The Derisive Moment

I have a fairly paranoid outlook on security and privacy, and I’ve been known to go a bit overboard in some areas. The passwords I choose, specifically, are a frequent source of jest from my wife and friends. I tend to use long, random passwords for pretty much all of my accounts–from my bank, to my blog. Horray for security.

However, boo for convenience. There’s no way I could remember dozens of 12+ character alpha/numeric/symbolic passwords. TrueCrypt to the rescue.

I keep a small (128kb) file handy on all of my frequently-used workstations that simply contains all my passwords. I have them divided up into various text files, such as “bank.txt”, “shopping.txt” and “internet.txt”. When I need a password, I simply mount my TrueCrypt volume, copy/paste the proper password, clear the clipboard, and dismount the volume. I’ve reduced it to remembering one password. And if my laptop gets stolen? It’s encrypted.

I understand that there are various plugins for FireFox and IE to do most of this, but I also store sundry personal information in there as well. Drivers license numbers and expiration dates, Social Security numbers for my family, etc.

A TrueCrypt volume makes for a fantastic place to hold private data like passwords, personal information, scanned images of personal/financial documentation, and financial files (Quicken/Money/Quickbooks).