Start you personal data backup: secure your digital life with ease

Overview

Introduction: why is it important
First step: start with Bitwarden
Second step : setup Veracrypt
Third step: create backup
Conclusion: advices & alternatives

Introduction

In today's digital age, our lives are intricately connected to technology. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or just starting your journey, the importance of data security cannot be overstated.

Our lives depend on the internet, from work, to purchases, health, bank, administration, entertainment etc.

Now let's be honest, we usually use the same password for all our sites, or kind of, sometimes, a main password with variation, but, we must face it, it’s not secure enough :

More information : https://www.hivesystems.io/password

As a result, creating strong passwords is essential, and, in case you forget them, I rather advise you to get a password manager to help you doing so.

In this guide, we will explore a powerful strategy for safeguarding your personal data and achieving peace of mind. We'll focus on leveraging the capabilities of Bitwarden, a password manager, and discover how it can be a key component in your personal data backup plan with Veracrypt.

VeraCrypt is a software that encrypts data storage devices, automatically encrypting and decrypting data in real time. It ensures that files are inaccessible and encrypted when not mounted, requiring the correct password and/or keyfile for access.

First step: start with Bitwarden

In this tuturial we will use Bitwarden, because it is free and compatible with your operating system (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android).

Login & Download: Begin by visiting the Bitwarden website and creating a new account. After signing up, log in to your account (you can also download the app).
This main password is very important as you may guess, and will be the only to remember, choose it wisely and at least 12 characters long (see above).
Import Passwords: If you already have existing passwords stored in another password manager or browser, Bitwarden allows you to import them easily. For instance, for Chrome, you may export in csv.
Within the Bitwarden application, navigate to the "Tools" or options menu and look for the import feature.
There, you can easily import your passwords in the desired format (csv, json, xml etc.) or even copy paste it.
Create Folders: Organize your passwords by creating folders within Bitwarden. Folders help you categorize and manage your passwords efficiently. For example, you can create folders for personal accounts, work accounts, or specific categories like social media or financial accounts. Within the Bitwarden interface, locate the option to create folders and name them accordingly. In your vaults section, you may create new vault, folders and items.
You may create folders for each sectors : family, work, entertainment, etc. to easily find them later (and export only them).
Create New Passwords: When you need to create a new password for a website or online service, Bitwarden can generate strong, unique passwords for you.
Within the Bitwarden application or browser extension, look for the password generator feature. Customize the settings if desired (e.g., password length, including special characters) and let Bitwarden generate a secure password for you.
ID & Sensitive Information: Bitwarden goes beyond password management by allowing you to securely store additional sensitive information, such as identification cards, bank account details, or software licenses. These items are encrypted and stored within your Bitwarden vault.
Double-password authentication or other security measures may be in place to ensure the highest level of protection for this sensitive data.

Second step: setup Veracrypt

VeraCrypt is a powerful software tool for creating encrypted volumes to secure your sensitive data. Follow these steps to get started:

Download and Install: Begin by visiting the official VeraCrypt website and downloading the appropriate version for your operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux). Run the installation file and follow the on-screen instructions to install VeraCrypt on your computer.
Create Your First Volume
Steps by steps official screenshots and parameters
1. Launch VeraCrypt and click on the "Create Volume" button
2. Choose the volume location and name for your encrypted volume (reside in a file, which is also called container, in a partition or drive)
3. Choose the volume type (standard or hidden VeraCrypt volume)
4. Define where the volume shall be created and name it
5. Select the desired encryption algorithm between AES, serpent or Twofish algorithms
6. Set the volume size according to your requirements
7. Create the volume password (consider using a passphrase or a combination of random characters for enhanced protection.)
In our case, we will choose default best options:
- encrypted file container
- standard volume
- USB stick location : password_backup.hc
- Serpent algorithm
- 250 Mo
- Password base on those 5 questions:
  The decryption key is the answers to the following questions, separated by ‘-’ characters. There are no spaces between the answers and the answer is entirely lowercase.
  - Q1, What is the best friend name ?
  - Q2, Where did you live in December 2008? (Country)
  - Q3, What is your favorite color?
  - Q4, What is the more adventurous form of your favorite sport?
  - Q5, What is your favorite animal?
Mount the Volume: Once the volume is created, you can mount it on your computer. To do this, launch VeraCrypt and click on the "Select File" or "Select Device" button to choose the volume you created. Then, click on the "Mount" button.

Enter the password you set during volume creation, and VeraCrypt will make the encrypted volume accessible as a virtual disk on your system.

Third step: create backup

Now that we have setup both Bitwarden and VeraCrypt, it's time to make our backup !

"Export your Bitwarden vault" From the navbar, go to "Tools" and then "Export vault section". There, you may export in json or csv your data.

Mount your Veracrypt volume and drop you vault into it.

Create and store a REAMDME file with the password sentenses define before :

README.rtf

## Contents

This USB stick holds an encrypted volume, containing a backup of private website keys from My Bitwarden vault (in json format)
This is the same copy as on XXX USB stick

## Method

A Veracrypt volume was created on this drive, using Veracrypt (serpent)

## Description

To decrypt the volume

    - Install Veracrypt from the provided files (Mac or win)
    - Install macFuse (macOS only)
    - Launch Veracrypt and open the private_keys file

## Password

The vault is protected by a password.

The decryption key is the answers to the following questions, separated by ‘-’ characters. There are no spaces between the answers and the answer is entirely lowercase.

    - Q1, What is the best friend name ?
    - Q2, Where did you live in December 2008? (Country)
    - Q3, What is your favorite color?
    - Q4, What is the more adventurous form of your favorite sport?
    - Q5, What is your favorite animal?

Accessing on another device One of the benefits of VeraCrypt is the ability to access your encrypted volume on different devices. To do this, install VeraCrypt on the other device, connect the USB stick that contains the encrypted volume, and follow the same steps to mount the volume using the provided password. This way, you can securely access your data on various devices while keeping it protected.

Conclusion

That's it, you have your ID-secured USB stick. Here are some tips I found interesting:

Make multiple backups and keep one always with you (the other at home, safe & secure).
Store a secret note in Bitwarden with the content of your README file to have access to password questions if you lose them.

I used Bitwarden and VeraCrypt, but you could also use others like 1Password or LastPass, and FileVault on macOS for full disk encryption or AESCrypt for simple file encryption.

Finally, the best thing you can do is also to change your main password frequently as it is the only one you have to remember!