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Thread ID: 103560	2009-09-28 01:12:00	Going overseas - what to do for internet access?	utopian201 (6245)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
814651	2009-09-28 01:12:00	I'm going to China in a few months and I don't have a laptop/smartphone. What should I use for internet access (for example online banking, checking email etc). I -could- use an internet cafe or the hotel's kiosks, but the machines there will more than likely be infected with spyware, key loggers etc (right?). Also they say you should never use public computers to log into your email, facebook, internet banking etc. So what are my options? Bring a linux-on-usb drive with me and boot off that? Or is the risk overblown?	utopian201 (6245)
814652	2009-09-28 01:21:00	The chance that something will actually go wrong is pretty slim, but I personally wouldn't risk it. http://www.pendrivelinux.com/	wratterus (105)
814653	2009-10-01 09:57:00	I mentioned the stuff in this thread to my son who is in IT, especially from the point of using a bootable flash drive, perhaps in internet cafs at times, as a computer-in-the-pocket when travelling. You might be envisaging doing things differently but FYI I append his thoughts - "It sounds ok in theory, but your bootable OS install would need to be able to cope with whatever random hardware configuration you attempt to boot it on - could work if it carries a big sack full of drivers. Internet cafes tend to have some piece of proprietary (usu. windows) software running in the background to ensure that you don't overstay your pre-bought time so I think you'd find in many cases that the USB boot would be disabled to stop precisely this sort of thing. Normally users are logged-on with very limited (or no) admin rights but if Filthy McNasty boots up with a home-made USB stick containing an OS on which his log-in account has full admin rights then he now owns the box and can do whatever he wants to it. So allowing a host OS is deffo not in the interests of an internet-cafe owner. Security-wise you would have a reasonably safe system after booting from USB however it is (probably) technically possible to jam a trojan into BIOS memory and have it somehow inject itself into a booted OS and then perform its usual nastiness - I'm not aware of this actually happening in the wild but it's a possible exploit."	Robin S_ (86)
814654	2009-10-01 10:03:00	You might be ok if you stick to using kiosks at reputable hotels, but even then I'd be reluctant to access anything important. There are issues with espionage (particularly if you have valuable intellectual property) and so on which you need to be aware of - not just from criminals, but from government organisations (i.e. spy agencies). A family friend travelled to China on business last year and set up a temporary email account (Gmail) to use while he was there, so it wouldn't have to use expose his company login credentials.	somebody (208)
814655	2009-10-01 10:30:00	You'll be lucky to go to any site, in china on the net. They've killed / restricted most of it	Speedy Gonzales (78)
814656	2009-10-01 10:41:00	Take satellite phone and a laptop :D	Nomad (952)
814657	2009-10-01 10:50:00	Personally I just wouldn't do it. Too risky. Espec. since you will most probably be restricted to using their preloaded OS+software. Keyloggers, Spyware....sure there are ways to get around them but is it really worth that much hassle? IMO-Netbook+Decent firewall. Blam	Blam (54)
814658	2009-10-01 12:58:00	yro.slashdot.org	Netsukeninja (13296)
814659	2009-10-01 22:36:00	You might be ok if you stick to using kiosks at reputable hotels, but even then I'd be reluctant to access anything important. There are issues with espionage (particularly if you have valuable intellectual property) and so on which you need to be aware of - not just from criminals, but from government organisations (i.e. spy agencies). A family friend travelled to China on business last year and set up a temporary email account (Gmail) to use while he was there, so it wouldn't have to use expose his company login credentials. The issue isn't how secure the connection is (all email and internet banking sites I use are secure), the issue is how secure is the computer I'm using? That is, if the computer I'm using has a key logger, it doesn't matter how secure the website is. I guess if an internet cafe only lets users run in restricted mode, no malware can get installed. Of course malware could have been installed as admin... I'm going with a group of people, one of them may be bringing a notebook possibly. edit: what i meant by quoting your post was that if the computer is secure, it is impossible to expose your gmail login credentials regardless of the type of physical connection used.	utopian201 (6245)
814660	2009-10-02 05:21:00	I've used internet cafe's in small towns in China - what an experience. :lol: Let's just say don't go near any of your secure websites (eg banks) and keep changing passwords. I was in one cafe near the Vietnam/China border and I swear it was a Pentium 1 running WinXP. It couldn't keep up with my typing so I would have to type a few words, wait about 10 secs for them to appear, correct typos and then do the next few words. :badpc: Bear in mind many IP ranges originating from China have been blocked so you may not be able to reach some websites (including this forum).	Jen (38)
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