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What To Do If the Laptop Ban Goes Global (backchannel.com)
"The U.S. is reportedly seriously considering a greatly expanded ban on laptops in airplane cabins," writes Slashdot reader mirandakatz -- sharing some advice from Dan Gillmor. If the government still allows laptops to be checked in with luggage, "the priority will be to discourage tampering and mitigate the risks associated with theft," he writes, envisioning that "If I have to check mine, I'll pack it in bubble wrap and tape, and do some other things to make it evident if someone has tampered with the machine." But of course there's other precautions:
[W]e can travel with bare-bones operating system setups, with as little personal or business data as possible (preferably none at all) on the laptop's internal disk drive. When we arrive and get back online, we can work mostly in browsers and retrieve what we need from cloud storage for the specific applications that have to run "locally" on the PC... You might also get a Chromebook for international travel. Chromebooks run Google's Chrome operating system and keep pretty much all data in Google's cloud. So you could carry a bare Chromebook through a border, go online, and retrieve the information you need. You have to completely trust Google with this method...
[The article also suggests encrypting the hard disk -- along with your phone -- or carrying an external drive.] I use the Ubuntu operating system, and this simplifies creating a special travel setup. In preparation for international hassles, I've put a copy of my OS and essential data files on an encrypted USB thumb drive, which holds 256 gigabytes of data... If I've forgotten to load some specific files, and I have them backed up in the cloud, I can always go there.
Because of all the additional security procedures, he utlimately predicts higher ticket prices, fewer business travellers, and, according to Bruce Schneier, "a new category of 'trusted travelers' who are allowed to carry their electronics onto planes."
[The article also suggests encrypting the hard disk -- along with your phone -- or carrying an external drive.] I use the Ubuntu operating system, and this simplifies creating a special travel setup. In preparation for international hassles, I've put a copy of my OS and essential data files on an encrypted USB thumb drive, which holds 256 gigabytes of data... If I've forgotten to load some specific files, and I have them backed up in the cloud, I can always go there.
Because of all the additional security procedures, he utlimately predicts higher ticket prices, fewer business travellers, and, according to Bruce Schneier, "a new category of 'trusted travelers' who are allowed to carry their electronics onto planes."
None of this will work with BIOS malware installed over ThunderBolt. Who knows what software attacks we don't know about yet. Glitter nail polish is fun and "cool story, bro," but why do you think tamper-proofing works on an adversary with unlimited time and tool-funding to attack your specific model, and, for example, how do you expect to tamper-proof your keyboard?
These responses aren't threat-proportionate. If the laptop has been out of your physical control it's less trustworthy. If it's been out of your control in a golden tampering opportunity like baggage, where it's tagged to you, it's moving so it's easy to set up Room 641A's to hide methods and employee identities, and the place is saturated with federal authority, constitutional suspension of searching everything because "safety" and spying on everything because "foreign," it would be hard for me to conscience not throwing it out.
Sounds like an opportunity for some enterprising company to offer laptop rentals at airports. Pick it up when you arrive, drop it back off on the return.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
You can travel with something like an Intel NUC Skull Canyon or a Compute Stick and just plug it into the hotel TV's HDMI port. No laptop battery, no fire hazard, etc. Or you can simply use your phone as a computer and plug it into an HDMI port.
You can carry sensitive data on a separate micro-SD card, which, realistically, airport security or passport control won't look for or find unless you're already on a terrorist watch list, in which case a laptop ban is the least of your worries.
It is will just erode the market share of laptops. We really don't need lug around a keyboard, screen, pointing device and a battery anymore. Just a simple nexus-4 sized pack with memory and cpu. Docking stations that can take this device and add a keyboard, mouse, pointing device and a screen will hit the market. Hotels will provide it, may be for a fee, may be free. We will have one dock at work and one at home. We might buy and keep more such docks for visitors and guests. This is going to be the future. Will happen whether laptops get banned on planes or not. If laptop ban goes global this will accelerate the timeline.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Uh, you don't need to hop on a freighter to cross the Atlantic, there are still scheduled passenger liners plying the Atlantic routes, and a crossing can take as little as three days in decent luxury.
I'll expense a Chromebook or netbook at my trip's destination, or get a loaner from IT if I'm visiting one of my company's sites. I'll throw the Chromebook in the garbage before I leave.
We beat the terrorist, but add millions of tons of electronics to landfills.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
For domestic flights, you could always check your laptop with your firearm (even a starter pistol qualifies). The items in the case are inventoried at both ends of the flight and the law requires a keyed padlock (no TSA locks).
The cruise industry makes most of the world reachable by sea. Cunard (who owned the Lusitania) has never stopped their transatlantic service for example. You can cross the atlantic in 5 hours crammed like a sardine in a tin can (after enduring hours of torture and a prostate exam at the airport) or in 7 days on a luxury ocean liner with all entertainment and food included.....For about the same price.
For most people, and obviously all business travellers, 7 days at sea is a deal breaker. For vacationers with plenty of time on their hands, it really isn't a bad option.
Also you sound pretty ignorant when you say not many steamship lines still in existence. The lines are still around, with modern Diesel ships that are every bit as sophisticated as an aircraft carrier.
I use to travel with 75lb computer in a card board. No problems except rolling in the back door of a hotel with DEMs meeting. SS hated that.
Now all on a single 1TB SSS via USB3 encrypted. No problems. Can boot and run on any machine. Small enough to be in my pocket. Do not need phone either.
Connected world is so much better
Yep, if a gun-like appliance is a non-starter (e.g. travel within New York, CA, or some other police state), you can always get an el-cheapo (~$10) box of 9mm ammo. Same flight rules apply and a lot cheaper!