How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it?

~Bitcoin~

legendary

Activity: 994

Merit: 1000

Quote from: n691309 on March 27, 2016, 07:17:46 PM

Quote from: calkob on March 27, 2016, 06:57:22 PM

How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it? what encryption do you recommend?

You can paste in the text file the PGP encrypted message, so only you can decrypt it, for example though keybase PGP key. An alternative way is also through Folder lock but it's not free.

I will not recommend any folder lock application which give error after few use like to buy key. Its better u use pgp encryption. Frer encryption ia available at igolder.com search i cant remember exact url.

NorrisK

legendary

Activity: 1946

Merit: 1007

Easiest is probably to male an archive od your txt file and encrypt the archive when you create it. Also, with a not so clear name, nobody will suspect the archive to contain private keys unless they know you have it and are specifically searching for it.

Printing has the theoretical weakness that the memory can be accessed to take the printed files, so make sure that also happens securely/offline/reset printer.

Handwriting and then laminating would also be a good solution.

rinhunter

hero member

Activity: 826

Merit: 1000

if I, first take the screenshot, I print out and compress IMG files with encrypted rar, I put rar file in a special microSD, and put printed private key in my important archives

lumeire

legendary

Activity: 1848

Merit: 1009

Next-Gen Trade Racing Metaverse

Quote from: sgravina on March 27, 2016, 10:27:03 PM

Quote from: calkob on March 27, 2016, 06:57:22 PM

How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it? what encryption do you recommend?

Just print it on paper and give it to your Mom. Tell her it's important. She'll keep it safe.

True, right next to the family's land titles and every member's birth certificates.

@ontopic As for me, I printed the private key, laminated it and stored it in a safe.

deepceleron

legendary

Activity: 1512

Merit: 1028

The OP's question is wrong. It should be "how to I securely erase a text file that I put on my computer's hard drive, a file holding plaintext information that should have only been stored encrypted?"

Meuh6879

legendary

Activity: 1512

Merit: 1011

Quote from: calkob on March 27, 2016, 06:57:22 PM

How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it? what encryption do you recommend?

create the TXT
use encryption in 7z format ( AES-256 )
done.

shorena

copper member

Activity: 1498

Merit: 1499

No I dont escrow anymore.

Quote from: CryptoDatabase on March 27, 2016, 08:24:22 PM

Quote from: achow101 on March 27, 2016, 08:08:31 PM

Quote from: CryptoDatabase on March 27, 2016, 07:51:43 PM

TrueCrypt is a good way to encrypt, double encrypt, and hide anything you want and it is also free to use. You could encrypt your entire computer if you wanted to or just a single partition.

It has also been tried and tested, and passed.

TrueCrypt is no longer developed and its developers have apparently taken down nearly everything related to TrueCrypt. luckily it is open source so there are forks of it. I recommend using VeraCrypt which is forked off of TrueCrypt. I think a good thing to do would be to GPG encrypt the text and then encrypt it with VeraCrypt for extra security.

I read about the two forks but I don't know enough about them to make a suggestion on using them.

In any way you should move away from TrueCrypt, esp. if you are using windows[1].

[1] http://motherboard.vice.com/read/encryption-program-truecrypt-has-a-critical-vulnerability

Ardenyham

legendary

Activity: 980

Merit: 1000

Don't Hesitate to Tip me for My Helps and Guides.

It would depend on the security of the method the private key was generated by, If it's generated by an offline armory wallet for example in a PC that was never connected to the internet would be safer than a blockchain private key.
I think I would keep the TXT file in multiple flashes and hold them in multiple vaults.

BitcoinSupremo

copper member

Activity: 1442

Merit: 529

I have encrypted mine in an Libre Office 5 Writer document, added a strong password including all sort of characters (I remember it well no problem) and beside it, I also compressed it in a rar file with a sentence long password(which I can remember easily) , pretty much this is the best encryption free programs can offer you.

sotisoti

hero member

Activity: 762

Merit: 500

GPG has been there for like 16 years, I am sure it will still be there after 5 years.

Elwar

legendary

Activity: 3598

Merit: 2386

Viva Ut Vivas

You can order one of these:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/cryptosteel-the-ultimate-cold-wallet-private-key-storage-system-977486

aso118

legendary

Activity: 1918

Merit: 1012

★Nitrogensports.eu★

My private keys are printed out and kept in a bank locker.
With 24 hour security and a vault, it is as safe as it can get.

7788bitcoin

legendary

Activity: 2282

Merit: 1023

I am sure all the above are great idea. The only problem is when you would like to decrypt it... Will you be able to do that whenever you wish to? Will the software for encryption still available and working after like 5 years? Will you still remember the password/passphrase?

These are risks to encryption with complex methods.

DimensionZ

sr. member

Activity: 350

Merit: 250

Shit, did I leave the stove on?

I think printing out the text file with the keys and laminating it is the best way of keeping it away from harm. You could never be 100% sure it will not get compromised if it's encrypted. I would put it somewhere safe the location of which only I know . Encrypting it and storing it on a usb stick works too but then you would need a computer to access the data and it's slower.

Amph

legendary

Activity: 3206

Merit: 1069

i would encrypt it with aes, and secure it in a usb stick, for long term purpose, don't forget to do this under a secure environment

BitcoinNewsMagazine

legendary

Activity: 1806

Merit: 1164

Quote from: calkob on March 27, 2016, 06:57:22 PM

How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it? what encryption do you recommend?

Create a Veracrypt container encrypted with a strong password and store the text file in the container. The container does not have to be large, unless you have MB or GB of information you want to protect. Read the online documentation to learn how to use. The container can be stored anywhere you like on your laptop and is portable.

ralle14

legendary

Activity: 3136

Merit: 1870

Metawin.com

Quote from: sgravina on March 27, 2016, 10:27:03 PM

Quote from: calkob on March 27, 2016, 06:57:22 PM

How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it? what encryption do you recommend?

Just print it on paper and give it to your Mom. Tell her it's important. She'll keep it safe.

You could also do another option which is laminate the paper then seal that in a case then bury it in your backyard.

bitbaby

hero member

Activity: 812

Merit: 1000

You can of-course encrypt the keys itself with BIP38 Encrypt whilst making them and if you use a good strong password then you wouldn't need to encrypt the file since its pretty secure in itself.

Encrypted it with GPG like mentioned above is another good method.

quentincole32

hero member

Activity: 518

Merit: 500

Quote from: sgravina on March 27, 2016, 10:27:03 PM

Quote from: calkob on March 27, 2016, 06:57:22 PM

How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it? what encryption do you recommend?

Just print it on paper and give it to your Mom. Tell her it's important. She'll keep it safe.

Best answer so far.
Print the key is the best way to keep it safe from something bad on your fake life online and store it in your real life.
Encrypted - decrypted are still breakable. But your mom? I guess she is not :p

sgravina

sr. member

Activity: 451

Merit: 250

Quote from: calkob on March 27, 2016, 06:57:22 PM

How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it? what encryption do you recommend?

Just print it on paper and give it to your Mom. Tell her it's important. She'll keep it safe.

Topic: How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it? (Read 1369 times)