Turn An Old Floppy Into A Password Safe

[Peaches]

Turn an Old Floppy Into a Password Safe

Rick Broida

Think back. Wayyy back. Remember floppy disks? If you're like me, you've probably got a box of them in a closet, serving absolutely no practical use. (When was the last time you owned, or even used, a computer with a floppy drive?)

Over at Instructables, there's a clever, and downright amusing, tutorial on turning an old disk into a password safe.

No, not a digital repository for your passwords, but an actual "safe." See, I know plenty of people who can't remember their passwords for love nor money. They sign up for, say, eBay, then can't get back into their accounts a month later because they've forgotten their password.

Sure, you could write them down on a piece of paper, but that's not exactly a secure solution. What you need is a way to hide them in plain sight--like hiding a spare housekey in one of those fake rocks.

As you'll see in the tutorial, all you really need is an old 3.5-inch disk (why did we insist on calling them "floppies"?), some paper, a scissors, and a glue stick. I won't rehash the steps here, but the entire project should take you no more than about 20 minutes.

When you're done, you'll have a password safe you can leave in on your desk, in a drawer, or wherever. I can't imagine anyone ever "cracking" it, as even if someone picks up the disk for a nostalgic look, they're not likely to actually slide back the metal cover (which is where the passwords hide).

What do you think? A clever use for old media, or too insecure to be practical?

store & screenshot at PCWorld - http://www.pcworld.com/article/171319/turn...sword_safe.html

[Matt]

they're not likely to actually slide back the metal cover (which is where the passwords hide).

I actually used to do that to floppies all the time

[jcl]

I actually used to do that to floppies all the time

Me too. And if the covers broke I'd disassemble the disks.