoHPs"?
  - ptaipale 12y ago
    Never heard the term, but by context I would guess "Attack on Hardware Platform" or some such.
miander 12y ago
I think the bigger concern (which has been backed up by recent research) is that there are vulnerabilities in the hardware that might be exploited to install malicious software. If that software lives in a BIOS or a hard disk firmware wiping your hard disk will not protect you.

jfoster 12y ago

That model may not always work well. At least one country I know of interviews you at your point of departure as to whether your IT department has recently had your laptop in their possession.

ptaipale 12y ago
Sure they may interview, but how does that make the model not work? The answer is going to be the same every time: of course my laptop is regularly in the possession of the IT support organisation.