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How safe is it to run portable apps on public computers?

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f0dder:
How does KeePass insert the encrypted passwords into the other apps? It would be trivial to add a clipboard watcher to a keylogger...

Eóin:
Is the usb drive big enough to hold two copies of what you need? If so keep a fully archived passworded copy and each time you sit down to a new PC extract the contents of that archive. That way you can be sure the programs themselves remain uninfected.

You could automate the whole process with the 7zip commandline version and a simple batch file.

Doesn't address the snooping issues of course.

wraith808:
I would think that Firefox would work in a read-only format though.  It would all take place in the computer memory like everything else (generally speaking - I know there are a lot more variables than that though).  Another option might be to use a read only USB and copy down the portable version to the PC being used, then wipe out the software, but that leaves more traces, not less.
-steeladept (June 14, 2010, 03:17 PM)
--- End quote ---

I don't know if firefox would work in read-only mode.  It needs significant cache space for web pages and such, doesn't it?

f0dder:
Is the usb drive big enough to hold two copies of what you need? If so keep a fully archived passworded copy and each time you sit down to a new PC extract the contents of that archive. That way you can be sure the programs themselves remain uninfected.-Eóin (June 14, 2010, 03:46 PM)
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Not if there's an active virus on the system :) - but at least the file in the source archive should be safe.

jdd:
Is the usb drive big enough to hold two copies of what you need? If so keep a fully archived passworded copy and each time you sit down to a new PC extract the contents of that archive. That way you can be sure the programs themselves remain uninfected.
--- End quote ---

Would I be able to do this on a write-protected usb drive?

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