Tuesday, September 29, 2009

[mptvqbsb] wiebetech hotplug

With products like WiebeTech Hotplug, one wonders what the next step of this perpetual escalating war will be.

One possibility is a device securely connected to the wall power supply so that the connection point between the plug and the wall socket cannot be accessed without disrupting a tamper detection switch.

A simple, though probably not too effective, technique to prevent to wall socket cover from being removed is to have the power plug plug into both sockets obscuring access to the plate screw which is normally in the center between the two plugs. (And superglue the plugs to the wall.)

Differently shaped connectors, inspired by the cylindrical DC power connectors and Apple magnetic laptop power seem more difficult to hot swap than one with all the leads exposed.

Another possibility is for the computer to detect the phase change when such a device is used.

Another possibility is to lobby the legislature to make such a device illegal to use by law enforcement, perhaps under the argument of "reasonable expectation of privacy".

How often is this device, or similar techniques, successfully used by law enforcement?

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