[Cryptography] Rubber-hose resistance?

[Nico Williams]

On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 10:26:42PM +0000, Peter Gutmann wrote:
> Jeremy Stanley <fungi at yuggoth.org> writes:
> >When I travel domestically I do so with homebrewed netbook-like devices
> >cobbled together from SBCs with commodity tablet-sized display panels and USB
> >mini-keyboards obtained from inexpensive tablet cases.
> 
> How do the TSA guys react when they open your bag and see a pile of strange
> wired-together electronics?

TSA?  Pfft.  They'll just swab the stuff to see if it's got any traces
of explosives.  I've never seen TSA do more than that.  The agents
running the x-rays don't know who you are, so they won't target
people because of their being "interesting".

Customs is a completely different story.  Customs is not interested in
detecting explosives and weapons (TSA's remit) so much as any and all
contraband.  U.S. customs cannot keep U.S. persons from entering, but
they could keep those devices for a while.  If you're not a U.S. person
they might deny you entry, or allow you to enter and still take those
devices.

However, U.S. customs officers don't search everyone, and they don't
x-ray everyone's bags (they're not even setup for that), so they won't
even know that you have a non-standard computer with you.  Instead they
select people for additional scrutiny based on: their records about the
persons, suspicious behavior, or just your telling an immigration
officer that you are carrying something of, say, agricultural interest.
If they search you, it will almost certainly be because the immigration
officer selected you for a search.

"Candy" -> no problem; "prepared food (e.g., a sandwich)" -> search;
"chocolate eggs with a surprise inside" -> search and likely a _massive_
fine.

My guess is that U.S. customs is not likely to keep your devices unless
you're a person of interest to them to begin with.  I fancy that all of
us on this list are persons of interest, but honestly, that's probably
not true, at least not as to U.S. persons, and probably not as to
foreigners either -- they have much more interesting things to worry
about that crypto nerds.

Anyways, there's no need to keep these things "wired together" in your
baggage :)  It's just: 1 SBC, 1 portable display, 1 keyboard, 1 mouse.  If
the mouse and keyboard are wired that's 5 cables (two for power), else
it's 3.  That's not remotely out of the ordinary.  I travel domestically
with more cables than that and a proper laptop or two, and never has
that been a problem.

Nico
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