Best way to hide data

silk186

silk186

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 26, 2008
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I will be leaving China soon, what is the best way to hide my documents? I've heard of creating a hidden partition with a dummy password, is trucrypt the easiest solution?
 
Best way to hide it use the cloud. Drop box google drive something to that effect. if you have access to none of those options a low metal content flash drive in the heel of your shoe... or a 32-64gig micro sd card hidden somewhere on you they sell hollow coins or you could tape a few of them to the insides of a laptop i can think of a few places to hide some under a hard drive you could fit a bunch. I would keep the number of them you try to hide as low as possible. If they dont get found and they dont get plugged in they cant be looked at...
 
Put your "documents" on an external hard drive, encrypt it, unplug it from computer, hide it in a locked box, put it inside of a wall fixture, and put keys inside a PO box under a relative's name (or under one of those fake rocks safes).

Or...just encrypt the volume you want to "hide" and password-protect it. I mean, I don't know how paranoid you are, or how sensitive the data is, but you gotta make a reasonable decision here 'cause you might end up spending a lot of money...
 
exchange keys said:
Put your "documents" on an external hard drive, encrypt it, unplug it from computer, hide it in a locked box, put it inside of a wall fixture, and put keys inside a PO box under a relative's name (or under one of those fake rocks safes).

Or...just encrypt the volume you want to "hide" and password-protect it. I mean, I don't know how paranoid you are, or how sensitive the data is, but you gotta make a reasonable decision here 'cause you might end up spending a lot of money...
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It isn't I so much I don't want them to read it as I don't want the to delete them. I have heard of a few student leaving China and losing all of their papers.
 
I could put them on a flash drive, what is good encryption software for USB?
 
Put this in your wallet.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW32GB-Cre...mory-Stick-Flash-pen-Drive-N402-/181220192337

$(KGrHqZHJB!FIdWFns7SBSOONIqkV!~~60_3.JPG
 
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silk186 said:
It isn't I so much I don't want them to read it as I don't want the to delete them. I have heard of a few student leaving China and losing all of their papers.
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back them up with mozy or some cloud sync software then if they are deleted on your laptop just restore from the online backup
 
Use a decoy device if it is reasonable they will be looking for something. Cloud is good, depending on your level of paranoia. If you want to carry it with you, steganography might work if they allow pics, or just hide a couple microSD cards on/in your person. Encryption is advisable if carrying forbidden or sensitive data. If it is just your book report on 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' you can probably leave it in clear text.

Somewhat interesting that the Snowden documents are transported physically on encrypted hardware. You have to figure Snowden is aware of most secure cloud options out there, as he seemed pretty savvy on e-mail/IM communications.
 
Lease a VPS or server and use it for offsite backups. You should have offsite backups anyway.
 
Yall are gungho about smuggeling stuff past airport/customs security arn't you?

Guess no one here has seen Locked up Abroad lol
 
Depends on how much data you're sending. If using DropBox you will have fundamental limits on free accounts as to how much you can send.

The safest would probably be to use a cloud sync solution so that the data is only on your machine when you connect in China, not before, during, or after you leave China. Use TrueCrypt or FreeOTFE to create a secure volume to sync in the cloud. Once it's fully synced generate a USB Key to store on a thumb drive. Further more use AxCrypt to encrypt the impossibly long and random key file to something a little easier to remember. Perhaps a passphrase. Remove any trace of the programs used during this process and upload them to DropBox or whatever cloud storage solution outside the encrypted volume in case China blocks access to some of the sites needed to retrieve the data encrypted. Use a secure erase program to securely wipe all your currently deleted data before the flight and once you are set to come back from China, wipe any trace of the existing data when all your work is done and you no longer have use to sync data until you get home.

At least that's what I'd do, or something similar. I'm paranoid and make no attempt to hide it. Also, something hardly talked about is, encryption is only one part of the equation. Without discussing why you should ALWAYS wipe data when working in a secure environment, you are cheating yourself on security principles. There is no such thing as going overboard. If there is a will, people will find a way.
 
How much data are you trying to keep? A few megs could be sent over email or something. Many gigabytes gets more difficult. You could burn to DVD then label it "Nation Lampoons Vegas Vacation". While security through obfuscation is not a good long term strategy, it could be enough for this scenario. How much poking around do they really do?
 
Encrypting the data is probably NOT an option. Once the media is plugged it, Windows (and I assume OSX or Linux have something similar) will recognize it as an unsupported file system and want to format it. When as soon as someone formats it, you're done. Unless you want to get into data recovery options, but thats probably not a risk you're wanting to take.

Personally, I like the cloud solution(s) that have been mentioned. But I also understand this depends on how much data we're talking about as well.

If it's a large amount of data (say over 7GB-8GB) I'd probably encrypt the data into chunks, burn it onto DVD's and label them Hanna Montana Christmas or something.
 
get a dead body (really smelly is best), insert the USB inside the body, pay for it to be flown home. Once home collect body and get USB key.

Good luck.
 
Bonksnp said:
Encrypting the data is probably NOT an option. Once the media is plugged it, Windows (and I assume OSX or Linux have something similar) will recognize it as an unsupported file system and want to format it. When as soon as someone formats it, you're done. Unless you want to get into data recovery options, but thats probably not a risk you're wanting to take.

Personally, I like the cloud solution(s) that have been mentioned. But I also understand this depends on how much data we're talking about as well.

If it's a large amount of data (say over 7GB-8GB) I'd probably encrypt the data into chunks, burn it onto DVD's and label them Hanna Montana Christmas or something.
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You can place an encrypted document on a formatted device. You can even have encrypted archives on a formatted drive.

The solution really depends on what type of security you need. If it is Snowden Level where you don't want Nation-States knowing what you have, I suggest you avoid networks and services proven to be transparent to Nation-States. If you just don't want your file deleted and could care less if it is read, and discovery of said file would not lead to searches of other locations, than placing the file in as many locations as is feasible (or warranted) is enough. If discovery of said file is not desirable, then yes, subterfuge should probably enter into your plan.

If nothing else, try doing something that isn't strictly necessary (but stick to legal) just for your own edification.
 
Just use truecrypt to put a hidden partition on your machine, with a second "duress" partition. They ask to see whats on your laptop, log on to the duress partition and show them.
 
Either hide it in the cloud or hide it on a micro sd card and hide the micro sd card ideally where it would not be obvious in a laptop there are lots of places that those would fit. Keep in mind you will be searched how deep they look is up to you emailing or using the cloud then going through with all the documents intact let them delete them if they want you have backups just don't leave your email or Dropbox open to be seen and clear your history.
 
winrar > compress with password
if it's a small file change extension to .dll and put in C:\Windows\System32
if large change extension to .bk and if someones finds it say that some backup software created it
 
Don't follow most of the advice in this thread, unless you want to be thrown in jail and/or shot..
 
Make sure you read up on the legal aspect of crossing a boarding with encrypted files. I'm pretty sure I read that just having the encryption mechanism in place can be breaking some pretty serious laws in certain countries. I for sure wouldn't want to be going into china with them on my machine.
 
if its important enough lease a server and upload everything through an encrypted mechanism. Otherwise various online services are fine just for backup purposes.

Nothing more secure than inside your body though
 
Best bet is don't bring any data through. Put it all online ahead of time. Sell all computers and buy new at your destination. Or ship it to your new address if you know it. I'd be more worried about the TSA than China TBH.
 
Little late to the party here, but depending on the amount of data, steganography and alternate data streams are great option for hiding things.

Gazillion ways to do it. Even from the WinZIp cli. Put your docs in an image file or something else.

ADS is even better as someone would need to load a ADS tool and run a scan to find them.

The best thing about both of these methods is that you're hiding data in plain site. Like a picture loaded on a webpage that actually has data behind/inside of it

On a side note, steganography will also bypass most mail filters that block .zip/.avi/.mp3 etc...
 
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I'm sorry, but can anyone describe why he needs to hide his documents? And why he doesn't care if they read them, but he doesn't want them deleted? Isn't it pretty easy to throw it on a cloud drive permanently if you don't care about them being read?
 
I mean.. given your constraints, you could just attach it to this thread on the forum and you'd be good... sounded like papers/documents too me. Not that much space
 
aL Mac said:
I'm sorry, but can anyone describe why he needs to hide his documents? And why he doesn't care if they read them, but he doesn't want them deleted? Isn't it pretty easy to throw it on a cloud drive permanently if you don't care about them being read?
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This is *Edward Snowden's clone. I think that's all we need to know.
 
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Don't hide it at all or use any encryption. Find out if you are allowed to leave with the information. If you aren't don't even try it. It sounds like a spy movie plot. Obey your laws.
 
I still say the simplest is to just upload to a cloud service and then get it back. Especially if you're not that concerned about privacy of the data.
 
Red Squirrel said:
I still say the simplest is to just upload to a cloud service and then get it back. Especially if you're not that concerned about privacy of the data.
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I've seen this suggested in the thread a lot. I would kind of expect based on reputation that the nation in question would be 1/ blocking access to cloud based storage and/or 2/ carefully monitoring the kind of activity to/from said storage.
 
Transfer the data to safe place you can reach at your destination. This is the same advice given to people traveling through customs with sensitive data.

The best policy is don't do it if you can avoid it. Have a clean 'travel image' for your laptop, secure erase and load that image before you travel, when you get to your destination download your files securely (SCP, SFTP, HTTPS, etc). Erase and restore your travel image again before leaving, uploading whatever you need before doing so.


Don't heed the advice about hiding microSD cards in coins, in your shoe, or in fake credit cards or the like, that is a very bad idea. You absolutely do not want to get caught at customs in any country doing something that could be considered spy tradecraft. The best advice is to simply not have any sensitive data with you.
 
Lunas said:
Either hide it in the cloud or hide it on a micro sd card and hide the micro sd card ideally where it would not be obvious in a laptop there are lots of places that those would fit. Keep in mind you will be searched how deep they look is up to you emailing or using the cloud then going through with all the documents intact let them delete them if they want you have backups just don't leave your email or Dropbox open to be seen and clear your history.
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Shit, I didn't think about deleting the dropbox off the computer. If I delete trucrypt, and reinstall it later will it be able to open the partition?

Most cloud services don't work in china, neither do file sharing sites or photo hosting sites, or Google drive ect. I have heard from a few classmates that had computers wiped because of some of the essays they left on them. They were very unhappy and one couldn't figure out how to fix whatever they did. I would guess that China is not the only country that would frown on you leaving with papers criticizing the government. You would have the same issue with photos and writings if you were trying to leave North Korea.
 
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You can make TOR work in China, and simply create a TOR bridge to proxy out of the great firewall that isn't.

I am sure there are plenty of Chinese people doing this, so I doubt it would even really be noticed.

Than you could simply upload your encrypted files to a Dropbox or Google Drive account.

Than again, I've been reading this whole thread and I would just opt-out of doing any of the idea's giving because you are either to scared, do not know enough about how to do what people are telling you to do, or you simply do not understand enough about the laws and punishments in place for what you are doing. Giving this...... This just all seems like a bad idea.
 
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