Rounding out my life...encrypted flash drives: Who has them, should I carry one?

[Christopher Calhoun]

The title is pretty much all I want to know.

Who carries an encrypted flash drive? Should I? If so, what should I put on it?


Thanks!

[That Guy]

The title is pretty much all I want to know.

Who carries an encrypted flash drive? Should I? If so, what should I put on it?


Thanks!

Any data storage I use is encrypted.
My phone which I can use as as a storage drive as well.

The only downside is a slight loss of reading and writing speed unless you use ssd's which offer encryption as a standart.

[TheGrayMan214]

I keep one in my bag.

It has copies of my medical records, images of my passport, DL, CCW, contact information for the banks I have money in, and phone numbers for my stock broker, attorney, and various contacts home/abroad with no names (not that I know anyone too special, I just don't like the thought of compromising friends' PerSec if I can avoid it at all). I don't keep account numbers and the like on there.

[WinstonSmith]

Cloud storage has more or less made encrypted flash drives irrelevant.

[Ansbach]

Cloud storage has more or less made encrypted flash drives irrelevant.

I think for most people, yes. It would depend on what information you are saving and how secure you want it. How concerned are you that a new hack like what was used for "the fappining" is discovered and exploited for ID theft. Also, there may be situations where you only want to decrypt some of your data, in which case you may have the most critical info on one platform (cloud or flash drive) and more on another - this would probably be if you have limited control over the phone or computer you are accessing the cloud, like at an internet cafe or library. Also, some places may have crummy/spotty internet and cell phone access so a drive may make more sense for some trips.

[Dorkface]

The title is pretty much all I want to know.

Who carries an encrypted flash drive? Should I? If so, what should I put on it?


Thanks!

What kind of stuff do you think you will put on it? I haven't carried a jump drive (dating myself there lol) since the early 2000's...

[3corners]

Be aware when travelling internationaly some countries restrict the import of encrypted devices.

[DeltaCadet84]

At home I keep an old desktop computer running a Linux OS with an encrypted hard drive with all my "sensitive" information, similar to what is described above. If I need to take it and go, I just grab the hard drive and bolt.

I also keep a USB drive on my keychain with a bootable Ubuntu Linux OS, which allows me to use other computers "in private", without going through potentially risky Windows or Mac stuff on someone else's device. This even gives me access to any un-encrypted drives on the computer. I also keep some .txt files with my basic personal info and some phone numbers on the drive too.

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[WinstonSmith]

At home I keep an old desktop computer running a Linux OS with an encrypted hard drive with all my "sensitive" information, similar to what is described above. If I need to take it and go, I just grab the hard drive and bolt.

I also keep a USB drive on my keychain with a bootable Ubuntu Linux OS, which allows me to use other computers "in private", without going through potentially risky Windows or Mac stuff on someone else's device. This even gives me access to any un-encrypted drives on the computer. I also keep some .txt files with my basic personal info and some phone numbers on the drive too.

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Your bootable Linux is not as private as you think it is.

[DeltaCadet84]

I understand it's Ubuntu, not most private thing in the world. But it protects me from the computer's keyloggers, viruses, and doesn't leave a trail. Making a custom archlinux build would be better, but I'm not there yet..

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[Christopher Calhoun]

To answer the questions of "what do I want on it," I don't know. That's why I'm getting a general idea of some things to have on one/if I need one at all.

I'm interested to see where the Linux conversation goes.


Chris

[DeltaCadet84]

Linux is a good system to know and understand, and can be used to your advantage in a lot of ways. I prefer it for data storage because I have more control over the inner workings of the OS than I do in a Windows or Mac environment. Viruses, spyware, and other generally bad things are less of an issue as long as you're smart about what you install. But general-use linux OSes are not without their faults. The NSA has "graciously" assisted in security features built into several Linux kernels (basis of the OS), so whether you trust that or not is up to you. This is not unlike Windows or Mac for sure, but then again no single company owns Linux as a whole. For me, it just allows me a little more flexibility at home and more confidence that I can find "backdoors" in the system if I am familiar with everything going on. The USB drive on my keychain gives me a little privacy when using a public (or friend's) computer, but its not going to give me any Edward Snowden level secrecy. Its known that he uses the Linux USB drive system too, but he's got the encryption game down to a science, he's an expert where many of us are not.