places to store encryption passwords/passphrases etc

I've always had this question lingering in my mind for a while. How would I go with storing an encryption password for something such as KeePassX or a key for something such as VeraCrypt? Basically anything that is usually kept outside of password managers. I've thought about the simple methods such as pieces of paper or the most secure of them all; my own memory. But there are probably better ways to go along with hiding things

>>21950 Just spend time memorising the master password. Make sure you can type it without having to think about it before you use it, so there's no chance of forgetting. If you can get your hands on one of those security keys (yubikey type stuff) that you can verify doesn't engage in any shenanigans like phoning home, I'd honestly recommend using one in combination with a memorised password to protect against keylogging and shoulder surfing. Keep it securely attached to your body.

learn memory systems and forget about writing down your passwords.

You can remember a password. I have numerous 64 character keys of random ASCII I've been able to remember after 2 months of not using them. I used to have a randomized 130 character ASCII key that I remembered, but I didn't use it for a week and forgot one or two characters. So long as you don't exceed 64 characters you can remember it. Aside that, you could make a cipher, and encipher your keys, then just bury them or hide them at numerous locations so you have backups in case you forget your key(s).

>>21950 Not really answering the OP and kind of a larp, but how viable and secure would it be to keep a box that would self destroy and its contents if forced open? Maybe could be handy for storing passwords if your threat model is high enough.

>>21953 does ubikey phone home? been considering buying one for a while but i wasn't sure if it did sketchy stuff like that and was compatible with most linux distros i use (alpine, qubes) and openbsd, as well as KeePassX

>>21962 I don't think it would be an efficient means of storing passwords whatsoever. For one, the container holding the keys would need to be an inconspicuous hollow object with a mechanism built into it to destroy the keys should someone try to open the container. There are various methods of designing such a container. You wouldn't want to use something like a safe. Investigators would see it, know that it's obviously a safe, granting they have enough foresight they'd try to use some imaging technology on the safe to display any potential objects held within it which might reveal the "self destruct" mechanism. For that reason I think it'd be best to use something mundane like a big opaque plastic water bottle. You still have to consider the means of destroying the keys within the container. You could try using a dye of some sorts but you have to realize that the keys are going to be printed upon paper which will leave engravings, some forensic analysts could potentially recover the keys from minute engravings left upon dyed paper. I would say the only reliable means of destroying the keys would be to have an incendiary device within the container which would be ignited through the process of opening the container. You could also try something like a lighter which would be triggered via electrical current which would burn paper keys, but that's not as reliable and the design might be complicated. You have to consider what materials will be used to create this incendiary device, for long term storage I think gasoline would be best, it could be directly ignited via electrical current. Aside that you could use some mixture of powder, like black powder or a mixture of potassium nitrate and sugar. If the current provided by the electrical circuit was not strong enough to ignite say black powder, you'd need to send the current through an incendiary mixture with a greater sensitivity, which would burn and then in turn ignite the black powder or KNO3+sugar. Honestly a small amount of some sensitive explosive mixture/compound would likely need to be used to trigger the incendiary device, such mixtures/compounds will have less chemical stability and may spontaneously combust or lose potency over time, may fail to ignite, they'd probably demand maintenance. Anyway for that reason I figure gasoline would be best, old as fuarrrk expired gasoline still has high flammability. I figure that if someone was able to take an inconspicuous object like say a large opaque plastic water bottle, and design an electrical circuit which would be completed through the process of unscrewing the lid of the bottle, and have a switch build into the circuit which lead to the incendiary device that could be activated/deactivated with a magnet from the outside of the bottle, that'd be good and fairly simple design, and it could be safely deactivated, but there's probably simpler designs I haven't thought of I don't know I'm just rambling. It would be simple but not something as simple and trivially defeated as a string attached to the inside end of the lid of the container, that is a soykafty design in my opinion. You would really just want something that would be destructed via opening the container in an unauthorized fashion, otherwise you'd need to design a complex device with numerous failsafes built into it so if an adversary attempts to do x to disable the device or open the device it detonates, you'd have to make some soykaf like the Harvey's Casino Bomb. Just use passages from literature, you could even blend various passages from various texts together to form passwords, just something that you can remember which provides a password with high entropy, no need to make incendiary/explosive devices to protect keys plus if the investigator who opened it got injured you'd be fuarrrked.

The OpenPGP functionality of a Yubikey 5c can be used as a poor man's hardware wallet for an encrypted volume.

Disguise the password and put it on a long lived website like web.archive.org, directly or indirectly. (through a random proxy ofc)

>>21950 not the most involved method but i have used ``` vim :x ``` encrypted mode in the past for saving non super critical creds. i think you can customize what sort of encryption it will use as well, in case you're super paranoid.

I keep a recovery.kdbx containing 2FA seeds for all 2FAed accounts (in KeepassXC you can generate the TOTP), their credentials and backup codes, and the like. This isn't part of a well-planned system -- I need to figure out what my last-resort disaster recovery looks like (I probably don't have one) if I suddenly have no devices or other possessions other than clothes. Do I have a way in using only what's in my memory? Or do I need to secure a hard copy of something offsite? Find out next time on dra

Does anyone use mobile password managers? A high level manager at the NSA said mobile was insecure in 2008. I'm guessing that's still true.

>>22463 i don't use my phone for anything that needs to be secure, i only use it for consooming and playing some games.

>>21956 autism is a spectrum, not all of us are that special.

>>22463 KeepassDX. Database is synced to my desktop with syncthing. Wouldn't recommend anything else besides maybe a selfhosted bitwarden, but I prefer keepass anyway

I've an idea for a strategy. The first step is where you make it appear like you're trying really hard to secure all your stuff. Like using a digital password manager and hardware 2fa key and what not but it's all just normal person tier things like your sock zuckbook account etc. Then yes, remembering the password but not random characters which is impossible for non turbo autists but chains of words that you form a story around or it's a passage of a book that you know you can find again or rebuy if need be and then the actual password is putting it through a hashing algorithm specifically designed for passwords with the difficulty value cranked up so feds can't just brute force it with a dictionary attack on a 1TiB sized suspicious binary file you called Inugami_Korone_Language_Model_Training_Data. And lastly a claymore and a fishing line rigged to the entrance of your special basement and cyanide hidden in your tooth in minecraft. >>21962 Pic related.

>>21950 One-Time Pad. On paper even. Do this 3x. Label them (A1,A2,B1,...) so you know what goes together. See: K=OTP(A1,A2)=OTP(B1,B2)=OTP(C1,C2) 6 pieces total. Split across hidey holes H1,H2,H3: H1:A1,B1 H2:A2,C1 H3:B2,C2 Recover using contents of any 2 holes. Safe if 1 hole is compromised. Security requires 2 holes remain secure