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bingeciren

macrumors 65816
Sep 6, 2011
1,070
1,010
In addition to using an encrypted home folder, what about using a paid VPN service like "Hide My Ass" and access the internet through a VM. The VM should be set to revert back to its initial state and therefore leave no trace of the session history.
 

Cubytus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2007
1,437
22
A co worker said the exact same thing when I mentioned this. Hilarious. I drink coffee, they have to pry me off of the ceiling. I wake up when I hear the speaker turn on, before the alarm has a chance to sound.
Very light sleep indeed. My memory isn't that great, I tend to get heavily distracted even during quiet tasks. That's how it is having a probable ADHD, untreated.
I forgot to mention to our high speed security types out there. Don't use any Windows systems. All of your security can be bypassed in about 30 seconds.

One of our 'hackers' sat there smugly as they handed his laptop to me. Turned it on. Windows7 with a password protection and encrypted home folder. I looked at him, smiled and bypassed his password to get admin access to his computer and home folder in about 30 seconds.
Well I have mainly Mac systems, as you could guess from my posts here. I had a boot CD able to bypass Windows security measures, but I don't know how to do it "by hand". Is your work classified? Sounds like it is, at least.

In addition to using an encrypted home folder, what about using a paid VPN service like "Hide My Ass" and access the internet through a VM. The VM should be set to revert back to its initial state and therefore leave no trace of the session history.
HMA may not be the safest route as far as VPN goes. You'd better have a look at no-logging VPNs (usually more expensive).
 

bingeciren

macrumors 65816
Sep 6, 2011
1,070
1,010
HMA may not be the safest route as far as VPN goes. You'd better have a look at no-logging VPNs (usually more expensive).

I agree, HMA was just an example to hide the activity from being monitored real-time. Basically there are two aspects to consider: 1) Monitoring online activity while logging and collecting data, 2) Proving illegal activity by collecting trace data left on the computer. By using a VPN service, I am trying to guard against number 1, and of course using a no-logging VPN, as you suggested, helps number 2.

As an additional security measure, in order to leave no trace on the computer, I am using an encrypted home folder and accessing the internet through a Virtual Machine session, which deletes itself once the session is over. The only remnant left on the computer from this activity is the deleted VM, which resides on the encrypted home folder.

No security measure is foolproof, but this makes life a little harder for the IT guys.

The way 960design describes how much he is in control, I get the impression that he sits right behind each student and watches what they do over their shoulder.:)
 

Cubytus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2007
1,437
22
I agree, HMA was just an example to hide the activity from being monitored real-time. Basically there are two aspects to consider: 1) Monitoring online activity while logging and collecting data, 2) Proving illegal activity by collecting trace data left on the computer. By using a VPN service, I am trying to guard against number 1, and of course using a no-logging VPN, as you suggested, helps number 2.

As an additional security measure, in order to leave no trace on the computer, I am using an encrypted home folder and accessing the internet through a Virtual Machine session, which deletes itself once the session is over. The only remnant left on the computer from this activity is the deleted VM, which resides on the encrypted home folder.

No security measure is foolproof, but this makes life a little harder for the IT guys.

The way 960design describes how much he is in control, I get the impression that he sits right behind each student and watches what they do over their shoulder.:)
I assume you're not using FileVault, as it has been claimed to be rather inefficient on CPU power, and also because of its AES 128 (instead of 256) encryption. You mean you fire up a Linux or Windows virtual machine to access the Internet? I don't really get it.
 

bingeciren

macrumors 65816
Sep 6, 2011
1,070
1,010
I assume you're not using FileVault, as it has been claimed to be rather inefficient on CPU power, and also because of its AES 128 (instead of 256) encryption. You mean you fire up a Linux or Windows virtual machine to access the Internet? I don't really get it.

Yes, I meant to use FireVault, regardless of its CPU inefficiency and its AES 128. The purpose of the encrypted home folder is to make on the fly monitoring difficult for the IT guys.

As far as the VM is concerned, any VM will serve the purpose. Yes, I meant to fire up a Linux VM and access the internet that way. Again, the idea here is to delete the VM (not to save its state) at the end of the session to leave almost no trace of the activity.
 

Cubytus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2007
1,437
22
Ok, it's probably something that most people aren't willing to do, especially considering how a VM taxes CPU and battery juice. Why not run a Linux Live CD in a VM? They're made not to keep any trace of the activity.
 
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