Yes, I agree that you should plan for it to be compromised. My point was not so much to prevent ID theft at that point (but that is still important). Rather, to help you prove identity to obtain government assistance during a disaster. With all the Katrina fraud we read about, I suspect people's ID might be more strictly verified during the next disaster. Hence all that "proof of identity" stuff I keep on my thumbdrive. Also pictures of family and pets on a thumbdrive might help locate them if you were seperated.

You didn't hear about the Sony music CD rootkit fiasco???!!! Any malware executable can be put on a CD and configured to autorun. I think "can be put on a CD" should be replaced with "HAS been put on a CD". Not too many have been, but they can be.

For quick customization and adding your own data, check out SLAX (www.slax.org) It's a lot easier than remastering Knoppix. Add the readily available TrueCrypt module, and you're set to go for encryption (TrueCrypt works on Windows as well - a big plus).

I guess I should get off of computer security and back to the regularly scheduled program ... back to the original topic. Which wasn't directly about computer and ID security, but about a new thumbdrive thingy! <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />