Re: Terminal room at IETF74

[Dean Willis <dean.willis at softarmor.com>]

On Mar 2, 2009, at 1:52 PM, Joel Jaeggli wrote:

> Dearlove, Christopher (UK) wrote:
> > But now, if I come to IETF74, I won't have a laptop with me.
> > Corporate policy, based on recent US legal decisions, is that
> > I may not take a laptop (or PDA etc.) into the USA. This is
> > not subject to modification. Obviously even a machine in the
> > terminal room would be a very poor second, but it seems even
> > that is out.
>
> I don't know about you but I wouldn't trust a public terminal no  
> matter
> how well maintained for the applications which I carry a laptop.
>
> Depending on your bent, either a personal laptop (with no corporate  
> data
> on it) or a mobile phone with the appropriate email conduit but no
> pre-existing configuration might be a more desirable (and secure)  
> way to go.

The worry is not that the border goons will expose confidential  
information on one's device, but that they'll CLAIM they did (even if  
they have to insert it themselves), and there's no way to disprove  
this when the device is writable.

Hence the need to carry no writable devices across the border, not  
even a USB memory stick or a camera. Or a modern cellphone, for that  
matter.

Of course, that doesn't keep them from claiming that you had a  
writable device in your possession, then planting one there. Given  
sufficient paranoia in one's threat model, there's just no way to  
justify waking up in the morning.

--
Dean Willis