keyloggers abroad (or at home)
I always get nervous when typing passwords into a public terminal, or while on a public wireless network like in an airport or elsewhere. I know how easy it is to sniff packets out of the air, or in the case of managed terminals for the admins to install simple keyloggers. My imagination isn't far from the truth, now that "Mumbai’s police revealed their plans to install keystroke loggers in Mumbai’s cyber cafes."
At least there's public notice. I imagine some of the seedier cafes in the various places around the world might use keyloggers without public knowledge. I think the next time I travel I'll take with me a bootable USB disk with my own OS on it. :)
The only downer to this would be some of the following problems
The only downer to this would be some of the following problems off the top of my head:
- network configuration: DHCP enabled? Proxy required?
- sniffing at the head of the LAN instead of key logging?
- old clients not able to boot from USB key?
- can't change boot order on boot up via simple F key combination?
- BIOS password locked so that you can't change boot order? also do you think a sys admin at cafe would appreciate you mucking with the BIOS settings?
- many cyber cafes also operate via a special kiosk type configuration where they keep track of your time at a central desk and then bill you later, etc. this would probably not work in those scenarios.
Having a bootable key is a great thing for many reasons / scenarios, but it would be hard to predict how often it would be useful on the road.
well i dunno about around there, but my brief survey of my corne
well i dunno about around there, but my brief survey of my corner of the L48 only raises my confidence in having a bootable knoppix drive in my pocket for the odd occurrence that i may require it. usb ports abound on machines that i see.
perhaps, this is a courtesy since so many people now seem to carry flash drives for storage of business docs and the odd song or still image.
i primarily use an iphone these days and tho it meets most all of my needs, being able to boot into a secure environment on an unknown machine is still a very nice option in a pinch.
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