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Safe room · Store valuables and documents · secure-18

Back up data and documents (the single backup step)

This is the one backup step for the estate; comms, continuity and entertainment link here. In a long blackout online accounts may be unreachable, so keep usable copies at home and one copy away.

How

  1. Gather originals and copies of identity documents, property deeds, licences and permits, insurance policies, medical records and bank details. The FDIC lists these as key items.
  2. Keep paper copies in a waterproof folder in the fire safe and one set in your grab bag, as Ready.gov advises.
  3. Scan everything to an encrypted USB drive or external disk. The FDIC recommends encrypting sensitive digital files.
  4. Follow the 3-2-1 rule from CISA: three copies, on two kinds of media, with one copy away from the house.
  5. Use a fire safe rated for data media (for example UL Class 125 or EN 1047-1 DIS) for drives; paper-rated safes get too hot inside for drives.
  6. Keep at least three complete copies, with at least one in a different place (NDSA Level 2, matching the CISA 3-2-1 rule).
  7. Create fixity information when you add files: a checksum list, for example SHA-256, as NDSA Level 1 advises.
  8. At the yearly check, re-verify the checksums on every copy. Replace any copy that fails from a good one (NDSA Levels 3 and 4).
  9. Write down where the encryption passphrase lives and put it in the sealed access instructions (secure-22). A lost passphrase loses the backup.
  10. Test that you can open the backups at least once a year.
  11. Topic notes stay in their own steps: the offline library (comms-7), the continuity records (continuity-23) and media libraries and their yearly check (entertainment-10, entertainment-25).

Do these first

Sources

  1. Protecting your important documents and cash (Consumer News, September 2021). US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), accessed 2026-11
  2. Build a Kit. Ready.gov (FEMA), accessed 2026-11
  3. Back Up Business Data. US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), accessed 2026-11
  4. Safe Burglary and Fire Ratings Explained. Dean Safe Company, accessed 2026-11
  5. Security standards. Chubbsafes, accessed 2026-11
  6. NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation (2013). National Digital Stewardship Alliance (US Library of Congress), accessed 2026-11

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