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Putting Stickers On Your Laptop is Probably a Bad Security Idea (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

From border crossings to hacking conferences, that Bitcoin or political sticker may be worth leaving on a case at home. From a report: Plenty of hackers, journalists, and technologists love to cover their laptop in all manner of stickers. Maybe one shows off their employer, another flaunts that local cryptoparty they attended, or others may display the laptop owner's interest in Bitcoin. That's all well and good, but a laptop lid full of stickers also arguably provides something of a red flag to authorities or hackers who may want to access sensitive information stored on that computer, or otherwise cause the owner hassle.

"Conferences, border crossing[s], airports, public places -- stickers will/can get you targeted for opposition research, industrial espionage, legal or investigative scrutiny," Matt Mitchell, director of digital safety and privacy for technology and activism group Tactical Tech, told Motherboard in an online chat. Mitchell said political stickers, for instance, can land you in secondary search or result in being detained while crossing a border. In one case, Mitchell said a hacker friend ended up missing a flight over stickers.

3 of 260 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not all bad by arth1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The sticker covering your laptop's camera might be a good security idea ;-)

    I wonder...
    Do anyone make laptop camera stickers that look like laptop cameras?

  2. Freeze Peach by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I guess I should think about taking off that "My other computer is an AR-15" sticker, huh?

    I thought this was America. Isn't this America? I'm sorry, I thought this was America.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Freeze Peach by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The US Constitution protects the rights of US Citizens.

      Sorry, but you're full of shit:

      Noncitizens undeniably have a wide range of rights under the Constitution. Indeed, within the borders of the United States, they have most of the same rights as citizens do, and longstanding Supreme Court precedent bans most state laws discriminating against noncitizens. There is little if any serious controversy among experts over this matter.

      And much of what he is advocating requires violating the Constitutional rights of people before establishing if they are citizens or not. Like violating 4th ammendment to search people without probable cause to check their ID.

      Trump is a thug, and what he's advocating are the policies of a thug, which completely ignore the law.