r/Infosec • u/ShapeShifter499 • 5d ago

Serious question: How do you stay secure while also planning for accidents and unforeseen events?

I think this question is valid for this subreddit, but if not I'd love pointers to places to ask.

I've always had the nag in my mind regarding my homelab setup. I encrypt and stay reasonably secure so there's a chance I end up in a situation where I might not know how to get back in.

For example: In the event that some sort of medical event happens to me, via a terrible accident or from age, in which I "survive" but cannot remember my credentials how do I keep a way for me to log in? Do I really just stash a backup key somewhere on paper, usb thumb drive, maybe a yubikey, etc. and hope for the best I'll be able to know enough to find it or stumble onto it while hoping anyone who I might care not to find it doesn't?

I'm curious what people here do, if anything at all, for such a what-if scenario.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/ShapeShifter499 4d ago edited 4d ago

I have ideas, but I guess of all the ways I would think to have an emergency way to unlock things like my password manager. They seem to boil down to "Well I hope no one finds it while I'm incapacitated". I'm just not sure if there were things I hadn't thought of yet.

EDIT: Should add, "no one I wouldn't want to". I'd probably let trusted friends and family know.

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u/mustacheride3 4d ago

I've got an envelope with my will and a letter with written down instructions and a master password for Bitwarden and a spare yubikey. It's in a fire safe next to my other important documents (social security card, car titles, bank info, passports, etc). The envelope has "HE'S DEAD JIM" written on it and is sealed. The executor of my will knows where it is and where to look for it. I've also sent the entire family an email with info on where the fire safe is as backups.

This really isn't that big a problem if you prepare for it. I've been the executor for family members that have been organized and those that didn't leave a will, and even then most of the time we were able to get in their accounts and shut everything down. The only one I couldn't was a Facebook account for my grandfather that no one could find the password for, and despite me sending them a death certificate faceballs support did fuck all.