OUT..
Some pretty interesting, (deep into the mind of a "supergeek") shit here........
Very lengthy as it needs to be to somewhat understand............
I spent two years trying to get someone to tamper with my laptop, so I could then detect it. Somewhere along the way, I realized this might never happen.
DIGITAL SECURITY SPECIALISTS like me get some version of this question all the time: “I think my laptop may have been infected with malware. Can you check?”
We dread this sort of query because modern computer exploits are as complex, clever, and hard to reason about as modern computers — particularly if someone has the ability to physically access your device, as is routinely the case with laptops, especially when traveling. So while it’s definitely possible to detect certain types of tampering, it isn’t always trivial. And even in controlled environments, it’s impossible to give a laptop a clean bill of health with full confidence – it’s always possible that it was tampered with in a way you did not think to check.
The issue of tampering is particularly relevant for human rights workers, activists, journalists, and software developers, all of whom hold sensitive data sought by powerful potential attackers. People in these vocations are often keenly aware of the security of their laptops while traveling – after all, laptops store critical secrets like communication with sources, lists of contacts, password databases, and encryption keys used to vouch for source code you write, or to give you access to remote servers.
Much more here>IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVE YOUR LAPTOP HASN’T BEEN HACKED. I SPENT TWO YEARS FINDING OUT.
Micah Lee — Apr. 28
Some pretty interesting, (deep into the mind of a "supergeek") shit here........
Very lengthy as it needs to be to somewhat understand............
I spent two years trying to get someone to tamper with my laptop, so I could then detect it. Somewhere along the way, I realized this might never happen.
DIGITAL SECURITY SPECIALISTS like me get some version of this question all the time: “I think my laptop may have been infected with malware. Can you check?”
We dread this sort of query because modern computer exploits are as complex, clever, and hard to reason about as modern computers — particularly if someone has the ability to physically access your device, as is routinely the case with laptops, especially when traveling. So while it’s definitely possible to detect certain types of tampering, it isn’t always trivial. And even in controlled environments, it’s impossible to give a laptop a clean bill of health with full confidence – it’s always possible that it was tampered with in a way you did not think to check.
The issue of tampering is particularly relevant for human rights workers, activists, journalists, and software developers, all of whom hold sensitive data sought by powerful potential attackers. People in these vocations are often keenly aware of the security of their laptops while traveling – after all, laptops store critical secrets like communication with sources, lists of contacts, password databases, and encryption keys used to vouch for source code you write, or to give you access to remote servers.
Much more here>IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVE YOUR LAPTOP HASN’T BEEN HACKED. I SPENT TWO YEARS FINDING OUT.
Micah Lee — Apr. 28
