Re: E-BOMB

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: Jeff Moss <jmoss () blackhat com>

[OK, Really, last post on E-Bomb :)  - WK]

I have a bunch of TEMPEST rated racks and individual computer cases 
(Monitors and keyboards too)
My understanding is that the hardening done to ensure TEMPEST
compliance pretty much shields you against any EMP style attack. For
example, one 25 pin serial cable sits inside a flexible metal conduit.

The power is not really any different. Incoming power goes to a metal
box which contains the filtering circuitry, and from there to a normal
power strip. The secret is it all lives inside a sealed metal box, and
there is a big grounding lug. You should have a fat grounding strap
going to a grounding rod if you can. The bigger the ground , the
better.. The ground from your outlet won't cut it as far as I know.
The rise times are so fast on the power spike that circuit breakers
and thermal fuses take too long to heat up and pop. One article I read
said the rise times are over 10-100 times faster than during a
lightening strike.

If you would like I can take some of the stuff apart and photograph
it, etc. This is part of the last generation FEMA battlefield network,
so I'm not sure what the current state of the art is. I have a feeling
it is smaller and lighter.


At 05:11 AM 9/30/2001 -0500, you wrote:

> Elsewhere on this topic mention of faraday cages has been made.
>
> On that topic someone said that isn't enough.  The most important
> point is you _cannot_ have _any_ wires going in or out of that faraday
> cage - it needs to be completely eletrically isolated.  No data leads,
> no power leads going in or out of it that contain a conductor.  For
> data, this is an easy problem: fibre.  100BaseFX, ATM, GigE, FDDI come
> to mind.  But how do you fix the problem of power?  Does anyone know
> of any mechanical (or other) means of getting power into/out of a
> faraday cage without there being any conductive path through ?  Where
> do you go to buy such equipment (assuming it is unclassified) ?  Can
> you buy, for example, laser based power couplers ?  (power in one
> side, laser beam over 6 inces, power out the other side).



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