If you need assistance, please send an email to forum at 4hv dot org. To ensure your email is not marked as spam, please include the phrase "4hv help" in the subject line. You can also find assistance via IRC, at irc.shadowworld.net, room #hvcomm.
Support 4hv.org!
Donate:
4hv.org is hosted on a dedicated server. Unfortunately, this server costs and we rely on the help of site members to keep 4hv.org running. Please consider donating. We will place your name on the thanks list and you'll be helping to keep 4hv.org alive and free for everyone. Members whose names appear in red bold have donated recently. Green bold denotes those who have recently donated to keep the server carbon neutral.
Special Thanks To:
Aaron Holmes
Aaron Wheeler
Adam Horden
Alan Scrimgeour
Andre
Andrew Haynes
Anonymous000
asabase
Austin Weil
barney
Barry
Bert Hickman
Bill Kukowski
Blitzorn
Brandon Paradelas
Bruce Bowling
BubeeMike
Byong Park
Cesiumsponge
Chris F.
Chris Hooper
Corey Worthington
Derek Woodroffe
Dalus
Dan Strother
Daniel Davis
Daniel Uhrenholt
datasheetarchive
Dave Billington
Dave Marshall
David F.
Dennis Rogers
drelectrix
Dr. John Gudenas
Dr. Spark
E.TexasTesla
eastvoltresearch
Eirik Taylor
Erik Dyakov
Erlend^SE
Finn Hammer
Firebug24k
GalliumMan
Gary Peterson
George Slade
GhostNull
Gordon Mcknight
Graham Armitage
Grant
GreySoul
Henry H
IamSmooth
In memory of Leo Powning
Jacob Cash
James Howells
James Pawson
Jeff Greenfield
Jeff Thomas
Jesse Frost
Jim Mitchell
jlr134
Joe Mastroianni
John Forcina
John Oberg
John Willcutt
Jon Newcomb
klugesmith
Leslie Wright
Lutz Hoffman
Mads Barnkob
Martin King
Mats Karlsson
Matt Gibson
Matthew Guidry
mbd
Michael D'Angelo
Mikkel
mileswaldron
mister_rf
Neil Foster
Nick de Smith
Nick Soroka
nicklenorp
Nik
Norman Stanley
Patrick Coleman
Paul Brodie
Paul Jordan
Paul Montgomery
Ped
Peter Krogen
Peter Terren
PhilGood
Richard Feldman
Robert Bush
Royce Bailey
Scott Fusare
Scott Newman
smiffy
Stella
Steven Busic
Steve Conner
Steve Jones
Steve Ward
Sulaiman
Thomas Coyle
Thomas A. Wallace
Thomas W
Timo
Torch
Ulf Jonsson
vasil
Vaxian
vladi mazzilli
wastehl
Weston
William Kim
William N.
William Stehl
Wesley Venis
The aforementioned have contributed financially to the continuing triumph of 4hv.org. They are deserving of my most heartfelt thanks.
Registered Member #902
Joined: Sun Jul 15 2007, 08:17PM
Location: Pacific Northwest USA
Posts: 1042
I'm actually building a safe that will be built into the ground... the lock is a padlock, BUT it is a military grade, encased lock that has at least an inch of steel around the actual lock, at least three quarter inch around the loop, and the key has not regular tumblers, but the kind that have to rotate a special way as the ascend, making picking too difficult for your average thief who knows how to pick, and a high end thief (still a low life, but just knows what he's doing) wouldn't bother looking under a parts cabinet and be ready for a very high security lock...
also, for some of my data, I made a self destructing hard drive... try and take the data off of a drive that has a few M-1000s placed around the platters on the inside... not as good as an acid mist they use in real self destructing drives, but good enough!
in the end, if someone is low enough to try to steal my things, he should get what he deserves: a tracker in the goods (yet to come), an item that self destructs when he removes it, or the getting in just to find out you wasted a night (and might get caught from a camera) just to find it useless, and get busted: they deserve NOTHING!!!
Registered Member #1408
Joined: Fri Mar 21 2008, 03:49PM
Location: Oracle, AZ
Posts: 679
@ DaJJHman: I really advise you think over exactly what you do with anything that may result in harm to people. ...The construct is emergency service workers, utilities people law enforcement, whatever who have a justified right to be within the home, etc; if they get into any problem by some accident then you get shafted.
I once had an acquaintance who did something that he thought would only affect those who intended to rob him but he nearly got a lengthy jail sentence due to unintended actions on the part of a fireman.
Picture this scenario: the computer is set to destruct if someone tried to grab the data, but someone physically moves the machine and it explodes, catches fire, or what have you...?trouble. This whole issue related to a court ruling about electric fences! That's why I even remembered it. Even if you post a sign about a fence charger, any situation that could result in the harming of an individual designed to be a "trap" violates a federal ruling regarding public safety.***
Now that doesn't mean a fence charger is illegal, HOWEVER, there is a certain level of liability that the property owner assumes when he does so...believe it or not!
*** Here is the legal ambiguity; if you post a sign that says "don't touch me or I'll shock you" that's not a trap. But if that sign is missing, you have responsibility to the nines! (Electric fence ruling) The computer with a firecracker beneath a hdd must have a sign that warns of this or it becomes a trap. "But it's INSIDE my home"! Yes, but one's home assumes distinctive responsibility for public safety to the reasonable degree [of not containing any trap] of the owner(s) during emergency or invitation (firemen, etc). Fireman falls through a burning roof is one thing, fireman looses his finger to a trap - another!
Registered Member #902
Joined: Sun Jul 15 2007, 08:17PM
Location: Pacific Northwest USA
Posts: 1042
the M-1000s are extremely weak firecrackers sold in the US, they cannot even make the drive bulge when they go off, all it really does is scratch and dirty the platters so that no random person could read it when he got home (if he had the stuff to read damaged platters, he does not even need to get into my house!) nothing does any damage to the person whatsoever, as that would be even too unethical on my part (no matter what he is doing, I have no right to harm him unless he is harming me physically)... and the drive is labeled as "WARNING!: Attempting to use this drive without the owner's permission will cause it to self destruct when used!"
Registered Member #538
Joined: Sun Feb 18 2007, 08:33PM
Location: Finland
Posts: 181
DaJJHman wrote ...
the M-1000s are extremely weak firecrackers sold in the US, they cannot even make the drive bulge when they go off, all it really does is scratch and dirty the platters so that no random person could read it when he got home (if he had the stuff to read damaged platters, he does not even need to get into my house!) nothing does any damage to the person whatsoever, as that would be even too unethical on my part (no matter what he is doing, I have no right to harm him unless he is harming me physically)... and the drive is labeled as "WARNING!: Attempting to use this drive without the owner's permission will cause it to self destruct when used!"
Wouldnt it be just 100x easier and more secure to just encrypt the drive? 256bit AES encryption and no-one in the world can brute force it open.
Registered Member #15
Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068
Dago wrote ...
DaJJHman wrote ...
the M-1000s are extremely weak firecrackers sold in the US, they cannot even make the drive bulge when they go off, all it really does is scratch and dirty the platters so that no random person could read it when he got home (if he had the stuff to read damaged platters, he does not even need to get into my house!) nothing does any damage to the person whatsoever, as that would be even too unethical on my part (no matter what he is doing, I have no right to harm him unless he is harming me physically)... and the drive is labeled as "WARNING!: Attempting to use this drive without the owner's permission will cause it to self destruct when used!"
Wouldnt it be just 100x easier and more secure to just encrypt the drive? 256bit AES encryption and no-one in the world can brute force it open.
I agree for several reasons:
1. Firstly, the fact you are going to such lengths to prevent someone from reading your hard drive infers that A) you either have some highly illegal material on your harddrive, or B) highly confidential personal / business information. If this is the case, than your scheme with the M-1000s is a very POOR idea in that it is NOT foolproof. Firstly, have you tested your scheme? Have you tested your scheme multiple times to ensure it will work every time? Did you attempt to have a lab access the information after you performed your test? The M-1000 scheme is overly complex, and since its homemade probably very unreliable.
2. You now mention you have a sign saying the drive will self-destruct. Well, thats another problem. The first rule in data denial systems is that you don't say you have a self-destructing drive. That just gives the thief extra information and the ability to disarm your computer. Remember, if you can disarm it, so can a professional thief. And if your information on your drive is so confidential that it requires an elaborate detonation scheme to protect its sensitive data, than the thief will likely know that and be well prepared.
3. Injury to self. As history has dictated, most automated homemade data denial systems usually backfire on the user.
4. Back-up problem? If your information is that confidential, than you must have a back-up available somewhere? Does that system have a data denial device as well? Now you have two hard drives with identical data, with only one with data denial.
Your best bet as stated by the last poster is to use data encryption. There are data encryption programs available that are practically impossible to crack. Some are very expensive, but again if your information is that sensitive, than its worth the investment. And also, the hard drive remains encrypted whenever removed from the computer, so back-ups are not a problem.
My advice - lose the M-1000s and go with data encryption. Your present scheme is not only dangerous, but unreliable as well.
Registered Member #902
Joined: Sun Jul 15 2007, 08:17PM
Location: Pacific Northwest USA
Posts: 1042
good idea, I have been meaning to use encryption for a while, but it always seemed like a pain (and I wanted to build the drive after seeing it so much in the movies, years ago... it was really for show anyways, but I still do have some data on the drives that need to remain private... In the end (since it is only an 8 gig drive) I have been saving up for an IronKey drive, as it would solve this issue once and for all (without having to waste firecrackers).
Registered Member #902
Joined: Sun Jul 15 2007, 08:17PM
Location: Pacific Northwest USA
Posts: 1042
Dr. GigaVolt wrote ...
wrote ...
(and I wanted to build the drive after seeing it so much in the movies, years ago... it was really for show anyways
Well, if its just for show, then definitely go for it. My concern was simply it wouldn't be reliable enough if you had very sensitive data to protect.
the highly sensitive data is in my head (most secure place in the world, for free), and the data I do store is kept hidden and has, at minimum, some form of encryption software
on the self-destructing drive is really things for places that are not really that secure, or for some projects for competitions or something I really am keeping away from people I know who won't goto a professional since it is not worth their time (or convincing the security expert to open a self-destructing drive) for what is on it
This site is powered by e107, which is released under the GNU GPL License. All work on this site, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License. By submitting any information to this site, you agree that anything submitted will be so licensed. Please read our Disclaimer and Policies page for information on your rights and responsibilities regarding this site.
I hate thieves!
