Bitcoin Forum

How would you secure a Text file with your private keys on it?  what encryption do you recommend?

You can paste in the text file the PGP encrypted message, so only you can decrypt it, for example though keybase PGP key. An alternative way is also through Folder lock but it's not free.

I'd simply create the keys on an offline computer, dump them there are store them in the same place. As for encryption, PGP is an option as said, but I think I'd probably just encrypt the drive holding the keys.

Handwritten on a nice piece of paper. Screw attempting to secure a file. Even if it takes forever to type out it's worth it.

you can make a folder of your private keys on your computer (offline), then click right button, choose "add to archive" > "advanced" > "set password" > "OK".
voila! your keys is safe now.

Use the password as the name of the file and fill it with random symbols.

TrueCrypt is a good way to encrypt, double encrypt, and hide anything you want and it is also free to use. You could encrypt your entire computer if you wanted to or just a single partition.

It has also been tried and tested, and passed.

Burn it to CD and put it in a good safe. They have to break into your house and the safe to get it.

TrueCrypt is no longer developed and its developers have apparently taken down nearly everything related to TrueCrypt. luckily it is open source so there are forks of it. I recommend using VeraCrypt which is forked off of TrueCrypt. I think a good thing to do would be to GPG encrypt the text and then encrypt it with VeraCrypt for extra security.

I read about the two forks but I don't know enough about them to make a suggestion on using them.

I usually take the text file with all the keys and print it out then cut out the public keys and the parts I don't need and only keep my private keys. It's handy to have all of the QR codes of the private keys on the paper in case you need to transfer the funds to a new wallet in an emergency. Then if you want to feel more secure you could copy this 2 or 3 times over and put the papers in some secure locations like a home safe or a bank deposit box or in your back yard.

Just print it on paper and give it to your Mom.  Tell her it's important.  She'll keep it safe.

Best answer so far.
Print the key is the best way to keep it safe from something bad on your fake life online and store it in your real life.
Encrypted - decrypted are still breakable. But your mom? I guess she is not :p

You can of-course encrypt the keys itself with BIP38 Encrypt whilst making them and if you use a good strong password then you wouldn't need to encrypt the file since its pretty secure in itself.

Encrypted it with GPG like mentioned above is another good method.

You could also do another option which is laminate the paper then seal that in a case then bury it in your backyard.

Create a Veracrypt (https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/) container encrypted with a strong password and store the text file in the container. The container does not have to be large, unless you have MB or GB of information you want to protect. Read the online documentation (https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/documentation) to learn how to use. The container can be stored anywhere you like on your laptop and is portable.

i would encrypt it with aes, and secure it in a usb stick, for long term purpose, don't forget to do this under a secure environment

I think printing out the text file with the keys and laminating it is the best way of keeping it away from harm. You could never be 100% sure it will not get compromised if it's encrypted. I would put it somewhere safe the location of which only I know . Encrypting it and storing it on a usb stick works too but then you would need a computer to access the data and it's slower.

I am sure all the above are great idea. The only problem is when you would like to decrypt it... Will you be able to do that whenever you wish to? Will the software for encryption still available and working after like 5 years? Will you still remember the password/passphrase?

These are risks to encryption with complex methods.

My private keys are printed out and kept in a bank locker.
With 24 hour security and a vault, it is as safe as it can get.

You can order one of these:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=977486.0

GPG has been there for like 16 years, I am sure it will still be there after 5 years.

I have encrypted mine in an Libre Office 5 Writer document, added a strong password including all sort of characters (I remember it well no problem) and beside it, I also compressed it in a rar file with a sentence long password(which I can remember easily) , pretty much this is the best encryption free programs can offer you.

It would depend on the security of the method the private key was generated by, If it's generated by an offline armory wallet for example in a PC that was never connected to the internet would be safer than a blockchain private key.
I think I would keep the TXT file in multiple flashes and hold them in multiple vaults.

In any way you should move away from TrueCrypt, esp. if you are using windows[1].

[1] http://motherboard.vice.com/read/encryption-program-truecrypt-has-a-critical-vulnerability

create the TXT
use encryption in 7z format ( AES-256  )
done.

The OP's question is wrong. It should be "how to I securely erase a text file that I put on my computer's hard drive, a file holding plaintext information that should have only been stored encrypted?"

True, right next to the family's land titles and every member's birth certificates.

@ontopic As for me, I printed the private key, laminated it and stored it in a safe.

if I, first take the screenshot, I print out and compress IMG files with encrypted rar, I put rar file in a special microSD, and put printed private key in my important archives

Easiest is probably to male an archive od your txt file and encrypt the archive when you create it. Also, with a not so clear name, nobody will suspect the archive to contain private keys unless they know you have it and are specifically searching for it.

Printing has the theoretical weakness that the memory can be accessed to take the printed files, so make sure that also happens securely/offline/reset printer.

Handwriting and then laminating would also be a good solution.

I will not recommend any folder lock application which give error after few use like to buy key. Its better u use pgp encryption. Frer encryption ia available at igolder.com search i cant remember exact url.