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Condensing Your Life on to a USB Flash Drive?

Posted by Cliff on from the what-to-take-and-what-to-put-it-on-to dept.

Fear the Clam asks: "My wife and I figure that if we plan for the worst, it'll never happen, so we've been putting together 'If public transportation bites it and we have two minutes to grab our stuff and start walking, never to return to NYC' getaway knapsacks. With luck they'll live in the closet forever. Coincidently, this morning the New York Times has an article about what to take when you have to leave home in a big hurry [DNA verification required], and they suggest making a list of all of things like Social Security and credit card numbers, scanning birth certificates, marriage license and tax returns, and saving it all on a USB flash drive. Since this would be a complete identity kit, encryption is of utmost importance. What's the best solution? A flash drive that claims to encrypt or a platform-independent, self-extracting, encrypted file on a regular drive? Any suggestions for sturdy drives?" Of course, the choice of USB flash drive covers only a part of the problem. What other data would you put on this piece of "contingency hardware", and how would you protect the drive itself in case you did have to "swim for it"?

17 of 888 comments (clear)

  1. heh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    screw Social Security, they're going bankrupt anyway... on my emergency flash drive it's all about the pr0n.

  2. Security by b00tleg · · Score: 5, Funny

    I always swallow my USB identity drives

    1. Re:Security by La+Camiseta · · Score: 5, Funny

      For some reason, I keep on having to re-swallow my USB emergency drive every few days.

      It really puts me into a crappy situation when I have to re-swallow it at work.

    2. Re:Security by rthille · · Score: 5, Funny

      Swallow it sideways, it doesn't come thru as fast then...

      --
      Awesome furniture, accessories and cabinetry in Santa Rosa, CA: http://humanity-home.com/
  3. alternate plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tatoo yourself in reeealy reealy little 1's and 0's. Tatoo your wife with the decryption key.

    1. Re:alternate plan by EnsilZah · · Score: 5, Funny

      Should be the other way around.
      That way he can call himself the keymaster and his wife the gatekeeper

  4. Or.... by cdn2k1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You could kill two birds with one stone, and get an iPod. That way you will not only have all of your important stuff, but you'll be able to groove to some sweet tunes while looting and pillaging.

  5. Brute forcing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Tatoo your wife with the decryption key.

    Just watch out for people trying to "brute force" your wife.

    1. Re:Brute forcing... by Cruciform · · Score: 5, Funny

      Brute force? A little social engineering works wonders.

      "More wine, dear?"

    2. Re:Brute forcing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Personally I prefer a man in the middle attack, but people tell me I'm kinky...

  6. Re:Living in the other target city (DC) by JabberWokky · · Score: 5, Funny
    I made the CFO of a major insurance company chuckle when I pointed out during the disaster recovery committee meeting, as the backup and data storage company made their pitch (involving their "nuclear blast proof vaults"), that when the competition started lobbing warheads at us I would tender my resignation.

    --
    Evan

    --
    "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
  7. Re:Maybe it's just me, but by MrDoh! · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mauve? You do realise this means changing the bulb

    --
    Waiting for an amusing sig.
  8. Re:I'd take a backup of my backup. by optikSmoke · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, but Fujifilm does.

  9. Re:What's the best solution? by kfg · · Score: 5, Funny

    how would you protect the drive itself in case you did have to "swim for it"?

    Which you should put in something commonly refered to as a "Baggie."

    KFG

  10. Re:Living in the other target city (DC) by Crunchie+Frog · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nice. I just repeated this comment to some workmates but got a bunch of sheepish looks.

    --
    --- Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
  11. I'd take toilet paper. by Gordonjcp · · Score: 5, Funny

    I know you can rough it with leaves and stuff, but come on, you've got a ton of other stuff to worry about. Why add an abraded arse to it?

  12. Re:I'd take a backup of my backup. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "That's what I get when I try to type with one hand, eat with the other"

    Ri-i-ight. "eat".