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Comment by rwmj | Hacker News Reader

Scribbling the passwords in a notebook isn't a bad idea (although don't write "My Passwords" on the front cover). The security of physical things is well understood by most humans.

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> Scribbling the passwords in a notebook isn't a bad idea (although don't write "My Passwords" on the front cover). The security of physical things is well understood by most humans.

"Not Passwords" :D

I don't write down my most important passwords and they're randomly generated gibberish. About a month back, for whatever reason I just couldn't remember one for a minute and it damned near gave me a heart attack. I think I ought to go with your strategy now.

> I don't write down my most important passwords and they're randomly generated gibberish.

How the hell do you remember randomly generated gibberish of a length that would be cryptographically secure?

Multi-word passphrases work great for me for everything that has to be kept in my mind safe. If I had to remember things like "LOZOktjR33IxVbACQsgicUtDubOyz9o2" I'd definitely have to drink less.

Even better, store the password with recovery instructions in your will. That's both safe and available because wills share many of the security treats of passwords. And it's also a good backup plan for your relatives to access bank accounts, cancel subscription services etc in the event of accidents.

And/or maybe in a sealed and tamper-evident container. So you or your family can access it in an emergency, but you will know if this has occurred. The hiding location could be outlined in your will?

how would a physical tamper resistant container work? just curious. if it's something one can buy, what prevents an attacker to buy one same container itself to replace the damaged after the fact?

Sealed with tape, with your signature on the tape? And/or some tiny mark on the container that's hard to find.

ah silly me I was thinking about buyable products but that sounds both easy and feasible

Just put the notebook in a safety deposit box.

You already have a lifetime of training for taking care of small, folding pieces of paper in your wallet.

That is true only for rapidly decreasing part of the population, especially in certain parts of the world.

Think of it as a small, non-folding piece of plastic in your wallet, then.

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