Re 1), the dongle has to be tamper-resistant and commit "suicide" when
attempt to compromise it is detected (perhaps use one of the newer
smartcard chips on the market, used in high-stakes applications where
high-budget adversaries are expected?), has to spit out the code after
entering PIN, and has to forget the code after a duress code or too many
bad PINs are entered. If we'd play a lower-stakes game, or for a proof of
concept system, I would suggest using a GSM SIM card with its PIN/PUK
lockout mechanism.
Re 2), an EMP bomb won't help with a magnetic medium.
The Minuteman-I and Minuteman-II missile guidance computers used a
rotating magnetic disk as a flight program memory because of its virtual
immunity against EMP. Therefore we can suppose data on a magnetic medium
will survive an EMP impulse of any reasonably achievable magnitude. The
magnetic remanence of contemporary drives is so high that to effectively
degauss them the magnetic field needed may be so high it rips off the
heads and even deforms the plates.
So an EMP generator (eg. this one[1]) may fry the electronics of the
drive, but the data will remain on the platters, patiently waiting to be
recovered by one[2] of the myriads of companies specializing in that kind
of business. It won't even be that much expensive, as you need only to
replace the heads, head amplifiers, and controller board, and there will
be no need for advanced magnetic microscopy hassle.
[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flux_compression_generator
[2] eg.
http://zachrana.dat.z.harddisku.cz/ - for about $600 they
retrieved data from a colleague's dead-looking laptop disk with
a damaged system track and fried controller, saving my day.
On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 d..._at_geer.org wrote:
>
>
> cont..._at_yahoo.co.uk writes:
> -+--------------------------
> | Someone asked me...if i know a way to destroy
> | a harddisk (contents) in under 30 seconds.
>
>
>
> A bit irreverently, two possibilities come to mind
>
> (1) keep the thing encrypted with a key kept only in memory,
> yours and the computer's (or, if you insist, keep the key
> on a dongle you'd be willing to swallow)
>
> (2) http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1281421.html
>
> --dan
>
>
> >
Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:18 CST