Creating a Dead Mans Switch

If the FBI busted into your house right now and you were stopped before you could shut off your computer do you have a back up plan?

How would you make a dead mans switch that would save your ass in a situation like that?

My best idea would be something stupid like just having a password prompt popup and lock the screen every like 30 minutes or less and if you don't pass it in time the computer shuts off

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1) Encrypt Hard drive
2) Have switch on power strip easily accessible

Or Don't have anything illegal on your computer you pedo.

Problem solved

If the computer is set to destroy itself on invalid password entry and some moron decides to just try a password who's in trouble?

I'm presuming it's the person who owns the data but maybe not?

>Have switch on power strip easily accessible
I said that they already have you detained or neutralized so there is no moving around at all

This actually happened in a real case
The police technically destroyed the data so the guy actually got off without charges

I thought about this a lot back when I had something to hide.

Basically if they're there for the computer the first thing they'll do is pull the plug if not kill the power from outside the house so the solution is going to require auxiliary power. I think the "correct" solution is a combination of full disk encryption, a UPS installed INSIDE a locked case and the serial UPS monitor hooked up to the motherboard on the serial port.

Basically if the power suddenly goes out you set the response to that event to basically just "shred /dev/sdx"

With fulldisk encryption you really don't have to damage a whole lot to theoretically make the volumes useless but I was paranoid.

It would make sense to have a UPS outside the case inline with the UPS inside so a normal power outage doesn't shutdown your PC.

Basically in this configuration
>SWAT hits house
>runs in an yanks power or kills power during breach
>secondary power keeps PC running and insta-shred starts that doesn't even need to finish
>they must react to locked case and disks deleting themselves inside
>you go to jail for just as long for obstruction and your IP logs charge you for the illegal stuff anyway

also the first think and forensic tech is going to do is make write-protected copies of the disk and operate on those so I couldn't find any other way to deal things

Why would you need to delete anything if you use FDE?

>Basically if they're there for the computer the first thing they'll do is pull the plug if not kill the power from outside the house
Are you retarded?
They're main goal is to get to the computer while its still on and unlocked so the disk encryption can't just lock them out
Pulling the plug might as well be destroying the hard disk to them if the encryption is strong enough
And plus they probably expect you to have a UPS in some way so cutting the power would just alert you that they're there and give you time to wipe your shit

This isn't much to go on.
It's simple: If it this reached this point, you are fucked.

That's the whole point of the DMS is so even after you get taken out not all hope will be lost

>having illegal shit on your hard drive
>doing illegal shit in the first place
Man, it feels good not being a fucking nigger.

this, desu

Windows 10 has my back

What were you hiding user?

>Windows update is actually a dead mans switch

Why do you need to hide anything, user?

If they're going after your computer they don't kill the power because they know encryption is out there. They have setups to keep your computer powered while they bring it back to the forensics lab. Or they just chill your RAM I guess

Some government agencies have started using liquid nitrogen to freeze the RAM

Tails wipes the RAM before it shuts down

or more accurately, Tails calls the kexec() function to reload the kernel with a special parameter that wipes the RAM

Subgraph OS probably does the same

So if you had a dead man's switch that shuts down Tails, your RAM is clear

>Put switch on door that goes off if door is opened
>If switch is activated while computer is unlocked it shuts off the PC

>They come though the window instead

No windows in the basement

...

Not how it works. They clone your drives and work on the copies. Working on the original is idiotic.

They don't kill the power. That's stupid. Among other things, they'd risk corrupting the drives on a forced shutdown. They bust in and order you to step away from the computer so their techs can get access.

Your best bet is early warning system so you have time to shutdown everything that's already been encrypted. And possibly vaporize your keyfile.

>Basically if the power suddenly goes out you set the response to that event to basically just "shred /dev/sdx"
>Storm causes power outage
>PCs nuke themselves
>because of rain

t. been raided by the FBI

My computer is off...

But is it encrypted?

Only what needs to be

Perhaps now that this is known. Back in '06 when I was interested in the topic I seriously doubt it would have been standard operating procedure.

on a related note, I wonder how TLA cool kids bypass cleanup on case intrusion. hard to cold attack RAM while stuff is running with the case intact but hard to cut into it without risking a switch opening and triggering something. I wonder if case intrusion tripwires strung around a case are a thing - would work well if wired to main PSU shutoff (allowing internal UPS to take over)


>I don't remember, probably bad teen poetry

>pic related government shills

>yfw they breach through the floorboards above you

None of this is even the topic at hand. The tittle of the thread is Creating a Dead Man's Switch, not What Would Happen if the FBI Raided You

But the OP does mention that the whole point of the switch is for an FBI raid

>come on - are they raiding a nerd in a basement or an ISIS cell?
>no more R6:S for you Sup Forums

Okay fine fuck.

Button under chair leg.
They push you to the ground chair and all.
Button no longer depressed.
4oz of plastic explosive goes off inside your pc.

>watch south park
>wake up
>???
>profit!

my case has a case intrusion mechanism that's hardwired into the bios.
Useless if power is cut, but if they're trying to freeze the ram, they'd have to act quick, which might leave time with an internal UPS to fuck everything up.

Or Better yet, just rig your PC case like a bomb so It either explodes or fries everything by overpowering the MOBO/HDD's with an internal battery set to go off if the case is opened

>yfw you realize your house is made of concrete+brick and mortar.

You really need to get some better houses

>Perhaps now that this is known. Back in '06 when I was interested in the topic I seriously doubt it would have been standard operating procedure.

This was how federal operated back then too. It's usually local agencies that don't have the budget for actual computer forensics techs, so they have to wing it as best they can.

and the laws about possession of explosives? Isn't this the same problem as thermite?

Switch idea isn't terrible but I like something a little more resistant to accidental activation and blowing my own face off.

>metal box full of volatile chemicals
>mechanically not so different from grenade

>not in USA
>FBI

I just use anti-matter circuitry.

Anti-electrons can still be used to make a circuit, you just need to change the polarity and keep it isolated from anything made of matter.

The instant anything goes even slightly wrong you get a complex nuclear explosion proportional to the anti-atomic mass that is used.

I'd love to see anyone reconstruct anything after the whole system is literally vaporized with even some parts of it transmuted into high energy radiation scattering out at the speed of light.

Hotplug...

What were you raided for user and how did it go?

Bah, simple.
They plug in mouse juggler, OS detects it, proceed wipe

Explosives are highly regulated and will get you in a lot of trouble fast.

However thermite has some interesting legal exemptions (do your homework, but often you can own small amounts without much trouble) as it doesn't really explode, it more just burns so hot everything near it melts.

And needless to say melting a computer makes it very hard to use.

Just don't' get tannerite and thermite mixed up, as people don't seem to know the difference between easy to make pressure explosives and easy to make metal fires. Honestly they have a lot in common, but those differences are important, more so when dealing with laws.

good concern - only comeback I could think of would be something like pic related with one end in the case wired to 120V in the PSU prior to internal UPS and stepdown.

Other end on a secondary server someplace else. Basically "signing" the power supply

and you predict every PCI dev ID? you would pretty much have to only greenlight your own known IDs.

thermite over HDD.
Break a capsule of glycerin over some PP to start the reaction.
5 seconds in and the HDD are becoming a slob of molten metal.

Depending on the data, jail for illegal explosives and endangering law enforcement can be better then the death of thousands.

Company I worked for. DMCA type stuff courtesy of the movie industry. You know, REAL crime, not like that child pornography baby shit. Nothing came of it because it was bullshit. Even some of the agents thought it was lame. "We're raiding a company because their DVD players can play *any* DVD? Holy shit, where can I get one?" After a year or 2, they returned all the equipment they confiscated and said, "Do whatever you want with them, just don't sell them."

I heard some guy made a software that makes the HDDs spin so fast they destroy themselves or something like that. Would love to see it

Why not pour salt water over it? Wouldn't that produce short circuits?

Oh cool, thanks for sharing

Actually given how dangerous metal fires are they could likely get you on "endangering law enforcement" or something.

I supposes if whatever that data is, is so critical that building bombs in your house is the least of your problems then something bigger is at play.

Although I do wonder what kind of data could warrant such dramatic measures to risk life and limb.

The only thing I could think of would be terrorist shit because those things are much better than ol' g-bay

Not sure if you're stupid or just joking. A forensic tech can easily remove the platter from the HDD and recover the data as long as the platter itself has not been wiped or destroyed. The HDD as a whole being nonfunctional does nothing to stop them.

Sounds logical.

Then use hydrochloric acid.

>OS runs off write-protected media
>RAM is encrypted using my own encryption key
>Hard drive is fully encrypted with my own encryption key
>Inside the data drive there's a 1MB randomly generated keyfile and the container with the actual data that said keyfile opens

>Party van pulls up
>Hit Ctrl-Shift-Del
>Container unmounted (instant)
>Keyfile gets zeroed out then overwritten with random data five times (since it's 1MB this only takes about a second)
>Encrypted drive unmounted (instant)
>Personal key in RAM gets overwritten with random data (again, instant), meaning the rest of the RAM contents are also gone
>System crashes because ''where RAM go'' and powers off

You can either add a UPS to make sure that the computer is on and you can hit the right keys to start the sequence, or you can not have one and rely wholly on your personal encryption key being uncrackable. So you can either trust your reflexes or your encryption key with this setup.

I use a "correct horse battery staple" type password in a foreign language with a random 12 digit sequence (split into unevenly sized chinks between the words), along with a couple of Unicode characters I have thrown in at random places which I input through alt codes I already knew. Took me all of 5 minutes to memorize. Still, I use a UPS because hitting Crtl-Shift-Del is something I think I'll always be able to do.

You take some performance hits unless you using hardware-accelerated crypto, bit it lets you """""wipe""""" a drive near instantaneously by destroying a large random keyfile in a split second. Should be as good as completely unrecoverable.

Worst part is that I don't even have anything illegal, I just like to live a cyberpunk fantasy and this is a part of it.

I once had a HDD smoke up on me. Circuits fried. I had another drive lying around of the exact same model, so I swapped the circuit board on the fried HDD and it worked just fine. Pulled off all the data and retired it.

> yfw the dig up from underneath you like dig-dug

Hard fucking core

>>OS runs off write-protected media
Friendly reminder that this simply means booting a live DVD.

Pirated porn, because if given the choice to die from fines and embarrassment or die from fiery explosion.

It hardly a choice, death be fiery explosion is the best way to go.

>I use a "correct horse battery staple" type password in a foreign language with a random 12 digit sequence (split into unevenly sized chinks between the words), along with a couple of Unicode characters I have thrown in at random places which I input through alt codes I already knew

this is what people actually believe cybersecurity is on Sup Forums

wew

I keep my hard drives bare and have a container of drain cleaner hovering over them attached to a bluetooth trigger. If I don't purposefully deactivate it, a dongle attached to my car keys, if moved far enough away, will cause the trigger to activate, corroding the cobalt layer on the drives.

>Or Don't have anything illegal on your computer you pedo.
pretty much this. if the feds got hold on my computer they're going to find dank memes and some pirated tv shows and legally produced and distributed porn.

but he's right you moron, using a long combination of random words plus numbers and special chars is just as secure as a randomized password of similar length and is easier to remember.

>encased drives
>thinks they cant just clean off the shit before it's too late

I was trying to play "gun in face no chance to press anything desktop unlocked" mode with and The system you describe does sound pretty secure but doesn't seem to address the deadman switch Part of the topic

The more I think about it the more I like foreign usb kill switch

>I use a "correct horse battery staple" type password in a foreign language with a random 12 digit sequence (split into unevenly sized chinks between the words), along with a couple of Unicode characters I have thrown in at random places which I input through alt codes I already knew.

That pretty much defeats the point in using a correct horse battery staple password in the first place. You might as well not use words at all if you have to throw in unicode chars to strengthen your password.

how the fuck are they going to get that close to you without you noticing?

if they just take your shit with them, you could have encrypted your drives and have the key on some timer that gets whiped after X hours goes by without you checking in on it.

if they have a forensic tool with them, you're fucked.

The cobalt layer is only 5 nm thick. The corrosive foaming agent of your average pipe cleaner is more than enough to destroy it immediately.

but it wont be immediate because it has to get into the drive first

Pretty much this
>feds break in
>decrypt my hard drive after a few years because my key is a 45 words sentence
>they only find legal memes, registred by the international meme traders association
>have to let me go

>memorize key to encrypted drive
>tell the court that my drive was overwritten with random data because of my deadman's switch, so i can't decrypt it

why should i make a deadman's switch again?

>get charged with destroying evidence

Aren't you afraid that you might be forced to pay for all pirated TV shows, movies, music, porn, games etc.
I heard a story some time ago that there was a guy who was in this kind of situation. And fine to pay for all pirated stuff were more than $100k or something

This is the fun part of "dead man switch" vs "one last heroic key press man switch" for me. Its engineering a solution that addresses being taken by complete surprise at the worst moment

why would they do such a thing

>why should i make a deadman's switch again?

I wasn't served a warrant and information was not requested of me. It's to safeguard my data against theft.

>Leo reduced to using the correct process

>have to let me go
>after a few years

That's called prison time, user. Congratulations for self-imposing prison time on yourself over legal memes.

To all
>I don't have anything to hide
retards:

Do you use torrents to share copyrighted data?
Are you comfortable when someone goes through your pictures, files, checks if there is something illegal?
If you don't have anything to hide, then share your e-mail logins here. That would be fun.

Protip
>don't be a pedo
>don't live in the United States

I won't just troll you also, 12 hour timer relay that had to be reset every 12 hours otherwise it runs S.M.A.R.T erase commands on the drives.

Would require power for the drives and be concealed/small enough for an experienced forensics tech not to notice it.

>If you don't have anything to hide, then share your e-mail logins here. That would be fun.

No, you might email my mother with rude messages

Secondary question: would selling a deadman switch kit as an anti theft device be legal ? Us? Eu?

>Use trusty thinkpad x200
>weld in the ram to prevent a cold boot attack
>encrypt drive and encrypt files inside the os
>have some sort of dead man switch on the main battery supply to the laptop


>fbi snatch laptop from you when you were in the library
>the armband connected to the laptop breaks killing the battery
>the fbi bust out the liquid nitrogen to try and do a cold boot attack
>they open the bottom of the laptop and see the RAM welded into the slots
>there is nothing they can do
>walkthedinosaur.sh

>how do you stall a competitor:
>write claim that they break the law
>they got everything confiscated
>they can't work and have to buy things anew

>"some sort of deadman switch"
>whole topic
>fem watchdog protagonist

Speaking of it, are there methods to fasten password breaking if it's some memetic phrase, even if long? For example, part of a song lyrics.

Thats problematic and unnecessary if there is an unrelated power loss.

Why not just wrap your computer in metal wires connected an electricity supply? If the feds come in, switch the electricity on, magnetise everything and destroy it.

BIG FUCKING HOLE COMING RIGHT UP

How about not being a fucking pedophile?
They wouldn't go confiscating your PC unless you're some kind of cyber criminal, in which case you're either a pedo or a hacker. But if you were a hacker, you wouldn't be asking stupid shit like that on Sup Forums.

>use templeOS as main driver
>nobody is autistic enough to handle it
>if they touch the PC scream they are violating your temple
>call your lawyer tell him they violate your religios rights
>?????
>profit

How about not doing stupid shit on the internet which you know is against the law and then being paranoid your whole life about being a fucko?

This is the definition of a self fulfilling prophecy.

They're expecting you to try that and they have plenty of tools that allows them to confiscate your PC without turning it off.

>that pic
Worrying about privacy is different than worrying about some pedos getting van'd.

>My best idea would be something stupid like just having a password prompt popup and lock the screen every like 30 minutes or less and if you don't pass it in time the computer shuts off
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I do have something to hide, but that argument is retarded: "share your email logins".

Even if I had nothing to hide at all, I still wouldn't share it because that wouldn't only give you the right to peek into my correspondences. It would also give you the right to impersonate me.

I think we should come up with a way to break the mentality of "nothing to hide", but I don't think "well, then give me your passwords!" is the way to go. It's not a very good analogy.

The fact that you had those would be practically you admitting that you had some kind of incriminating proof in there. They wouldn't give up on you after that and sooner or later you would be in jail.

We got a winner here, this is the whole problem of "nothing to hide", it's as extreme as "give me your passwords". It's kind of a sliding scale of open vs closed.
tehlug.org/files/solove.pdf