Encryption & Deletion Spin

  • Thread starter Thread starter dbb
  • Start date Start date
D

dbb

a) the other day i saw a news
item about a laptop that was
inspected at the canadian / u.s.
border.

not sure what laws dictate
inspecting a laptops file system;
unless it was being inspected for
secret compartments to hide
drugs and weapons of mass
destruction.

instead the border patrolman
supposedly saw a pxrn pic and
wanted to open more files, but
could not because they were
encrypted with PGP.

b) then the news went on to report
that the FBI didn't have the
capability of de crypting "PGP"
files and the laptop owner
had the right not to provide
the key to the FBI.

the brunt of the concern is whether
or not to believe the FBI when they
claim PGP files cannot be de crypted
by them.

in my opinion i think that the FBI,
CIA, etc has a "crack" for many files,
passwords and "PGP".

but claiming/spinning they cannot
would trick persons who have
something to hide to believe that
pgp is beyond the FBI's reach
and expertise.

c) i went to the pgp site and they
freely offer the source code. so
this in itself would lead me not to
believe the FBI's is at a disadvantage.
------------------

d) it reminds me of the days when the
russians believed that had ascertained
the top secret u.s. nuclear submarine
engineering plans.

but what the u.s did was to allow
the russians spies to acquire
re-engineered submarine plans.

after the russians spent billions in
building a submarine force with the
deceitful plans, they discovered that
the sailors/officers/submariners were being
poisoned by the radiation leak from
the deliberately altered plans.

e) i think the space shuttle was basically
the same spy game because the
russians could "never" get theirs
to work.

---------------

f) so should anyone believe that
utilities that claim dod level of file
deletion is not retrievable or might
it be simply dod spin?

-----------------

just some food for thought.

--

db ·´¯`·.¸. said:
<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
Click to expand...


.
 
a) the other day i saw a news
item about a laptop that was
inspected at the canadian / u.s.
border.

not sure what laws dictate
inspecting a laptops file system;
unless it was being inspected for
secret compartments to hide
drugs and weapons of mass
destruction.

instead the border patrolman
supposedly saw a pxrn pic and
wanted to open more files, but
could not because they were
encrypted with PGP.

b) then the news went on to report
that the FBI didn't have the
capability of de crypting "PGP"
files and the laptop owner
had the right not to provide
the key to the FBI.

the brunt of the concern is whether
or not to believe the FBI when they
claim PGP files cannot be de crypted
by them.

in my opinion i think that the FBI,
CIA, etc has a "crack" for many files,
passwords and "PGP".

but claiming/spinning they cannot
would trick persons who have
something to hide to believe that
pgp is beyond the FBI's reach
and expertise.

c) i went to the pgp site and they
freely offer the source code. so
this in itself would lead me not to
believe the FBI's is at a disadvantage.
------------------

d) it reminds me of the days when the
russians believed that had ascertained
the top secret u.s. nuclear submarine
engineering plans.

but what the u.s did was to allow
the russians spies to acquire
re-engineered submarine plans.

after the russians spent billions in
building a submarine force with the
deceitful plans, they discovered that
the sailors/officers/submariners were being
poisoned by the radiation leak from
the deliberately altered plans.

e) i think the space shuttle was basically
the same spy game because the
russians could "never" get theirs
to work.

---------------

f) so should anyone believe that
utilities that claim dod level of file
deletion is not retrievable or might
it be simply dod spin?

-----------------

just some food for thought.

You stopped taking the pills again?




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: )

flower power is
long gone except
for the few, the proud
and the delusional.

--

db ·´¯`·.¸. said:
<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
Click to expand...


..
 
dbb said:
a) the other day i saw a news
item about a laptop that was
inspected at the canadian / u.s.
border.

not sure what laws dictate
inspecting a laptops file system;
unless it was being inspected for
secret compartments to hide
drugs and weapons of mass
destruction.

instead the border patrolman
supposedly saw a pxrn pic and
wanted to open more files, but
could not because they were
encrypted with PGP.

b) then the news went on to report
that the FBI didn't have the
capability of de crypting "PGP"
files and the laptop owner
had the right not to provide
the key to the FBI.

the brunt of the concern is whether
or not to believe the FBI when they
claim PGP files cannot be de crypted
by them.

in my opinion i think that the FBI,
CIA, etc has a "crack" for many files,
passwords and "PGP".

but claiming/spinning they cannot
would trick persons who have
something to hide to believe that
pgp is beyond the FBI's reach
and expertise.

c) i went to the pgp site and they
freely offer the source code. so
this in itself would lead me not to
believe the FBI's is at a disadvantage.
------------------

d) it reminds me of the days when the
russians believed that had ascertained
the top secret u.s. nuclear submarine
engineering plans.

but what the u.s did was to allow
the russians spies to acquire
re-engineered submarine plans.

after the russians spent billions in
building a submarine force with the
deceitful plans, they discovered that
the sailors/officers/submariners were being
poisoned by the radiation leak from
the deliberately altered plans.

e) i think the space shuttle was basically
the same spy game because the
russians could "never" get theirs
to work.

---------------

f) so should anyone believe that
utilities that claim dod level of file
deletion is not retrievable or might
it be simply dod spin?

-----------------

just some food for thought.

--




.
Click to expand...
For any given situation requiring a solution, always choose the most
unlikely or conspiratorial. May not be correct, but certain to be the
most exciting and provocative.
If the fbi (or anyone else) could quickly decrypt a file in the field
the market for encryption software would quickly disappear.
Dave Cohen
 
dbb said:
a) the other day i saw a news
item about a laptop that was
inspected at the canadian / u.s.
border.

not sure what laws dictate
inspecting a laptops file system;
unless it was being inspected for
secret compartments to hide
drugs and weapons of mass
destruction.

instead the border patrolman
supposedly saw a pxrn pic and
wanted to open more files, but
could not because they were
encrypted with PGP.

b) then the news went on to report
that the FBI didn't have the
capability of de crypting "PGP"
files and the laptop owner
had the right not to provide
the key to the FBI.

the brunt of the concern is whether
or not to believe the FBI when they
claim PGP files cannot be de crypted
by them.
Click to expand...

Believe it. PGP files, properly encrypted, cannot be rendered readable.

However, a court can order the owner to provide the password and hold him in
jail until he gives it up.
 
that's an interesting point
and it seems there is a lot
more to this story i saw on
nbc news than it being a
simple news item.

i have not heard of the courts
ruling, as you state.

firstly, i find it troubling
that a laptop's file system
can be searched at will
at a border crossing.

so, if it can be searched
at the canadian border
then a file system can
be searched at an airport
or at a border of a foreign
country.

perhaps the right to search
is also provided to police
when they pull you over
for running a red light and
see a laptop on the seat next
to you.

perhaps, cell phones and
black berries will also be
scanned at will, since they
too have database's.

then there is the issue of a
password. if the password
is set at the bios and or at
the win login, then would
have the owner of the laptop
avoided a search and seizure
by a border patrolman?

what if the laptops operating
system was on a detachable usb
and the usb hd was in the persons
pocket and not inside the laptop?

whatif there are disks and flash
drives involved, are they searchable
at the will of government as well?

in anycase, the fbi has long
been known to have a super
password cracking program
since the beginning of
windows/time.

an interesting point is that while
there are reports on the number
of super computers to be known
to exist and their locations, the
government as just as many working
for them and they make it no
bodies business to know of them
or where they are.

when the technology was new
it was demonstrated on a show
many years ago. i don't recall
which one but it would have
been likely to be 60 minutes
or a pbs documentary.

for what its worth, computerized
encryption simply involves mathematics
of varying complexities. so a computer
can be used to find the calculation.

i appreciate your feedback. i am
highly interested with what people
think and have heard.

to me, the news item reeks
with a stench but cant make
out what it smells like.

but reasonably it seems to be another
example of the government using
the new media.


--

db ·´¯`·.¸. said:
<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
Click to expand...


..
 
dbb said:
a) the other day i saw a news
item about a laptop that was
inspected at the canadian / u.s.
border.

not sure what laws dictate
inspecting a laptops file system;
unless it was being inspected for
secret compartments to hide
drugs and weapons of mass
destruction.

instead the border patrolman
supposedly saw a pxrn pic and
wanted to open more files, but
could not because they were
encrypted with PGP.

b) then the news went on to report
that the FBI didn't have the
capability of de crypting "PGP"
files and the laptop owner
had the right not to provide
the key to the FBI.

the brunt of the concern is whether
or not to believe the FBI when they
claim PGP files cannot be de crypted
by them.

in my opinion i think that the FBI,
CIA, etc has a "crack" for many files,
passwords and "PGP".

but claiming/spinning they cannot
would trick persons who have
something to hide to believe that
pgp is beyond the FBI's reach
and expertise.

c) i went to the pgp site and they
freely offer the source code. so
this in itself would lead me not to
believe the FBI's is at a disadvantage.
------------------

d) it reminds me of the days when the
russians believed that had ascertained
the top secret u.s. nuclear submarine
engineering plans.

but what the u.s did was to allow
the russians spies to acquire
re-engineered submarine plans.

after the russians spent billions in
building a submarine force with the
deceitful plans, they discovered that
the sailors/officers/submariners were being
poisoned by the radiation leak from
the deliberately altered plans.

e) i think the space shuttle was basically
the same spy game because the
russians could "never" get theirs
to work.

---------------

f) so should anyone believe that
utilities that claim dod level of file
deletion is not retrievable or might
it be simply dod spin?
Click to expand...

Decrypting a file is not always as easy as it may seem. Having the
source code may give you the specifics of the algorithm used, but you
still would need to use brute force without the password.

If the file does not actually contain the password and the password is
not recorded somewhere physically, they don't have enough information
to work with. I use TrueCrypt containers for all of my personal data
the passwords are all 32 chars or longer and contain numbers and
symbols also). I use PasswordMaker v1.000 to generate the password. The
password is never actually stored anywhere. If it isn't stored, it
can't be obtained. The password program uses an individual algorythm
for generating the password when I need it. Even if they had the name
and descrption of the file, without my specific hash file, the password
generating program would not generate the correct password (which is
why I don't use the PasswordMaker extension for FireFox). I actually
keep a fake hash in the executables directory and have my real hash
file stored elsewhere on the disk with a 'non-obvious' name.

I will grant that using brute force can be easier if you know what you
are looking for, but the reality is there are two many ways to slow
down a brute force approach. Even with super-computers, cracking a
TrueCrypt container with a good password will eat up a lot of
processing time.

--

C.Joseph Drayton, Ph.D. AS&T

CSD Computer Services
Web site: http://csdcs.tlerma.com/
E-mail: (e-mail address removed)
 
your response is sincerely
appreciated.

clearly your qualifications
gives much weight to your
explanation and logic.

i look forward in analyzing
the information provided,

thanks.

--------

hmm, it seems that someone
with your qualifications would
be an asset to the government.

how do we know you are not a
covert operator providing
dis-information....???

; )

--

db ·´¯`·.¸. said:
<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
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..
 
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