Questions tagged [physical]
The use of physical measures (such as locks and tamper-proofing) or policies (such as Clean Desk) in order to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access.
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Will antivirus detect all keyloggers?
Our company schedules Security Training courses for our personnel.
In order for us to test them, we develop code such as keyloggers which we email to our personnel to detect stupid personnel, and of ...
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How can vending machines be hacked? And how can I prevent it?
I am developing a vending machine and want to make it secure.
In a comment to my previous question, @Polynomial said "Vending machines (and similar devices) can often be pwned via buffer overflows on ...
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How does syskey in Windows increase the security in a domain?
I use syskey in windows XP and Windows 7. I've read Microsoft's article but I have questions.
How does this solution increase security?
What are differences between using Syskey in a client that ...
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Why do we lock our computers?
It's common knowledge that if somebody has physical access to your machine they can do whatever they want with it1.
So why do we always lock our computers? If somebody has physical access to my ...
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A security checklist for choosing an internet hosting service provider for a virtual private server?
I am in the process of choosing an internet hosting service provider for my website. Besides looking at the reputation of the hosting provider through internet forums, is there a more concrete way of ...
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How can you judge the physical security of a padlock?
I recently learnt to pick locks. Eager to test out my skills, I tried picking a padlock I'd been using on a secure storage box for a number of years, and found that it only had one pin - I can get ...
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What are the security implications of phone based keyless entry systems?
I have just been reading about Lockitron which promises to provide phone based keyless entry for the home. As great an idea as this sounds it strikes me that it could come along with some very serious ...
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is it possible to create a login "key" out of a USB drive?
I was recently thinking about keeping my computer secure from physical access, and i decided that the safest way to keep my data under lock and key, was to do just that: Create a lock and key out of a ...
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Securing mail deliveries in a multi-tenant office building
I am concerned that that postal mail (and other deliveries not requiring a signature) may be at risk from theft or unauthorised access. My company is based in a multi-tenant office with an unattended ...
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Does setting a firmware password add security if FileVault 2 is enabled?
On an up-to-date OS X computer with FileVault 2 (whole-disk encryption, minus the recovery partition), is any security gained by setting a firmware password, as well?
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What can a hacker do when he has physical access to a system?
I mean, I'm a tech guy here in my region (not a hacker...). When I sit in the front of another person's PC, I notice a little fear about what I can do in the system.
It's obvious that I will not ...
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How do I improve the physical security of a rack cabinet?
I've got an 8U 19-inch server rack cabinet with two locks - one on the front panel, one on the rear panel. The locks are small cam locks, but the cam part is rather thin and flimsy-looking.
I could ...
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When a company asks to test physical security, what are some techniques one could use to gain entry?
When a company asks to test physical/infrastructure security, what are some techniques one could use to test employees?
This could include good excuses to gain access to some hardware/software.
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What would be a good way to guarantee security of theft and loss of sensitive data in a shared rack?
Two of my servers are in a shared rack, we secure them by adding frontcovers to the machines.
The DC is always recording with a camera when one of the shared racks is opened and they write down what ...
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Risks of Mullions in High Security Areas
I have a storage space full of information assets. The room itself is sound; there are no windows, the walls go all the ceiling, and there is only a single entrance with two good stout doors and high ...
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Protecting critical state infrastructure from the aftermath of a nuclear blast
Countries rely on computer infrastructure for a huge percentage of communications and military management, as well as utilities like electricity. Unfortunately, nuclear attacks release massive ...
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How do you prevent physical backups from being stolen?
I'm sure, by now, we're all aware of the need to encrypt backup disks, but what can be done on the physical security side of things to prevent backups from being stolen or damaged?
Particularly:
...
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Standards for physical Access Control systems
Hoping to help protect an IT installation, I've been looking into physical protection systems, specifically Access Control for protected areas. The field is quite big. Are there any US or ...
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What camera resolution is required to identify human faces?
I've been asked to recommend an IP-based security camera in attempt to prevent, or at least record, repeated acts of vandalism occurring at the front of a property.
Budget is a concern (The damage ...
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Safely disable firewire/thunderbolt, patching up DMA exposure
I understand that Firewire 400/800 and Thunderbolt have DMA enabled, and a malicious hardware device can easily read and manipulate system memory at will. If I disable the software drivers for these ...
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What value security wise, if any, does a digital handwritten signature have?
Here's an example of what I mean:
(It's basically the same thing as a traditional signature.)
Given I've never seen someone fail this control, it's unclear to me what real security such a system ...
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What makes a secure smartcard secure? Is contactless/RFID better?
In short what security features exist that I should look for in a smart card?
What physical features exist, which are important?
It appears smart cards may exhibit different levels of wear and ...
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External IP same as Internal IP security
Where I live my ISP does not give IP addresses out. My external IP address is the same as my external if I plug directly into the wall with no router. My ISP does give everybody a "router", that is ...
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Is there such thing as a password enforced write protected flash drive?
We would like to provide a flash drive to a client, that they can boot to, which includes a read-only operating system of our own customization, probably Linux. Every boot, it starts from clean slate.
...
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Cutting and sniffing fiberoptic cables - time before detection?
Suppose you'd cut a fiberoptic cable with two razor sharp mirrors, reflecting the traffic out into your sniffing device and then back into the wire again. How fast would you need to get the traffic up ...
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Cheap door logging for home?
Does someone here knows a cheap DIY door logging system?
What I have:
- 2 doors that needs to be logged
- 1 netbook (running OpenBSD with internet connection & root permissions), the two doors ...
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good product to physical lock down a mac mini server?
Since the recent theft of a mac mini and macbook pro Im looking into products to lock down the mac mini server 2011 model. There are many cable solutions out there like kensington but the mac mini has ...
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Physical computer security, how to disable USB ports when the computer is 'locked'?
Lets say my PC & server is in an environment where a theoretical attacker has physical access to the machine while I'm not there. Now the data is encrypted on the hard drive with TrueCrypt. ...
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Is it possible to turn a computer into a bomb?
I know this newspaper article sounds absurd. Even if a machine is compromised we (should) have hardware safe guards in all our devices to prevent the software from damaging the hardware. But is it ...
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Help to account all the points of physical access to a rack server to steal software
Let's say I want to move my 1U Dell server to co-location site with a hostile company who will try to steal my code (this is almost 90% probability if I dont take steps)...
The limitation for their ...
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Is there a security device to register unauthorised physical access?
I understand that it is not possible to secure your software if a third party has physical access to the box (eg colo). So may be I can install some sort of hardware (like a seal) which only need to ...
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Securing a LAN without Physical Security
I've got an interesting dilemma. I have a large (50+ users) office that is going to be on the campus of a local university. The purpose is to foster collaboration, etc, but the open environment is ...
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How to apply IT Security knowledge to Home Security?
Today my car got stolen from my house, and it is possible the person who did it has access to my home. I try to take secure measures online to maintain security, yet it seems I never paid attention to ...
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Methods for protecting computer systems from physical attacks
I am interested in cost effective and creative ideas for detecting physical attacks against computer systems. This includes, but is not limited to Tamper Evident security measures.
Consider the ...
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Are powerline ethernet adapters inherently secure?
I have 2 Zyxel PLA407 powerline adapters. Router is downstairs connected to one adapter, other adapter is upstairs about 30 feet away connected to a desktop. I have a house, not an apartment or ...
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How to test a physical machine?
In two weeks time, I will have to test a couple of computers that a client would like to provide to its employees. The main concern is making sure that the employees won't be able to use those ...
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Physical laptop lock
I brought this really great laptop, but I cannot find something that I can lock the laptop physically to the desk or prevent a thief from grabbing this laptop.
There is no "universal" hole there that ...
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Requiring Authentication to Exit
I've often wondered why facilities do not require authentication as a default on exit. Beyond the oblivious reasons:
Fire safety policies would require a panic mechanism to override the access ...
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Best practices for physically securing a notebook
If the user knows that other people will repeatedly have physical access to her notebook - running Linux - while she is absent, and that there is no way around this, what are best practices for ...
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Securing an area both physically and technically
I work for a commercial printing company, and we're beginning to get a couple jobs labeled "High Security". Essentially this means that if any pictures/information/files/etc. of the product were ...
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Using RFID-only on door lock to house?
I'm thinking of equipping the door to my house with an RFID-reader and a custom arduino-like board to do the authentication.
My question is what is the recommended security level for a normal house (...
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What's a good way to trigger a hidden 'distress signal' in instant messaging?
Here's the scenario:
Alice and bob use Off-the-record messaging to communicate over IM. The have:
Encryption
Authentication
Deniability
Perfect forward secrecy
They communicate after authenticating,...
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How to choose/compromise between data protection, and device recovery?
I'm sure many of you have probably seen (online or in-person) the DEFCON 18 presentation, demonstrating what can happen if you steal a hacker's computer. For those who haven't, the link is below. It'...
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Resources for physical security questions
What are good resources for the physical security questions that IT organizations face? Like best practices for locks and seals on servers and kiosks, personnel access mechanisms and policies, ...
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How can I prevent someone from accessing a Windows XP system via boot disk?
Apparently a computer system protected by a a login password, e.g. Windows XP, can be easily hacked by someone with physical access to it using methods like this one:
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/...
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access control to data-center using rfid
I don't know if "here" is the right place to make this kind of question...
so here it is..
Is rfid a good solution for controlling access to a data-center?
Because rfid is "wireless", is it hackable?
...
Jorge Antão
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Securing the security guy's home office: what should we do?
I read an article in the latest InfoSecurity magazine (an infosec trade rag by Elsevier) saying that us security professionals aren't necessarily taking the correct steps to protect our own home ...
user185
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Establishing routines on what to do if a PC gets stolen
I need to establish routines for how to handle theft of PC equipment, specifically laptops and stationary machines. Also I need to figure out how to make the consequences of stolen equipment minimal.
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How to secure a WiFi network?
What do I have to do to secure a WiFi network? Is there any best practices?
I have been recommended to use WPA2 encryption on the router, is that enough? What can I do to improve the security even ...
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