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Encrypted Fileserver with Bittorrent Web Interface
mistermark writes "I built a fully encrypted (samba) fileserver with a web interface for managing torrent downloads on it. All I used is OpenBSD 3.6 and its package collection, except for the TorrentFlux-interface (which you need to install separately). Anyway, it can be built using binary packages only. I included a rough HOWTO on how to make one of these yourself."
Now you can seed your secret corporate documents!
Pertend I'm stupid, why would I want this?
from the "about" page: Professional co-location was/is out of the question simply because of the costs and I did/do have bigger plans than to be able to host this kind of thing at home. To be honest, if this thing grows any bigger I'll be moving the whole shebang to a datacenter after all... Prices have dropped quite a bit since about two years ago and now. But, until then, all this comes from my server at a friends house where he has an amazing 10mbit up&down.
Well, I guess he USED to be your friend, until you slashdotted his internet connection....
It now looks like a toaster.
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
The truth and something we hear over and over and over and over and over again are two different things. :)
I'm guessing the encryption password needs to be re-entered on reboot (before mounting the FS, it seems). So if the feds bust in and kick you off your warez box, as long as they dont switch it off, they've got your 0-day filez in the plain. Just dd it all across the network.
:)
And oh yeah, with SMB as your network file system, is the traffic securely encrypted? Weakest link, and all that...
Baz
PS yes, I know you're only doing legal stuff
ummm, are you a moron? Just because it says "torrent" does NOT mean piracy. There are many legitimate uses for bittorrent and many legitimate reason to want to encrypt files....put them together and what do you get? RTFA next time you fucking mpaa monkey.
Much is illegal and depending on your ethical belifs much more may be immoral. But do not assume one is a superset/subset of the other. Most you can propably say about it is that they intersect.
- These characters were randomly selected.
Can anyone identify the size of the fan being used on that server? I'm used to seeing 60mm and 80mm fans but not one that big. (Although when I had an AMD K-5 computer back in 1997, I would open up the case during the summer and use a 20" floor fan to keep it cool.) I think have the front end open like defeats the purpose of cooling down that many hard drives.
I built a fully encrypted system once. Even the source was encrypted. Sadly, I lost the key and it was all for naught...
Unknown host pong.
So, what exactly does this accomplish? When you use Bittorrent, the protocol both downloads and uploads data at the same time (look up the tit-for-tat policy followed by BT to ensure fairness). If you were in the US, all the RIAA needs to do to sue you is download a single chunk of data from you. They don't need to break your door down and cart the computer away. So, the encryption is moot anyway.
Shit, you better call up Blizzard quick. They've been using this warez technology to distribute their game patches. Who knew all torrents were illegal!
Douche bag.
encrypted mp3s sound so much better than regular ones.
Site is not responding. Anyone have a mirror? Anyone who happened to read it able to comment on how this compares to Freenet ?
I want a new world. I think this one is broken.
If the cops bust you, and you have an encrypted hard drive and you don't hand over the password, you will be charged with obstruction of justice. The maximum sentence of obstruction of justice is the same as the crime you are trying to avoid. So it really doesn't help you avoid anything.
i d=138
http://www.ohiobar.org/pub/lycu/index.asp?article
I've already been doing this for quite some time now with Azureus, and the Swing Web Interface plugin alongside RSS Feed Scanner plugin (to download TV shows automatically). There's even an IRC bot plugin to allow control over an IRC network/channel.
Why is my way better? Well, the default BitTorrent client is somewhat lacking feature wise. Azureus is more powerful and gives you more control over what to do with the torrents when they are done downloading. Not to mention the support for trackerless torrents in the latest version. As for encryption goes... uh, why? The only people who have access to my "files" are those that are on the network. And the Swing Web Interface plugin has password functionality with HTTP SSL (you need GPG to be installed).
Be very, very careful when using the Windows XP built-in file encryption, called EFS (Encryping File System).
EFS is very poorly documented. The encryption is tied to your user password in a way that is apparently not documented. EFS depends on being part of a Windows 2003 Server domain in a way that is not clearly documented; if you are using Windows XP on a stand alone computer, there are situations in which you will lose your files forever.
Microsoft technical support agrees with what I just said, and provides no help or fixes.
The official Microsoft forums contain the complaints of many people who have lost their files due to problems with EFS. One man said he lost 11 years of research.
People complain about Microsoft every day on Slashdot, but I've never seen a discussion by anyone who seemed to realize how bad Microsoft truly is.
At first I thought, "wtf good is that?!". I figured it was for the ultra paranoid. Then I realized. He lives in a country where the law has to actually have physical proof of you breaking the law. Here in the US I don't think they feds need to kick in the door and find your mp3s being fed to the world to actually charge you. They just strongarm your ISP for your info.
The theory in his country being if they can't find anything on your drive, then they can't prove shit.
Must be nice...
Karma means nothing to me, so suck it...
from MSDN: Taking Recovery Precautions
Recovering Encrypted Files
Any data recovery agent can recover an encrypted file when a user's private key fails to decrypt the file.
To recover an encrypted file
1. Log on to a computer that has access to the user's profile; for example, a computer that has a designated recovery console or a recovery key on removable media such as a floppy disk. You might log on at the user's computer or the user might have a roaming profile.
2. Locate the encrypted file. For example, the user might have made a backup of the file by using Backup or sent the file to a WebDAV Web folder.
3. Decrypt the file by using either the cipher command or My Computer. This will make the file available to the user.
For more information about decrypting files, see "Working with Encryption and Decryption" earlier in this chapter.
As for corrupted encripted files, well, I think it is almost impossible for an encripted file to be restored if it is corrupted, unless it has some kind of recovery record overhead...
Of course, I would better opt out for an standard open cyphering method.
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
You use the phrase "don't hand over" but this is an oversimplification of a complicated legal issue.
Let's take two examples.
Example One
You say: "Fuck you dirty rat coppers, I have the key and I spit at your entire justice system which I haven nothing but contempt for. I have the key and I refuse to give it to you. Go to hell."
Well, in that case I think you might be right.
But let's try another instance of "don't hand over" that has different implications.
Example Two
You say: "Key? What key? You mean the key to the house? Oh, the computer. It doesn't need a key. Oh, you mean an encrypted file key? How's that work now? I'm not sure about all that really. Maybe you should ask my lawyer.
I think the second one is hardly going to be grounds for obstruction because by the time you and your lawyer talk it out for a few hours you'll come up with a good one.
Ronald Reagan pulled that crap under oath in front of the Senate for Iran Contra and he was snickering he thought it was so funny that fucking asshole. And they didn't find that old bastard in contempt.
It looks like the article is down. As usual, MirrorDot has the mirror available.
~Jay
In other news, MySQL is out of memory, and if you click the little help link it provides, it takes you to the best 404 page i've seen. (Click here for direct link)
x86, oh yes, I'm pro.
I've read the many scattered, poorly written documents about EFS. I find them very misleading. For example, the information above does not say that it applies only if the encrypting computer is part of a Windows domain.
Cool! First we /. the website, then we /. the 404 page. Where can we go from here?
The cure for cancer is coming: Reovirus
You said, "This is another example of mod-by-agreement. Anyway, EFS is documented perfectly well."
Correction: This is another example of someone on Slashdot acting sure when he knows nothing about the issue, and didn't even read the document at his first link in his Google Search: Microsoft Windows XP - Data Recovery and Data Recovery Agents, which says:
"The default design for the EFS recovery policy is different in Windows XP Professional than it was in Windows 2000 Professional. Stand-alone computers [using Windows XP] do not have a default DRA, but Microsoft strongly recommends that all environments have at least one designated DRA.
"In a Windows 2000 environment, if an administrator attempts to configure an EFS recovery policy with no recovery agent certificates, EFS is automatically disabled. In a Windows XP Professional environment, the same action enables users to encrypt files without a DRA. In a mixed environment an empty EFS recovery policy turns off EFS on Windows 2000 computers, but only eliminates the requirement for a DRA on Windows XP Professional computers."
This information means that you can lose your files in Windows XP in a way that you could not lose them in Windows 2000. Microsoft made this change, but provided no on-screen warning.
The Microsoft document quoted above says, "Stand-alone computers do not have a default DRA,..."
It should say, Stand-alone computers CANNOT have a DRA that allows decryption of files from a different computer with the same user name and password.
As I mentioned, this was verified by Microsoft Tecnhical Support representatives, as was the information in my parent post.
You said above, "I believe the process can be started with a simple cipher
Well there is Jesux. A christian Linux distro.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Not exactly. A public/private key set is generated the first time you encrypt a file. The public key is used to encrypt files and the private to decrypt them. The only place these keys are stored are in a special key store that is encrypted with your password, unless you explicitly export the keys with the Certificates snap-in. On a domain, this is in the Active Directory and on stand-alone computers it's in the SAM. When your account is deleted or the password is reset, the key store is lost. Even though you have the original password, the old key store is gone. At this point, you re-import your backed up keys into the new store.
There aren't any 'hidden passwords'.