5 ms·

Will he in another ten years remember the password? Happend to me. Encrypted an archive, and the funny thing is I did save the password into a password manager

by 21 11y ago

Will he in another ten years remember the password? Happend to me. Encrypted an archive, and the funny thing is I did save the password into a password manager, but I didn't label it descriptively enough, so when I tried decrypting the archive I couldn't locate the right password. I could have just tried them all, but I had a copy of the files from the archive in another place so I just deleted the encrypted archive.

cpach 11y ago
I’m a happy Arq user since a few weeks back, but this scenario scares me. I have even considered using a weak password such as ”abc123” in order to prevent this issue.
- aidos 11y ago
  Do you think you'll remember that weak password in 10 years time? Or are you thinking you'll brute force it when the time comes? In which case there's not much reason to encrypt in the first place.
  - cpach 11y ago
    I don’t know, but I definitely think it’s easier to remember that string than a 30 characters long random string. I could even use my given name to make it more memorable. To clarify: I didn’t primarily choose my backup application because it encrypts the backups but because it seemed like a reliable application with a solid user interface. (In Arq, encryption is not optional.)
    - hollander 11y ago
      You can repeat that string, or use five easy words to get to that 30 character string.
- hollander 11y ago
  Then you get an accident, and you have amnesia. How about that scenario?
  - washadjeffmad 11y ago
    Easy, tattoo your public and private keys on your body somewhere, maybe as QR codes. Joking aside, I do use some things like hashes of works of literature and other important things to me as keys and archive hashes as their own passwords. I also send emails to myself explaining my thinking when I make certain decisions. It's like commenting my life. And if I lost my memories, would I really selectively miss the data that belonged to former me? That's a scenario to think about.
- zxcvgm 11y ago
  Print out your key on paper, label it descriptively and store it in a safe place (like in a safe), using something like Paperkey. [0] http://www.jabberwocky.com/software/paperkey/ http://www.jabberwocky.com/software/paperkey/

by 21 11y ago

cpach 11y ago

I’m a happy Arq user since a few weeks back, but this scenario scares me. I have even considered using a weak password such as ”abc123” in order to prevent this issue.

aidos 11y ago
Do you think you'll remember that weak password in 10 years time? Or are you thinking you'll brute force it when the time comes? In which case there's not much reason to encrypt in the first place.
- cpach 11y ago
  I don’t know, but I definitely think it’s easier to remember that string than a 30 characters long random string. I could even use my given name to make it more memorable. To clarify: I didn’t primarily choose my backup application because it encrypts the backups but because it seemed like a reliable application with a solid user interface. (In Arq, encryption is not optional.)
  - hollander 11y ago
    You can repeat that string, or use five easy words to get to that 30 character string.
hollander 11y ago
Then you get an accident, and you have amnesia. How about that scenario?
- washadjeffmad 11y ago
  Easy, tattoo your public and private keys on your body somewhere, maybe as QR codes. Joking aside, I do use some things like hashes of works of literature and other important things to me as keys and archive hashes as their own passwords. I also send emails to myself explaining my thinking when I make certain decisions. It's like commenting my life. And if I lost my memories, would I really selectively miss the data that belonged to former me? That's a scenario to think about.
zxcvgm 11y ago
Print out your key on paper, label it descriptively and store it in a safe place (like in a safe), using something like Paperkey. [0] http://www.jabberwocky.com/software/paperkey/ http://www.jabberwocky.com/software/paperkey/