How about sending the data out through the mains power connection?
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Thatâd require a pretty fancy PSU in the machine, wouldnât it?
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True but think about it. The PSU connects to every component in the machine, some of which may leak data through their own power connections. And if it has a cable to sit in series with a SATA connection, it may not be noticed for a while. So installing your own power supply may be a good way to compromise a system.
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If the transmitter is plugged into a USB2 port and itâs bus-powered, itâll still only have a maximum of 2.5W to play with (potentially much less if thereâs a legitimate device drawing power at the other end of the cable). I still have a hard time believing youâd be able to get decent range with that little power.
Dang I was hoping you were going to tell us about how Snowden has proof that the NSA is run by the Tall White Aliens.
It wouldnât be hard for the NSA to have workers on the assembly lines of the computers.
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What if NSA is messing about with weather control satellites and installing covert ârandomâ environmental noise generators everywhere?
Next up, NSA records and analyzes all environmental noise worldwide to develop a comprehensive database of all possible random numbers!
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That was my first thought but its harder than it seems. The objective is to perform verifiable destruction at the end of the test. If you are going to use thermite you need to go outside, canât do that in a hotel conference room. So the whole process has a gap in it.
The thermite is actually gratuitous. But once it was raised some people wouldnât give it up.
That is called power analysis and it is a big problem. Its not just the use as an intentional covert channel, you can leak data unintentionally as well. A guy called Paul Kocher and some co-workers at his company Cryptography Research have been very active in that field.
The power use can leak in other ways too. Adi Shamir has been talking about sound for quite a while and actually demonstrated it with some students this year. The wound components tend to buzz at a frequency/intensity determined by the power use.
Not to mention the Chinese hardware based back doors that are already being installed in the Chinese assembly plants. Itâs not inconceivable that someone would be bugged by multiple countries.
As for radio, keep in mind that our spooks have been planting radio bugs for 75 years, so they are pretty good at it.
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If the transmitter is plugged into a USB2 port and it's bus-powered, it'll still only have a maximum of 2.5W to play with (potentially much less if there's a legitimate device drawing power at the other end of the cable). I still have a hard time believing you'd be able to get decent range with that little power.
Couldnât they alter/boost that power with the chip(s)?
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So basically the best way to create a truly secure computer (secure as in no outside communication with it), is to have an air gap AND place it within a Faraday cage. If youâre going so far as to have an air gap then itâs not much of a leap to create some kind of Faraday cage around it/the room.
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It's not inconceivable that someone would be bugged by multiple countries.I have a laptop that I call "the whore". I've sent it in for repair multiple times making sure that my blacklisted name is on the order forms. I've also allowed it to have many things installed on it at checkpoints, etc. and use it to chat and exchange files with known honeypots.
Itâs currently being simultaneously spied upon by the âhey, itâs just metadataâ NSA and FBI from the USA, Mossad, Russian services, Chinese and those French bastards. So far, theyâve found out that I have a fascination with gimps in Texas and a sadistic, terroristic plot to forcibly seduce conservative radio host Matt Barber.
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And now youâve made that public domain knowledge too! 
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Wait⌠this is a secure channel here, isnât it?
All those things do is step up the voltage by reducing the current - they canât magically give you more power.
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I didnât mean that chip in particular (I doubt the NSA has it available on the open market, hahaha)⌠couldnât there be a chip that alters the current in some way to make the cable work better as a short range antenna especially if the cable itself was altered and the insulation was removed/altered?
http://www.indiamart.com/law-abiding/audio-transmitters.html
USB Cable Transmitter
Battery life is always an issue with continuous investigation. Using USB as a power source, USB Cable Transmitter helps users to accomplish their purposes without worrying about battery.
The Transmitter is fully functional as a USB2.0 cable. It means that a transmitter can be set as a replacement for an connecting cable of ordinary USB devices such as printer, CD drive or external hard drive.
If there is no peripherals around, simply plug USB Transmitter to a computer and put the other end wherever you want and it still works as a battery-less transmitter. All you need is an available USB port of a computer that is turned on and running.
Features:
Continuous power supply needed (depending on computer.)
Easy installation.
(Once again, this isnât meant to be a literal example)
The NYT article has an illustration with a transceiver inside a USB cable.**CowTip**: If a stranger plugs his coffee cup into your laptop at the coffee shop. Ask questions.
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You need to get some sleep: who the hell cares about conference-based verifiability of well and truly destroyed data over actually well and truly destroyed data? I have never operated either a belt sander, or a thermite conflagration at a conference venue. If I char, melt and vaporize that sucker myself (probably not at a conference, yo), done. Easy!
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And jam ultrasonic frequencies.
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Capacitor + voltage step up lets you run a camera flash off of a single AA battery. You wouldnât be able to transmit at a high wattage constantly, but it should be possible to transmit at high power intermittently even from a low power source
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