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What information will you want to keep with you on an “EMERGENCY” memory stick?
1. Identification
2. Drivers Licence
3. Passport
4. Contacts List
5. Testament/Will
6. ???
7. ???Take photos of everything in your wallet. Photo every room in the house. Scan all licenses, deeds, titles, combinations, bills of sale, accounts, policies (think insurances), even family photos. Photo your weapons and serial numbers. Photo document all your expensive stuff (watches, jewelry, collections, art, motorized toys…)
Approach it this way – you come back to the house and it’s burned to the ground. Everything is ash. What would you need in terms of documentation to get it all replaced and your life back up and running quickly.
I’m carrying a 16gb SanDisk Cruzer USB drive with multiple vaults running SanDisk Secure Access. Will default to the computer guys on this – there may very well be one better and more secure than this.
You could use a TrueCrypt container to encrypt all this info, and put installers for TrueCrypt for different computer platforms (Windows, Mac, different Linuxes, …) on it in the unencrypted part. Now you’ll have to remember the passphrase …
I´ve heard in some cases, here in Sweden, that the insurance companies doesn´t “like” digital images, there of the easy retouching of the image. Like make a rough and used car with a new paintjob, easy peasy with photoshop…
My Dad´s motorcycle´s insurance company didn´t allow digital images, he had to take a photo with a filmcamera, with a roll in it
I don’t feel the need to carry backup scans of such things on my person as suggested in the OP. I do have an encrypted, ruggedized drive with information similar to what Eagle Scout described, safely stored at home and away from home. I also periodically burn a copy to DVD and mail it to someone I trust in another region. My immediate family knows the encryption password, the person with the DVD backups does not but there is a mechanism by which it can be obtained if needed.
The approach is THE way to do it imho.
For encryption, I would choose something more generic like an AES-256 encrypted Zip-File or TrueCrypt, which will create a container. Then the data would be accessible both on a Mac and a PC.
I can’t help it:
Storing it in the DropBox would be by far easier, or am I missing something?
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Urban EDC philosophy: Getting things done for yourself and others.I, for one, am hesitant to store my personal, sensitive documents on the internet. I do not know how secure dropbox is, though. I would rather have a back-up copy on my person at all times.
Nothing prevents you from storing an encrypted container file… 😉
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Urban EDC philosophy: Getting things done for yourself and others.That may be true, but I am still hesitant. Besides, it’s nice to know I have my documents handy when internet access is not available, as may be the case in an emergency.
Thought just for backup, instead of the DVD copies.
From the security side: There is no 100% secure security measure (there will always be a brute force attack, both figuratively and literally). But an AES-256 encrypted container file is pretty darn secure. Trying to break the much less secure (from the standpoint of an absolute paranoid aka cypherpunk) AES-128 is roughly equal to break an equation system with 8000 equations with more than 1.600 variables spread more or less randomly through those equations. And this is just an unproven theory. Another, proven theory says that it is possible to break into AES-256 with 2 to the power of 254,4 non trivial mathematical operations. Big deal. Simon Singh described a similar scenario it like that: “Take all the atoms available in our solar system, build a computer from it and have it compute for a thousand years. Well, then you have a start.”
For anyone who wants to access your data it would be much cheaper to come to you and say “Hey, I’ll give you some 5 million bucks and you tell me the details of your mortgage” or to hire someone to break into your house and get a copy of the originals. 😉
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Urban EDC philosophy: Getting things done for yourself and others.I understand about dropbox and similar services, I choose not to use them. I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with it but it just doesn’t feel right for me. Maybe I’m just a control freak but so be it.
I understood what you said, but for my personal usage, I don’t agree with it
What you suggested is a scenario that will work. What I suggested is a scenario that will work. Is either one better than the other, no. Each option is used based on personal preference.
Whether folks store a back-up online, or on a USB stick, we both agree that a backup is needed.
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