Translations:Concepts/OpenPGP Getting Started/32/en

You should think about where you will store the passphrase for the main key and the revocation certificate file or print-out. Secure passphrases are hard to remember. You will most probably have to write it down. You really should not use a passphrase you have ever typed on an insecure system (and, of course, you really should not ever do so in the future). You should choose something like rsbBwNl137LcWP33RI: 18 chars consisting of lower and upper case letters and digits. Don't use special chars or umlauts. You gain little security (if you cannot remember 18 random chars then you probably cannot remember 15, too) but may get problems if you are ever forced to use the key on a rescue system (text mode Linux) with "wrong" keyboard settings. You improve security if you memorize a part of the passphrase and write down just the rest or if you write down both halves of it separately and store them in different places (one in your wallet, the other one at home). But if you store an 18 chars passphrase in two parts and an attacker gets one of them then the remaining 9 chars are not a secure protection any more. If you have created a revocation certificate then you have to store that in a safe place, too.