Secure Your Key Data on an Encrypted USB Drive
Lifehacker on securing all your key data on a portable USB drive that you can have with your or grab on the way out the door incase of an emergency:
“A simple Word or Excel document can contain all your credit card and bank account numbers, account spending limits, toll free phone numbers, PINs and family social security numbers. Important documents like birth certificates and insurance policies can be scanned and stored on the disk. Most importantly, make sure your in-case-of-emergency drive is encrypted and secured with a difficult-to-guess password. While this approach could make your financial life a lot easier in the event of another Hurricane Katrina, it could also make it miserable in the event of identity theft. “
An Ipod works well for this too since you often have it with you away from the house. The key to remember here is that you must have off-site backup of your data. Just having a backup drive that sits right next to your PC isn’t going to help much when your house burns down or is blown away by a hurricane.