Vista - Re: ALERT: Disk encryption may not be secure enough

02-22-2008

"jim" <jim@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:G8Bvj.106956$L%6.17232@xxxxxx

Quote:

> You may have already heard about or read about this story. If so, this is
> not for you.
>
> For those people in positions where privacy can mean the life or death of
> a career or even a person, listen up......
>
> "Computer scientists have discovered a novel way to bypass the encryption
> used in programs like Microsoft's BitLocker and Apple's FileVault and then
> view the contents of supposedly secure files.
>
> In a paper (PDF) published Thursday that could prompt a rethinking of how
> to protect sensitive data, the researchers describe how they can extract
> the contents of a computer's memory and discover the secret encryption key
> used to scramble files. (I tested these claims by giving them a MacBook
> with FileVault; here's a slideshow.)
>
> "There seems to be no easy remedy for these vulnerabilities," the
> researchers say. "Simple software changes are likely to be ineffective;
> hardware changes are possible but will require time and expense; and
> today's Trusted Computing technologies appear to be of little help because
> they cannot protect keys that are already in memory. The risk seems
> highest for laptops, which are often taken out in public in states that
> are vulnerable to our attacks. These risks imply that disk encryption on
> laptops may do less good than widely believed." "
>
> Read the entire article at
> http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9876060-38.html?tag=tb or view the video
> straight from Princeton at http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/.
>
> jim
>

Jim,

If you write an application to lock down or encrypt your system it is
only a matter of time before someone writes an application to unlock or
unencrypt it. Nothing new. It's the same old cat and mouse game. It will
never stop. I would imagine Microsoft has already provided a back door for
law enforcement agencies anyway.
However, I still choose to encrypt my system in the event an average
Joe decides to steal my computer. I don't worry about it as I have no child
porn or incriminating evidence of any kind on my computers. I am not
suggesting or insinuating that you do so don't respond accordingly.
Government intelligence agencies and military intelligence agencies
will probably be able see everything they wish if they confiscate a
computer. Then again, there is always the extremely intelligent 12 year old
gamer or whizkid who is capable of much more than you could ever realize,
sometimes much more intelligent than the best of the intelligence agents.
1984 has come and gone but will never cease to exist.

C.B.

--
It is the responsibility and duty of everyone to help the underprivileged
and less fortunate among us.

02-22-2008	#1 (permalink)
C.B. n/a posts	Re: ALERT: Disk encryption may not be secure enough "jim" <jim@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:G8Bvj.106956$L%6.17232@xxxxxx Quote: > You may have already heard about or read about this story. If so, this is > not for you. > > For those people in positions where privacy can mean the life or death of > a career or even a person, listen up...... > > "Computer scientists have discovered a novel way to bypass the encryption > used in programs like Microsoft's BitLocker and Apple's FileVault and then > view the contents of supposedly secure files. > > In a paper (PDF) published Thursday that could prompt a rethinking of how > to protect sensitive data, the researchers describe how they can extract > the contents of a computer's memory and discover the secret encryption key > used to scramble files. (I tested these claims by giving them a MacBook > with FileVault; here's a slideshow.) > > "There seems to be no easy remedy for these vulnerabilities," the > researchers say. "Simple software changes are likely to be ineffective; > hardware changes are possible but will require time and expense; and > today's Trusted Computing technologies appear to be of little help because > they cannot protect keys that are already in memory. The risk seems > highest for laptops, which are often taken out in public in states that > are vulnerable to our attacks. These risks imply that disk encryption on > laptops may do less good than widely believed." " > > Read the entire article at > http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9876060-38.html?tag=tb or view the video > straight from Princeton at http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/. > > jim > Jim, If you write an application to lock down or encrypt your system it is only a matter of time before someone writes an application to unlock or unencrypt it. Nothing new. It's the same old cat and mouse game. It will never stop. I would imagine Microsoft has already provided a back door for law enforcement agencies anyway. However, I still choose to encrypt my system in the event an average Joe decides to steal my computer. I don't worry about it as I have no child porn or incriminating evidence of any kind on my computers. I am not suggesting or insinuating that you do so don't respond accordingly. Government intelligence agencies and military intelligence agencies will probably be able see everything they wish if they confiscate a computer. Then again, there is always the extremely intelligent 12 year old gamer or whizkid who is capable of much more than you could ever realize, sometimes much more intelligent than the best of the intelligence agents. 1984 has come and gone but will never cease to exist. C.B. -- It is the responsibility and duty of everyone to help the underprivileged and less fortunate among us.
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