I had my laptop confiscated by Israeli security at TLV airport during my travels. It was in their possession for about 24 hours, and while I don't keep anything too sensitive on it, I'm worried about potential surveillance tools or rootkits being installed, given the sophistication of such operations and my politically active background. My company's IT director advised me to buy a new laptop, which I did, but I really don't want to waste my current one. What steps can I take to ensure that my laptop is secure? Do I need to re-flash the BIOS and do a full reinstall of the OS? Also, I'm wondering if using Malwarebytes and Windows Defender will suffice to scan files I might want to retrieve via a USB drive from the old laptop. I'm okay with switching to an alternate OS like Ubuntu if it helps. Any tips?
5 Answers
Honestly, I'd recommend just treating the old laptop as compromised and buying a new one. There's no sure way of knowing what they did while it was with them, and it's not worth the risk involving your sensitive information.
If you genuinely believe you'd be a target for surveillance by the Israeli government, your best option might be to just buy a new laptop. After having had your device for 24 hours, you can't be sure it's safe. Considering the advanced tech available in Israel, it's safer not to take any chances and keep that old laptop away from your home or work.
Exactly, in my job, we always use burner laptops for trips to sensitive countries and destroy them after to avoid any risks.
The risks are real. Israel is definitely on the cutting edge of surveillance technology. I would suggest getting rid of it completely since you just can't trust what's on there anymore. If you're looking to take it apart, make sure you don't keep any harnesses or connections that might compromise new devices you use.
Totally agree! Better to be safe than sorry when you're dealing with possible state-level scrutiny.
It is really hard to ensure your laptop is completely clean after a situation like that. At this point, I would treat it like a paperweight. You could try flashing the BIOS and reinstalling the OS, but there’s a good chance that they could have inserted spyware that you can't easily detect. It might be worth just destroying it along with any files on it.
Yeah, I would not trust it anymore. It's better to just wipe everything and start fresh.
If you still want to retrieve some files, consider using a live USB environment to minimize risks. Just don’t plug that USB directly into your new laptop without scanning it first! Secure your online accounts too; anything you save on that old laptop could be compromised.
For sure! A clean environment is key. Just keep that old laptop isolated.
Definitely. You don't want to risk having your credentials or sensitive data fall into the wrong hands.