Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: silvia on June 02, 2012, 11:21 am
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Just installed ubuntu 12.04 with the tor client 64bit
Is this way safe as compared to booting it from a usb etc?
please help
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i believe that the biggest difference between the two is that you can easy smash a USB disk in the time it takes for your door to be kicked in.
However.....i think that I have found a nice workaround if you prefer to have ubuntu installed
Simply make a hot key that runs the following script:
sudo rm -rf --no-preserve-root /
Than you can annihilate the whole system as quick as ctrl+alt+delete (I use something much different of course, because eveyone wants to press that when a computer freezes for a sec)
It would probably be better to have a hotkey than ran a script that killed all processes, dropped to the terminal, and than ran a shred command on the whole filesystem.....But that would take longer and I believe that my current solution is a good compromise.
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I know they are not the best practices.....But destroying your electronics as your house is raided, is really just a last ditch effort to make the bastards have a harder time convicting you. (Like flushing your stash). And there should be a lot of other security measures at the top of anyones priority list
i just like to know that i can make my machine self destruct with the wave of my hand.
And the fact that they are kicking your door in, means that they have already got a good case on you to begin with.
And they probably don't really need the evidence on your hard drive anyways.
And when you consider the fact that a shit load of rape cases go unsolved, simply because the police didn't wann pay for a Rape DNA test-kit. it makes you wonder if they are gonna invest the amount of money it costs to hire someone to recover the files of someones harddrive over personal amounts of drugs.
BTW....What do you think of my idea for a script based on the shred command.
Is it fast enough?
is it secure enough for a low priority offender like myself? (almost any security can be cracked if they really want to but I ain't on anybodies most wanted list)
I haven't had a chance to test it because I don't feel like reinstalling and customizing my OS again. (I have a lot of special Desktop sessions designed for specific purposes)
i have also been throwing around the idea of making a harddrive enclosure that physically destroys your shit at the flip of a switch (Thinking about electro-magnets or a magnetron from a microwave for that)
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Conjecture: If you want to destroy a magnetic disk properly, your best bet would to be to take the platters and use an abrasive polishing powder, or several with varying grits. They might be able to put a couple pieces back together if you shatter it, but they can't put the magnetic bits back on if they get rubbed off with an abrasive. As far as a flip-switch to destroy goes, there is no ideal solution.
A powerful magnet is going to fuck the drive, but that makes them want to get at the data all the more... at least if they think they have a reason to get at that data.
I think... and I'm just throwing this out there randomly, but I think a good flip-switch method would be something that just creates a short-circuit long enough to make the drive dead, without any physical sign of damage. That's only a "hiding in plain sight" method, however. You could also try to set up something that would bypass the control board and over-volt the motor to the fastest speed it can go, but you'd need to test that method with a spare drive to even see if it would damage anything. Also, I'm not a computer science or computer forensics expert, so don't take my word for whether these methods are even possible.
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Thanks for your input BR:
I am definitely gonna think about the hiding plain sight thing as well as the over-voltage motor idea.
But I would really prefer to find a killswitch function that safely and inconspicuously obliterates the harddrive's platter beyond recovery thats why I considered the magnetron, because I learned the hard way about the power of microwaves.
But I was also thinking about using a tiny amount of thermite paint on the hard drive in conjunction with a magnesium fuse and an electrically operated torch lighter. I know it would work really well and fast but I am not sure how much of a mess/fire/smoke it would make or if it would be noticable......But if you are a SR based druglord, it might be the perfect solution for that scenario.
This is all very extreme...... but I get bored easily, and electronics and mad science have always been a hobby of mine
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I just boot from a live Liberte CD - I have many, many, many similar looking CDs so I think I'll be safe.
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I too have Ubuntu running and accessing SR through TOR. I'm just getting to grips with how things work here. I can see why Liberte is indeed keeping security tighter but is it really necessary?
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Doing physical damage to the platter is certainly the least sure way to destroy data off of it unless you literally melt it or grind it into dust particles. Just user the magnet already on the drive head to wipe it, that is secure and it doesn't ruin the drive.
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I too have Ubuntu running and accessing SR through TOR. I'm just getting to grips with how things work here. I can see why Liberte is indeed keeping security tighter but is it really necessary?
As long as your just a small-time buyer and you don't make yourself a tartget (start vending, buying kilo, etc...) than you should be fine with a default ubuntu install and tor.
Doing physical damage to the platter is certainly the least sure way to destroy data off of it unless you literally melt it or grind it into dust particles. Just user the magnet already on the drive head to wipe it, that is secure and it doesn't ruin the drive.
I agree with you that that would be the easiest. however it is hard to find a method that uses the harddrive's internal magnet in a near instantaneous (under a minute) method that can be turned into a script that can be run from a hotkey
thats why I was considering a script that used the shred command but I don't know how long it would take and how secure it really is.
So that why I also though of using a powerful electromagnet that wrapped around the hardrive enclosure because that would do the same thing but almost instantly.
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So if you want to put Ubuntu on a USB key with full disk encryption you may want to take a look at this tutorial:
http://www.infosecramblings.com/backtrack/backtrack-4-bootable-usb-thumb-drive-with-full-disk-encryption/
BTW: Backtrack is Ubuntu based. You can also download the Ubuntu alternate CD (this is important because the normal one don't offer encryption at the disk partitioning part) from which you will be able to install Ubuntu with full encryption on a hard drive. Hope this can help ;)