Indeed. Just send it via the Internet, where packets are not opened and inspected before entering the country.
Sometimes I think that government policies are implemented only to make people feel powerful. We can search your laptop!
OK, but I can just send the data to my home computer via the Internet, and just carry my wiped laptop across the border.
Re:TSA to download your iTunes?
by milkshakes on Monday April 19, 2010 @04:05PM
(#1277689)
You're joking right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protect_America_Act_of_2007#Dat...
But they haven't broken AES or the key exchange protocols. Nobody sends important data across the Internet unencrypted.
Re:TSA to download your iTunes?
by milkshakes on Monday April 19, 2010 @04:23PM
(#1277743)
DJB had some interesting thoughts on AES and its vulnerability to timing based attacks, here: http://cr.yp.to/antiforgery/cachetiming-20050414.pdf
While network latencies would definitely make this type of attack more challenging to implement, AES is not invincible.
And that's just the stuff we hear about :)
Re:TSA to download your iTunes?
by tedunangst on Monday April 19, 2010 @05:17PM
(#1277875)
If you're sending encrypted files across the internet, the government doesn't get to see how long it took to encrypt the data. And if you're running an open "encrypt anything my secret key" oracle, well, you get what you deserve.
Ah, but they do. It's called the 'border search exception' and it has been consistently upheld by courts, based largely on the 5th act of Congress passed in 1789 which set up the US Customs Service. Not only are searches of laptops and storage devices considered reasonable in this context, but so is opening mail and just about anything short of a strip search.
This has been argued over on a variety of grounds quite recently but the courts have stood firm on it. So like it or not, it's better to avoid carrying any storage device containing data that might be construed as suspicious.