1. Jul 3rd, 2009

    When I’m dead, how will my loved ones break my password?

    This is something I’m struggling with right now:

    Once your data is cryptographically secured, all the computers on earth, working in unison, could not recover it on anything less than a geological timescale.

    This is great news, of course. It means that I don’t have to worry about being mugged for my laptop, or having my office burgled (even the critical-files backup I keep on Amazon S3’s remote storage facility is guarded by industrial-strength crypto, so I’m immune from someone raiding Amazon’s servers).

    But what if I were killed or incapacitated before I managed to hand the passphrase over to an executor or solicitor who could use them to unlock all this stuff that will be critical to winding down my affairs – or keeping them going, in the event that I’m incapacitated?

    Do you have an in-case-of strategy for your passwords, keys and encrypted data? How are you managing it?

    Image by chotda

    Printable PDF | Posted by Assaf Filed in general 3 Comments »

    1. Jul 3rd, 2009

      Chip Camden

      A very good question. I’ve told my password to my wife on several occasions, and she keeps forgetting it. I locked a copy of it in our safe, but she keeps forgetting the combo to that as well.

    2. Jul 4th, 2009

      Andy

      This is a very good point on forgotten password. Just keep it somewhere in vault so that if necessary someone can find it. Want to learn a new way to backup the data to S3? Try CloudBerry Backup. It is powered by Amazon S3 reliable and cost efficient storage. If you want to take part in beta sign up on the website. What safer place to keep your files than Amazon’s servers?

    3. Jul 4th, 2009

      Ben Hyde

      I occasionally print the contents of my password wallet and place a copy in our safe deposit box. An old version should be enough to allow password recovery for most accounts. That said I suspect it will take a lot of diverse technical expertise that is unlikely to be available when the time comes.

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