How to store important data while traveling where a burglar or robber
won't be able to read it.

I'm going on vacation for 19 days, and the odds of being robbed are
slim, but everyone says that Guatamala has more than the usual amount of
crime, breaking into cars, armed robbery, stealing the whole car? So
security is an issue when it never was on other trips, (no more than
whne the computer sits at home).

On an average day, I don't need to access any of this stuff but one day
out of 4 or 8, I need one of them. (A couple I know by heart, so I will
need the other ones.

I am pretty good but not great technically, and I'm lazy. I was just
going to copy all the important information to paper and delete it from
the computer, but I don't know where to hide the paper.

So maybe I should leave it on the computer but encrypt it.

Any suggestions on how to encrypt the following:
I have a file with a lot of notes, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
and, in obscured form, my credit card information: numbers, exp. dates,
and the 3 digit codes.
I also have a Eudora email mailbox, mbx and toc files, with the
passwords for all my websites. Most are unimportant, like toyotanation,
but some are bank accounts, etc. I think I will move all the important
ones to their own mailbox, or even to one big text file. Which is
better?

There are websites that do encryption but I don't want them seeing my
bank account passwords either.

micky wrote on Mon, 29 Jan 2024 19:48:41 -0500 :

> There are websites that do encryption but I don't want them seeing my
> bank account passwords either.

There are probably thousands of answers, but most people do this.

1. On Android/Windows/Linux/Mac/iOS they use VeraCrypt to create
an encrypted container file where you can store anything inside.

2. However, if it's mostly just a password (and not much else, although it
has the capability of attaching files & notes), they use KeepassXC.

Most people store that file on their sd card (for easy portability),
but if they want to make it available on the net, then most people would
opt for attaching an encrypted flash drive to their modern router.
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/readyshare_usb_storage_access

On 1/29/2024 7:48 PM, micky wrote:
> How to store important data while traveling where a burglar or robber
> won't be able to read it.
>
> I'm going on vacation for 19 days, and the odds of being robbed are
> slim, but everyone says that Guatamala has more than the usual amount of
> crime, breaking into cars, armed robbery, stealing the whole car? So
> security is an issue when it never was on other trips, (no more than
> whne the computer sits at home).
>
> On an average day, I don't need to access any of this stuff but one day
> out of 4 or 8, I need one of them. (A couple I know by heart, so I will
> need the other ones.
>
> I am pretty good but not great technically, and I'm lazy. I was just
> going to copy all the important information to paper and delete it from
> the computer, but I don't know where to hide the paper.
>
> So maybe I should leave it on the computer but encrypt it.
>
> Any suggestions on how to encrypt the following:
> I have a file with a lot of notes, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
> and, in obscured form, my credit card information: numbers, exp. dates,
> and the 3 digit codes.
> I also have a Eudora email mailbox, mbx and toc files, with the
> passwords for all my websites. Most are unimportant, like toyotanation,
> but some are bank accounts, etc. I think I will move all the important
> ones to their own mailbox, or even to one big text file. Which is
> better?
>
> There are websites that do encryption but I don't want them seeing my
> bank account passwords either.
>

Win10Pro has Bitlocker. Win10Home has not.

Remove the hard drive currently in the laptop, fit a clean one.
Set up Bitlocker encryption, copy over assets in a controlled fashion.

The thing is, if you were worried about files, you should be worried about
the temporary copies stored in whitespace. Any housekeeping should be done
before encryption.

sdelete.exe -z C: # clean whitespace a bit, not a perfect solution

You should not carry assets that you cannot afford to lose.

Since Windows leaks like a sieve, the clean hard drive is to try to
take care of forensically recoverable material.

*******

With Bitlocker, you need to make a recovery key for when you can't get in.
And that has to be stored somewhere.

manage-bde.exe -status # check crypto state

manage-bde.exe # dumps the help, shows a command at the bottom of interest

A few users here, have been surprised to find their C: is already encrypted.
That is why running the first command, for curiosity sake, is recommended.
You never want a surprise like that (not knowing what is going on with your PC).
Like if your disk has a failure, and the repair guy says "you know, this
disk looks like garbage", that could be the reason!

Other encryption solutions have the advantage, that it does not
matter what SKU of Windows you are using.

To boot a Windows computer, some of the disk has to be unencrypted,
so the starting process can take place. That would be a separate partition
doing the booting. The C: on the other hand, can then be completely
encrypted. This is when "those extra partitions" may play a part
in the solution.

Paul

micky wrote:

> How to store important data while traveling where a burglar or robber
> won't be able to read it.
>
> I'm going on vacation for 19 days, and the odds of being robbed are
> slim, but everyone says that Guatamala has more than the usual amount of
> crime, breaking into cars, armed robbery, stealing the whole car? So
> security is an issue when it never was on other trips, (no more than
> whne the computer sits at home).
>
> On an average day, I don't need to access any of this stuff but one day
> out of 4 or 8, I need one of them. (A couple I know by heart, so I will
> need the other ones.
>
> I am pretty good but not great technically, and I'm lazy. I was just
> going to copy all the important information to paper and delete it from
> the computer, but I don't know where to hide the paper.
>
> So maybe I should leave it on the computer but encrypt it.
>
> Any suggestions on how to encrypt the following:
> I have a file with a lot of notes, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
> and, in obscured form, my credit card information: numbers, exp. dates,
> and the 3 digit codes.
> I also have a Eudora email mailbox, mbx and toc files, with the
> passwords for all my websites. Most are unimportant, like toyotanation,
> but some are bank accounts, etc. I think I will move all the important
> ones to their own mailbox, or even to one big text file. Which is
> better?
>
> There are websites that do encryption but I don't want them seeing my
> bank account passwords either.

You could always just put them in an encrypted .zip file.

--
Don't worry about it being boring. We don't have to go looking for
adventure. In our profession, it usually comes looking for us.

In message <XnsB108EDFD1FC03auricauricauricauric@135.181.20.170>,
Auric__ <not.my.real@email.address> writes
>micky wrote:
>
>> How to store important data while traveling where a burglar or robber
>> won't be able to read it.
<snip>
>
>You could always just put them in an encrypted .zip file.
>

My thought too. That should be enough to defeat an ordinary robber, who
doesn't have unusual IT expertise and who doesn't want to put in a lot
of time and effort for doubtful rewards.
--
John Hall
"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people
from coughing."
Sir Ralph Richardson (1902-83)

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Tue, 30 Jan 2024 10:18:33 +0000, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:

>In message <XnsB108EDFD1FC03auricauricauricauric@135.181.20.170>,
>Auric__ <not.my.real@email.address> writes
>>micky wrote:
>>
>>> How to store important data while traveling where a burglar or robber
>>> won't be able to read it.
><snip>
>>
>>You could always just put them in an encrypted .zip file.
>>
>
>My thought too. That should be enough to defeat an ordinary robber, who
>doesn't have unusual IT expertise and who doesn't want to put in a lot
>of time and effort for doubtful rewards.

That's what I ended up doing. LibreOffice Writer has an option when
saving, a checkbox below the file name iirc, that will encrypt the file.
To get it back, just click on it in a file manager abd put in your
password.

I extracted from one mailbox all the items dealing with money, and
made a one line entry for each, which I saved, encrypted.
And I extracted one "email" where I keep notes about everything
including credit cards and made that another file similarly.
I deleted the saved password for paypal.

I should not have said what I did about crime in Guatemala. I personally
noticed none of it, and there were times I walked around at night,
except I read about the murder of a woman 9 months ago. 10 years ago
there was a big spurt of crime but it's tapered off a lot, and mostly
would be pickpockets at crowded tourist areas or on crowded chicken
buses, and some robberies, maybe armed robberies, outside of bars. I
don't go to bars. Not only that, January is the quietest month in
Guatemala, that is, fewest tourists, which is strange since it's
probably the coldest month in the USA. It is always 51 to 80 in
Guatemala, night and day. Even at Rio Dulce and Livingston, which are
at sea level, it was not very hot. And even the cheapest hotel rooms
have AC or a fan. And the summer months are the rainy ones. I only
saw in 21 days an hour of light rain. My hotels with bath cost between
$23 and 70. There are Marriots for over 100, but I was trying to save
money and partially recreate my first trip, 53 years ago.

So it really was not especially needed to to encrypt the stuff I did,
but OTOH, I should do that wherever I go, crime or not. Always possible
to lose the laptop. My credit card numbers are in it, disguised as
phone numbers, with 2-letter labels. I think a hacker would not find
them, but a guy with the whole laptop might.

The car was the most expensive, the insurance was more than the car
itself. IIRC 1400 dollars for 21 days, for a subcompact, I think, a
toyota yaris**, although it was plenty big enough. Traffic is terrible,
streets are very narrow, hills and curves constantly outside of the
cities, they weave in and out and must have come within 2 inches of my
car many times. Yet, I got not a scratch, they refunded my full $650
deposit. (The insurance covered dents but not scratches!) I drove 1200
miles in 21 days.

Because streets in Guatemala City and elsewhere are old and narrow and
often one-way, using google navigation saves enormous time. Might drive
around for hours without it. Of course that worked even before I got a
local sim card. Recommend Claro instead of Tigo, or maybe roaming is
not that expensive, I thought it was.

Gas was I think a little cheaper than here. Electricity is 110v with
the same receptacles as the US. All were 3-prong. I brought a 15 foot
extension cord and a 10 foot charging cable so in one room with only a
receptacle in the bathroom, I still had length enough to reach anywhere.
I think new extension cords use heavier insulation than in the 60's so I
bring an extension cord I've had since then. Lamp cord with replaced
ends. I brought a 3-prong to 2-prong converter for the laptop power
supply, but I forgot and brought a new one, where I had not ground down
the wide prong to make it narrow enough for the old extension cord.
Fortunately it still went into the narrow end of the cord, with the
ground plug sticking out. And there was still room on the sides for the
phone charger and the provided fan, in the room that had only one
receptacle.

Should have bought and brought a fast phone charger. Didn't appreciate
that until this trip. But I always had enough except one time I had to
stop reading the news at dinner.

Set Free Alarm Clock when I had to be up, and used Multitimer (url on
request), to turn the sound and screen off with a 2-hour timer when
falling asleep. It has other features too.

**What the heck is a yaris.

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Mon, 29 Jan 2024 19:48:41 -0500, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

>How to store important data while traveling where a burglar or robber
>won't be able to read it.

An interesting topic, but this was posted by accident. I started it
before I left on the trip and planned to finish it later. In an effort
to send emails that didn't work in Guatemala, I ended up sending any
email that had not been sent going back at least 3 years, and posting
any post that had not yet been posted. All with one click of the mouse.
>
>I'm going on vacation for 19 days, and the odds of being robbed are
>slim, but everyone says that Guatamala has more than the usual amount of
>crime, breaking into cars, armed robbery, stealing the whole car? So
>security is an issue when it never was on other trips, (no more than
>whne the computer sits at home).

Guatemala was fine. There is crime here too but it has no impact on
me. If there were 2 or 3x as much crime, I still would not notice it.

I ended up using LibreOffice Writer, and assigning a the same password
to two files, plus deleting my Paypal password from password memory.

>On an average day, I don't need to access any of this stuff but one day
>out of 4 or 8, I need one of them. (A couple I know by heart, so I will
>need the other ones.
>
>I am pretty good but not great technically, and I'm lazy. I was just
>going to copy all the important information to paper and delete it from
>the computer, but I don't know where to hide the paper.
>
>So maybe I should leave it on the computer but encrypt it.
>
>Any suggestions on how to encrypt the following:
> I have a file with a lot of notes, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
>and, in obscured form, my credit card information: numbers, exp. dates,
>and the 3 digit codes.
> I also have a Eudora email mailbox, mbx and toc files, with the
>passwords for all my websites. Most are unimportant, like toyotanation,
>but some are bank accounts, etc. I think I will move all the important
>ones to their own mailbox, or even to one big text file. Which is
>better?
>
>There are websites that do encryption but I don't want them seeing my
>bank account passwords either.

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Mon, 29 Jan 2024 23:18:37 -0500, Paul
<nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

>
>
>The thing is, if you were worried about files, you should be worried about
>the temporary copies stored in whitespace.

I did think about that, but toook refuge in that a) the average thief
doesn't know about whitespace, b) drives are so big now you can't scroll
through, and c) I only owe iirc $50 if it's my fault and nothing if I
report a stolen credit card quickly.

> Any housekeeping should be done
>before encryption.
>
> sdelete.exe -z C: # clean whitespace a bit, not a perfect solution

Good to know.

>You should not carry assets that you cannot afford to lose.