Usb Encryption

[cryptocovetrade]

I write my electrum private seed on the piece of paper and save it with me but i fear that someone near to me may read that paper and get access to the wallet. So i copied the wallet file on my usb and also write the seed in notepad in that usb. Now i want to password protect that usb or encrypt it so if anyone tries to access that usb, he can never open and read it contents.  How to do this ?

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[Bitcoin Smith]

encrypt it so if anyone tries to access that usb, he can never open and read it contents.  How to do this ?

You can use Bitlocker for windows to encrypt your USB, which makes the USB completely encrypted and without the password it is impossible to open it no matter what.Make sure your system is not connected to internet while connecting your USB stick which eliminates the risk of getting exposed in case if there is any malware present in your system.

How to use BitLocker Drive Encryption

If you entered a password while creating wallet on electrum itself makes the wallet file encrypted, so you don't need to worry about that.

[cryptocovetrade]

If you entered a password while creating wallet on electrum itself makes the wallet file encrypted, so you don't need to worry about that.

That password protected wallet file remains password protected, even if you import that into a new electrum wallet ?

Also if i make a wallet without password protected wallet file, can i convert that later to password protected ?

[Stalker22]

I write my electrum private seed on the piece of paper and save it with me but i fear that someone near to me may read that paper and get access to the wallet. So i copied the wallet file on my usb and also write the seed in notepad in that usb. Now i want to password protect that usb or encrypt it so if anyone tries to access that usb, he can never open and read it contents.  How to do this ?

What if the USB gets corrupted and becomes unreadable? Even if you make copies on several devices, you still risk data loss because electronic devices are sensitive to various external factors such as heat, moisture, electromagnetic radiation, electric shocks, virus-infected devices, and more. I think that a piece of paper, or even better, a metal plate, is a safer solution.

You do not have to encrypt the seed phrase because you can simply create a BIP39 passphrase. In this case, the seed phrase itself is useless without the additional passphrase, which you can write down and store in a safe location separately from the seed phrase.

[cryptocovetrade]

You do not have to encrypt the seed phrase because you can simply create a BIP39 passphrase. In this case, the seed phrase itself is useless without the additional passphrase, which you can write down and store in a safe location separately from the seed phrase.

How do i create a passphrase for my wallet which i have already created?

[Charles-Tim]

How do i create a passphrase for my wallet which i have already created?

You have to create a new wallet.

On desktop
While generating new wallet, click on standard wallet -> create new seed - click on options -> check ✔️ extend seed word with custom word -> click on next to input the extended word and continue.

On mobile
While generating new wallet, click on standard wallet -> create new seed - check ✔️ extend seed word with custom word -> input the extended word and continue.

The extended word generate different keys and addresses. If you lost it, just like the seed phrase, you will lose access to your coins. Backup the seed phrase and passphrase (extended word) separately in two or three different locations.

[EL MOHA]

I also do not recommend storing on usb because of the disadvantages like wearing out and damages. The best thing would be to add passphrase

You can follow this guide by DireWolfM14 to create the passphrase on electrum Wallet

Also even if you use a passphrase you can also encrypt the Wallet file. The wallet file can only be accessed with password if you encrypt it, this adds another layer of protection to the wallet again

[Stalker22]

You do not have to encrypt the seed phrase because you can simply create a BIP39 passphrase. In this case, the seed phrase itself is useless without the additional passphrase, which you can write down and store in a safe location separately from the seed phrase.

How do i create a passphrase for my wallet which i have already created?

You cannot; you will have to create a new wallet.

Basically, if you add a passphrase to your current seed phrase, it will generate a new wallet with completely different addresses. This is another advantage of a BIP39 passphrase: you can have two (or more) wallets with the same seed phrase. One can serve as a decoy (with a small amount of coins), and the other, kept secret, can be your main hodl wallet. So, if someone gets their hands on your seed phrase, all they will be able to access is your decoy wallet with a small amount of coins. Your main stash in the secret wallet remains safe.

What is a BIP39 Passphrase?
https://www.blockplate.com/blogs/blockplate/what-is-a-bip39-passphrase

[Cricktor]

I write my electrum private seed on the piece of paper and save it with me but i fear that someone near to me may read that paper and get access to the wallet. So i copied the wallet file on my usb and also write the seed in notepad in that usb. Now i want to password protect that usb or encrypt it so if anyone tries to access that usb, he can never open and read it contents.  How to do this ?

You should be able to hide your paper backup of your Electrum mnemonic recovery words in such a way that only you can find it. But what if you forget your hiding spot? It would be a single point of failure.

USB flash devices can fail (happened to me), so don't rely on only one backup device!

You wrote your mnemonic recovery words on a computer that was likely online and with unknown security status. This should be avoided and you may consider your mnemonic recovery words as not safe anymore. (Depends on what daily internet "shit" you do on that computer.) Mnemonic recovery words of wallets should only treated on offline and non-digital devices like paper or metal backup.

You could use Veracrypt or Bitlocker or something similar and reliable. But again, don't do that with your mnemonic recovery words on a digital device that will go online any time later. Boot a live Linux that solely runs in RAM or TAILS, both have to stay offline, if you play with private keys and/or mnemonic recovery words, so that after shutdown none of your secret keys and words are retained on the used computer.

[Z-tight]

That password protected wallet file remains password protected, even if you import that into a new electrum wallet ?

No, the password you set up only encrypts the wallet locally, if you or an attacker imports this wallet with the seed phrase on a different device, you'll have access to spend the funds on the wallet and set up a different password for the wallet on that device.

Also if i make a wallet without password protected wallet file, can i convert that later to password protected ?

Yes you should be able to do that.

[BitMaxz]

No, the password you set up only encrypts the wallet locally, if you or an attacker imports this wallet with the seed phrase on a different device, you'll have access to spend the funds on the wallet and set up a different password for the wallet on that device.

Just to be clear the added passphrase/password on Electrum is passphrase protection you have a choice on the first wallet creation if you want the wallet file to be encrypted you need to enable it or disable it while using a password. Encryption is another layer of protection so that the wallet file itself is not readable(seed and keys are encrypted) when you try to open it with Notepad.



@OP Since the USB Drive has a short lifespan I suggest burn them into CD/DVD because they have a long lifespan according to Google 10-15 years but if you want a disc with a longer lifespan check the M-disc it has a 1000yrs lifespan. And don't forget while creating a wallet to make sure it's safe you should create a wallet in an offline environment to avoid someone monitoring and recording your keystroke/clipboard.

[Not your key not your BTC]

I write my electrum private seed on the piece of paper and save it with me but i fear that someone near to me may read that paper and get access to the wallet. So i copied the wallet file on my usb and also write the seed in notepad in that usb.

There is no point in copying if someone finds out your seed because he can still access that seed concurrently.
Creating another copy is just for 2nd backup, not protecting you from thieves. To protect it, create 2 or 3 layers of security, not to create too many copied seed.

[Charles-Tim]

@OP Since the USB Drive has a short lifespan I suggest burn them into CD/DVD because they have a long lifespan according to Google 10-15 years but if you want a disc with a longer lifespan check the M-disc it has a 1000yrs lifespan. And don't forget while creating a wallet to make sure it's safe you should create a wallet in an offline environment to avoid someone monitoring and recording your keystroke/clipboard.

USB drive has expected lifespan of 10 years which I do not think it is bad at all.

What makes the lifespan of USD drive, CD, DVD, SSD or HDD shorter or longer depends on how often you are using it to transfer files, and also maintenance. If he is using the USB drive for just file backup and nothing more, I am expecting the USB flash drive to have a long lifespan if he protects it.

I do not see any reason to depend on flash drive when he can use BIP39 passphrase and backup the seed phrase just on a paper, while the passphrase also on a paper in different locations, having like two or three backups for both.

[satscraper]

I do not see any reason to depend on flash drive when he can use BIP39 passphrase and backup the seed phrase just on a paper, while the passphrase also on a paper in different locations, having like two or three backups for both.

Agree. Nevertheless, If OP insists on digital backup I would advocate for industrial grade SSD card (in micro or micro format) instead of ordinary USB flash drive. Those cards have an incredible life span, are less damageable  and  much easier to hide (or carry in the course of relocation)  than  bulk drives (even of 2.5" size).

[Charles-Tim]

Agree. Nevertheless, If OP insists on digital backup I would advocate for industrial grade SSD card (in micro or micro format) instead of ordinary USB flash drive. Those cards have an incredible life span, are less damageable  and  much easier to hide (or carry in the course of relocation)  than  bulk drives (even of 2.5" size).

Flash drives are smaller
Flash drives and SSD cards are using the same technology
They both have the same life span of 10 years, but depending on usage and maintenance
SSDs are bigger, but with larger memory and faster in speed
Flash drives are cheaper, but they have small memory
Just for encrypted wallet file backup, or seed phrase extended with passphrase backup, flash drive is better
I think you are only comparing SSD and HDD, not flash drive.

[LoyceV]

USB drive has expected lifespan of 10 years which I do not think it is bad at all.

Easy solution: once a year, spend $10 on a new stick from a different brand and make another backup. Keep your old backup.

i fear that someone near to me may read that paper and get access to the wallet.

Does that mean untrusted people have physical access to your house?

[BitMaxz]

USB drive has expected lifespan of 10 years which I do not think it is bad at all.

What makes the lifespan of USD drive, CD, DVD, SSD or HDD shorter or longer depends on how often you are using it to transfer files, and also maintenance. If he is using the USB drive for just file backup and nothing more, I am expecting the USB flash drive to have a long lifespan if he protects it.

10yrs is just the expected lifespan but in my experience, it doesn't most of my USB Drives no longer work after a year or two some of them work but files become corrupted even though I take care of them very well.
Only 2 of my 8 USB drives with two different brands still survive after 4 years(transcends 16GB and Sandisk 32 GB).

Having multiple backups is also fine but for long-term DVDs is way better to handle files for more than 10 years because I have a DVD that still survives after 10 years it still works.

[Charles-Tim]

Having multiple backups is also fine but for long-term DVDs is way better to handle files for more than 10 years because I have a DVD that still survives after 10 years it still works.

I have SanDisk that I bought since 2018, despite the large files of about 40 gigabytes on it, it is still working till today. Although, I hardly use it.

As LoyceV comment, I think it is better that way. People should not depend on any device for long term storage. I understand you and I think that you are also right, and disks are also different from one another, there are some with even longer lifespan. But people should not depend on that because any device can fail at anytime. I year backup dependency is enough in my opinion.

I prefer seed phrase with passphrase and it makes backup easy for me on just a paper.

[m2017]

I write my electrum private seed on the piece of paper and save it with me but i fear that someone near to me may read that paper and get access to the wallet. So i copied the wallet file on my usb and also write the seed in notepad in that usb. Now i want to password protect that usb or encrypt it so if anyone tries to access that usb, he can never open and read it contents.  How to do this ?

You should not be overly fond of storing important files (seed phrases are exactly that) on a USB flash drive, all the more, even encrypt. No matter how you later have to face the problem of losing access to this file due to a USB flash drive malfunction or the inability to decrypt data due to lost password. Besides, how are you going to store the password from an encrypted USB flash drive so that your relatives don't peep? Create another one?

Don't forget to make duplicates of your USB flash drive, and also think about writing the seed phrase not on a piece of paper, as you did, on another storage medium that has better safety characteristics (protection from water, fire, acids, etc. ). For example, a stainless steel plate.

[noormcs5]

That password protected wallet file remains password protected, even if you import that into a new electrum wallet ?

No, the password you set up only encrypts the wallet locally, if you or an attacker imports this wallet with the seed phrase on a different device, you'll have access to spend the funds on the wallet and set up a different password for the wallet on that device.

That's interesting. So as we say that the password protected wallet is encrypted, it is encrypted only if it remains on that particular system. If someone copies that wallet file generated by the electrum and imports it into another computer, it will not remain encrypted???

You do not have to encrypt the seed phrase because you can simply create a BIP39 passphrase. In this case, the seed phrase itself is useless without the additional passphrase, which you can write down and store in a safe location separately from the seed phrase.

So we can write a seed phrase on a piece of paper and make such a passphrase that we never forget, and save that passphrase in our mind. So now if anyone gets our seed or if the seed is somehow get hacked through malware or something, the hacker won't be able to get access to our wallet.
However, if the hacker gets the whole wallet file (encrypted one), then he can import it into another computer and can access the wallet ?