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Encrypted USB Key With TOR, Firefox
An anonymous reader writes "Gizmodo has a writeup on the new IronKey — a self-destructing, hardware-encrypted and -authenticated USB flash drive with on-board secure Firefox, high-speed TOR network, password manager, and online encrypted backup. Here is the demo page. $79 for a 1GB, $149 for 4GB." Ironkey works on XP and Vista only. Let's hope its self-destruct feature works better than Secustick's.
If it works, spies will love it.
I bet it gets cracked within 30 days.
In how many countries is it already illegal to possess one?
I'm gonna need a spec.
For better security, type the wrong password nine times before you take it on the plane.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
The demo page is mostly blank. Oh, well. Guess it saved on web design costs?
Remember, it's only secure as long as you don't plug it in.
I know, I know. I kid.
Karma cannot be described by words alone.
If you don't trust the host machine, it can log the password, read/alter your data after the valid password is entered and even maliciously destroy your data by simulating 11 wrong authentication attempts. If you do trust the host, there is little point in hardware encryption/authentication. And if your flash drive is physically stolen, it's enough to have plain software file encryption. Sounds like a solution in search of users who misunderstand the problem.
What would be the best way to go about creating something similar using Linux and FOSS? A bootable, encrypted USB key would be sure to come in handy sooner or later, but I neither use nor trust Microsoft Windows.
The usual answer of "majority platform / volume sales" just doesn't cut it in the encryption/security area, because volume sales are always to the clueless moronic masses (not an indictment ... they simply don't know better). In contrast, this kind of privacy-conscious gadget is a million miles outside of the volume/masses catchment area.
...
... but they can't ALL be morons.
In fact, it's directly in our catchment area here in Slashdot.
Which makes the question even more of a "Doh!"
Why is this kind of product not targetted directly at the kind of user who is aware of the issues at stake? In other words, why doesn't the product marketting target Linux/BSD in a big way and offer Linux/BSD support very prominently?
I guess it's easy enough to answer "Because Marketting is populated by morons"
What caught my eye was the blurb about high speed Tor...
I thought, OMG! I want, NOW!!
Most of the spies you know?
All the techniques ever used to make men moral have been themselves thoroughly immoral... (Nietzsche)
Don't make me laugh.... bitterly.
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"Gizmodo has a writeup on the new IronKey -- a self-destructing, hardware-encrypted and -authenticated USB flash drive with on-board secure Firefox, high-speed TOR network, password manager, and online encrypted backup. Here is the demo page. $79 for a 1GB, $149 for 4GB."
So, will this explode, killing everyone in a 5 foot radius if an incorrect password is typed in?
I doubt you can get real tamper-resistant Flash for anything close to "$79 for a megabyte". So not only does self-destruction make almost no sense (the data is safely encrypted, no?), it likely "works" as patheticly bad as on that earlier product mentioned. You can't have self-destruction without tamper-resistance in the memory itself, because then you can always remove the memory and read it out off-device. And of course, for tamper-resistance to make sense, you can't just hand out bytes two anyone fondling your pins either... so, not knowing anything more than what's given in the blurb, I'll designate this a potentially shiny turd.
Belief is the currency of delusion.
"Remember, it's only secure as long as you don't plug it in."
I guess geeks don't have to worry about anyone stealing their sperm.
http://feraga.com/node/94 - why not use this instead on any key...
I cracked it in 1 second...
:)
dd bs=1M if=/dev/sdc of=/home/forensics/cracked.img
Or the hard way would be to take the flash memory from the USB key and dump it using your own special electronic circuit (minus the self-overwrite feature).
What is so special about this USB key except that TrueCrypt, TOR and Firefox come bundled with the USB key?
Please wake me up when someone designs a key with built-in thermite
While you're decrypting your Sup3rs3kr3t w4r3z on the usb key, any malware* you haven't found yet is potentially logging every keystroke. You need to choose windows, or security; you really can't have both.
P owered+Keylogger
[*] - http://www.emsisoft.com/en/malware/?Adware.Win32.
boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
But for $149 you could get a simple 16gb thumb drive and just use TrueCrypt...
I've write encryption software for use by normal users on USB devices (shameless plug: http://www.rtsz.com/products/pss/ ) and it never ceases to amaze the bullshit that people fall for.
:(
I try my best to prevent false claims in our advertising, things like 'Your data is completely secure' falls into the false catagory as far as I'm concerned.
We've had two major companies asking us for secure USB devices to hold sensitive personal information, one of which was medical related, the other of which I dont recall right off the top of my head. Both of these places wanted software you could install on ANY flash drive, would encrypt all the data on it, would prevent the data from ever being copied off to another device, harddrive or whatever, and of course would automatically destroy itself if too many incorrect passwords were given.
Needless to say we were unable to help them, or even explain to them that what they were asking for is not currently possible. This is probably a failure to communicate on my part, but the real scary part is they went with other companies who claimed they could do it! Just to be clear, this was a software only solution running on any PC with the data on any flash drive.
Makes me wonder if we should start letting the BS flow in order to boost sales
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
I did a talk for my local LUG back in September of 2006 describing exactly how to do this using TrueCrypt for Linux and Windows
I described in detail how to install, boot and use the USB key as a bootable Linux distribution, and also how to use the USB key in Windows (or Linux) with TrueCrypt, using some fancy tricks to auto-prompt for the password upon insertion of the key, how to use a slew of PortableApps on the key, and even a launchable menu to find and access them.
This was almost a full year ago. IronKey, whatever it is, is nothing new.
The USB key has a hardware encryption chip built in which will erase the encryption keys if:
- physical tampering is detected
- someone tries to brute force guess your password
Theoretically this is a good secure design, assuming that their implementation is correct.
But the people who would want to use this product most likely also want a device they can trust. One which is closed up and proprietary is not something I'd trust at all. How do I know they didn't put a backdoor into the system somewhere?
I mean, if the CIA/FBI mistook you for being a terrorist, can anyone say for sure that they wouldn't be able to get the data off the drive (assuming you wouldn't give them the password when they send you to a secret prison for torture)?
Would the CIA entrust their data to be placed on such and given to operatives in the field that might get caught? If they wouldn't trust it, then I wouldn't trust it either.
Just erasing a file isn't CIA proof, but I've always felt that the 35-pass format option probably goes a long way in making data recovery a bitch for them.
``high-speed TOR network''
There is such a thing? I mean in terms of latency?
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
Quite a complicated setup, but otherwise nice. I have been looking for an equivalent solution for Windows, so that I can plug it in any computer and boot my own environment. This would eliminate many potential problems (keyloggers, ...) and make it possible to install own software easily.
Did anyone implement this already?
There is basically one option that works: A secure microcontoller, that keeps the key in internal RAM and does all the encryption and decryption itself. Everything else can be broken by interrupting or disabling the writes. AFAIK you cannot get any secure microcontroller for the price they claim. Certainly you cannot get one that does encryption and decryption with decent speeds.
According to the website, it does a "flash trash". This is insecure. Flash writing is relatively slow and draws a lot of energy. This allows stopping and preventing writes to flash. Also, unless they use special flash chips, the same hack as with the Secustick will work. Again, for the price I do not see them getting a specially bonded or manufactured Flash chip. Even if they do, desolder the chip and read it directly. You can then clone it for unlimited attack attempts.
I ecpect this will be relatively easy to break, just as the Secustick, i.e. at best a small step above a conventional stick encrypted, e.g., with TrueCrypt.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
'IronKey' sounds a lot like 'irony'
Of course the irony would be that your most valuble data would become inaccesible because you forget your password.
Or law enforcement singles you out because you had this tool, known to be used by pedophiles and the likes...
Only 10 tries are allowed. Do you want to increase the risk of the destruction of your data because some TSA goon tried to guess a password? I would think they would give up before 10 attempts but might try one or two maybe.
Artificially reducing the re-try count to 1 seems to increase risk of data loss with negligible increase in security...but I'm no security expert.
Blar.
Is it just me or do the majority of people that have need of something like this are not running Windows?
Instead of this, you can get Fearless Browser for free and install it on any USB drive. It is far more secure than any Windows version because it runs in a Gentoo-based virtual machine. It comes preconfigured with Tor and OpenDNS anti-phishing, and is updated frequently. I carry it around everywhere I go and use it at friend's houses and public terminals that I don't trust.
http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176
This talks about installing windows xp onto a USB hard drive, but a large enough flash drive should be the same.
I haven't tried it yet because my thinkpad t20 doesn't support booting from USB.
As long as you can get to the BIOS of a machine and tell it to boot from USB you should be all set.
as soon as I read the part that said "high-speed TOR network"..
Right.. Anyone that's ever used TOR knows there ain't no such critter..
Thanks!
Ironkey works on XP and Vista only.
Bbbzzzzzzt. You lose. Next solution, please.
If it doesn't have an internal battery, a totally reliable means of detecting intrusion, and finally the ability to erase the data memory before an attacker with laser or drill cuts the PCB track from the battery then this is insecure.
Just destroying the escrow keys is not enough. Doubt they are using really heavy crypto such as the AES-Twofish-Serpent I use fo r my TrueCrypt backups... after all they are using a relatively moderate performance microcontroller for the OTF decryption.
Like the crypto description of "military strength". So was Julius Caesar's substition cypher...
In all reality you wouldn't plug it in, you'd take the thing apart and dissolve the black goo. Then you would proceed with a hardware attack, reading the contents of the flash memory out and then attempt to crack the memory file.
Only if the attacker doesn't know what the memory stick is will it be able to erase itself.
Because the chances of there being no password is infinitesimally higher than there being an auto-destruct after one try, and the time saved can be of more value than the minimal risk?
Or because of human curiosity which will probably make quite a few people try despite orders to the contrary?
That said, if it's a government that's after you, you're probably better off with a dead mans switch, where the content will auto-erase unless the device has been logged into during the last day. My guess is that most agencies would be unable to get the device to a lab and copied within a day, and if you're up against those that do, you have no chance in hell anyhow.
Another option is Bluetooth -- if the pairing disappears for more than, say, a minute, zap all data and release the killspookium...
https://learn.ironkey.com/faqs they should have put this on the home page but from what i read they've got their shit together....
What if the computer has a keylogger and it logs the password that unlocks your data? Am I missing something?
Too bad hardware keyloggers would still eat you up.
No, but they are.
Creative Demolition
I mean it's it's still useful and all, but aren't you kidding yourself to think you need all that encrypted on the USB drive when your proxies themselves aren't encrypted AND even if they were it's been in homelands securities best interests to simply create data mine proxies. Plus tor sucks ass really since every couple proxies time out. What's the point of automatically chained proxies if they are dirt slow and time out in between requests.
Just doesn't make that much sense to encrypt the data your downloaded from a non encrypted connection. It's not like a random search will turn up your USB key and reveal your questionable activities or very private search fetish. More likely it will a wiretap that gets the warrant or in any case a wiretap will come before a raid, so if they are capturing your unencrypted packets right at your ISP or proxy level why waste your time with some USB key. I'm not saying these are bad ideas, not just that using something secure like this with something completely unsecure like tor is kinda a dumb suggestion.
There are plenty of great encrypted proxies out there and personally I think the days of unencrypted proxy chains being anonymous are coming to an end. That might be good if you want to get in and out but if your trying to surf anonymous then you need to consider only using proxies you can trust.
I think service like findnot.com offer a lot more protection than a piecemeal service like tor. I like the idea and it would have been great about 10 years ago, but their are no limits these days on intel agencies getting wiretaps on your data line plus as I said if the CIA was smart they would fund a a decent amount of proxies simply for data mining. We know the CIA is into that kind of thing, they funded safeweb. They realize the potential for both domestic and foreign agents to use proxies including terrorists and it's quite cheap to run a proxy and the CIA could easily have them placed all throughout the world. Plus what little nobody proxy is really going to stand up the the CIA or their respective intelligence agencies.
If you want high level anonymity then you need a professional service the auto-deletes it's logs and uses encryption. Pick one in the right country. Even with that I think router logs and timestamps could give you away if you are important enough to draw that type of coordinated effort. So, you should try to protect best the avenue which you are most likely to be spied on upon. That's your internet connection, not your data storage. Plus if the data is not hidden then can just charge you with obstruction of justice so you also need some form of plausible deniability like a fake encrypted file or to make you PC appear exploited by someone else, though you'd better have the balls to pull off that bluff. In any case a straight up encryption lockout is really no good these days i mean unless your data is more sensitive than a obstruction charge.
As the botnet's demonstrate the best way is to use someone else's connection.
I wouldn't buy one of these to save my life. Jerks got my email address from our receptionist, added me to their marketing SPAM list, and guess what, their reply address and unsubscribe links are broken. I know where I'd like to stick their ironkey...
Worst case implement the random onscreen keyboard they used on http://tinfoilhat.shmoo.com/
If you have malware on your computer, having it keylog your IronKey password is the least of your worries. Even without a keylogger, malware can copy all your files once you unlock and IronKey or any other encrypted media for that matter. We considered doing our first version with external password entry to avoid keyloggers, but we decided that it was 1. too expensive 2. the majority of people would not understand it 3. requires a battery for best usability 4. makes the device larger 5. at the end of they day, data-copying malware can still get your stuff once you unlock the device. Dave Jevans. IronKey
Thanks to everyone for your really interesting comments and questions. We will update our website to make it more clear that we have a FAQ section that answers many of the questions posed here on SlashDot. https://learn.ironkey.com/faqs We also have a whitepaper that describes how our hardware encryption works, the threat models, and how it is better than software encryption. https://learn.ironkey.com/docs/IronKey_Whitepaper- Benefits_of_Hardware_Encryption.pdf
We released Windows versions first, as the majority of the market is using that OS. We are working on Linux and MacOS versions.
Thanks,
Dave Jevans @ IronKey
...does it have a multi-touch display?
You mean like a projected keyboard? That would be really cool and I was just saying if you went onto a public terminal and they had a keylogger just for the sake of having one and then someone stole the information and then your IronKey.
Thanks for the input anyway!
We run a number of TOR nodes across the world. The TOR client selects these preferentially. Thus you get higher bandwidth, lower latency and more predictable performance than using the regular public TOR network, where you could end up going through some guys computer connect to the net on a DSL or dial-up line. Dave @ IronKey
Hm...If it doesn't actually explode, then I don't want it.
-sigh- What happened to the good ol' days when something that was said to self-destruct would mean that it exploded?
I remember seeing this kind of application for U3 device on http://www.eisst.com/products/private_browser/usb- u3/ and it was much cheaper than $79... which can work on any USB device, encrypting all your private information. And it doesn't expose saved data to OS.
-wz.
WZ, What you refer to is a $29 browser with crypto from EISST. I am sure it is a great product, but its just software Remember that you would have to factor in the cost of purchasing a U3 drive to run it on. And you'd need truecrypt or some other flash drive encryption software to protect your data on the flash drive. With IronKey you are getting a super-fast, super-reliable, tamper-resistant, waterproof hardware encrypted drive. And it comes with FireFox that talks to our CryptoChip for authentication operations, plus the password manager and private Tor network. All browsing data is stored encrypted on the IronKey, and no software is installed on the host computer. Dave
Dave