ONLY two more days left to christmas Jimbo





   This sort of stuff will only go on for a few more years until the
   distributed process and universal namespace sorts of approaches replace
   the current paradigms. When that happens losing a laptop will mean
   nothing
   because it won't have the data 'on it' in the conventional sense.
   On Sun, 24 Feb 2002, John Young wrote:
   > We've noted here the rise in "lost" and "stolen" laptops
   > containing sensitive and classified information. First,
   > one or two disappeared while a spook was drunk or
   > was left behind in a taxi or taken from an unidentified
   > location.
   >
   > Then amazing reports of more losses, the number rising
   > quickly, finally with surveys revealing hundreds of laptops
   > have been lost by spooks, cops, senior officals, nuclear
   > labs, state departments, and so on. Now and then encryption
   > is mentioned.
   >
   > We can see that the lost laptop, and its recent corollary,
   > the discovered laptop, has become as useful for disinformation
   > as what is being found in newly revealed secret archives
   > like those reported today in the Wash Post, "Spies, Lies and
   > the Distortion of History:"
   >
   >
   >
   [1]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55522-2002Feb23.html
   >
   > To be sure, the flood of lost laptops both diminishes the
   > credibility of what is on the laptops and increases it. One way
   > to increase credibility is to claim files are encrypted.
   >
   > What we also know is that encrypted files are now a leading
   > indicator of credibility, along with the shadowy and enticing
   > methods used to decrypt by unidentified parties, and to then
   > carefully distribute the decrypted, authenticated thereby,
   > if demonized, material.
   >
   > Whether there is actually sensitive material in the demonized
   > files is hard to determine so long as access to the original
   > files, and a credible account of how they were comeby is
   > not made available. As with the long history of astonishing
   > revelations of secrets, lies and videotapes.
   >
   > Moving to a related topic, is the use of the Internet for
   >
   > leaking and/or psyopping disinformation, in particular
   > the use of honeypots.
   >
   > Cryptome is occasionally charged with being a honeypot,
   > and it could be, wittingly so if we are succesful in putting
   > up lurid material to bring in more luridities. A question
   > though is what information is being gathered by Cryptome
   > honeypot? The access logs, the pattern and content of
   > publication, the receipt of hot material, the distribution
   > of lies and deceptions? And if these are the profits of the
   > honeypot how is the data collection about them being
   > done?
   >
   > We dream of being able to watch the honeypot harvestors
   > at work, which accounts for admitting to running a honeypot,
   > our lost laptop if you will. This hoary rabbit-running practice,
   > you being the rabbit, as we see here with several practitioners,
   > carries a Daniel Pearl-like risk. You may well lose your head
   > to somebody who believes you are a wolf not merely a
   > headgames-player.
   >
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References

   1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55522-2002Feb23.html