Teardown Session 17: OpSec and Privacy with Michael Altfield

In this week's episode of the Teardown Sessions, Crowd Supply's Helen Leigh talks with Michael Altfield, the creator of BusKill, a USB kill cord for your laptop. They discuss wide-ranging topics such as OpSec, privacy, FOSS, Linux, and security. You'll also learn about the importance of open hardware to security and privacy and get a look at what it's like to be a first-time manufacturer. **Playlist** 00:38 Crowd Supply news 05:04 Introducing Michael Altfield 06:45 An overview of Buskill and a look at its origins 08:55 Video demonstration of Buskill 11:02 Michael's blog and the impetus for creating Buskill 13:11 The journey from idea to prototype to hacker project to mass prod 14:50 Who's using Buskill? 15:55 The importance of accessibility, so the hardware can protect the less tech-savvy. 18:56 Audience Question: What's the longest cord available for Buskill? 20:20 Why open hardware is especially important to security 22:56 Open hardware and the need for a paradigm shift away from a