[Noisebridge-congress] packing list for congress

Andy Isaacson adi at hexapodia.org
Wed Dec 23 04:51:27 UTC 2009


As I'm packing for congress I am remembering things I wish I remembered,
every year.

 - cat5 cable or three, 10ft or even 20ft.  There's wifi but it's spotty.
   The congress has ethernet switch ports in many common areas.
 - obviously verify your power supply can deal with 220VAC.
 - European power adapters, I got this design for $11 at Radio Shack:
http://images.sabob.com/products/images/1/100_Pack_European_Travel_Power_Adapter_Adaptor_Converter_Plug.jpeg
 - US extension cord with 3 outlets on the end.
 - USB thumb drive for bulk data exchange with new friends.
 - digital camera to record same.
 - SD/CF card reader and cables.
 - business or personal calling cards, if you have them.

If you have a US GSM phone (T-Mobile, ATT, MetroPCS) your carrier may be
willing to unlock it to allow you to use a German SIM, which you can get
for as little as 15EUR.  Or you can buy a cheap phone while there; last
year I got a Nokia 1200 (includes flashlight!) for 20EUR with a SIM for
10EUR at the Saturn electronics megastore on Alexanderplatz.  When
buying a SIM they'll ask for an address (required by law I'm told); just
tell them (convincingly) that you're staying at the Park Inn (which is
all of 100 meters away) and they'll be fine.

Regarding security, a series of recommendations starting from common
sense and extending to slightly paranoid:

Back up your laptop and leave anything really sensitive behind in the
US.  Assume that all data on your laptop will be stolen by a wily skript
kiddie and replaced with `perl -e 'print "LULZ" while(1);'`.

Do NOT log into any blogging or microblogging sites that go over an
unencrypted HTTP connection.  Turn off clients that automatically send
your passwords in the clear or using insecure API methods -- Facebook,
I'm looking at you.  Set up a secure tunnel endpoint *before* you leave,
if you want.  (I use "ssh -vD 7788 $HOST" and then configure Firefox to
use SOCKS5 localhost port 7788, and turning on
network.proxy.socks_remote_dns makes things more tolerable.)

Consider changing your password before and after congress.
Shoulder-surfing is a real, although minor, risk.

Verify that you don't have any network ports open on your laptop unless
you want them to be used.  Use nmap from another machine, and check both
your wifi and wired connections.

Ensure that you don't auto-run or auto-mount any media attached via USB,
Firewire, SD card slot, etc.  Turn off Firewire in your BIOS if
possible.

Finally, have fun!  Most of the security paranoia is overblown, but
then, isn't that what we're here for?

See you all in Berlin,
-andy



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