user843: I'd like to setup an automated process to email my encrypted wallet to myself, so that if, for instance, my house burns down, I've got easy access to a recent copy of my wallet stored off-site.
I've seen this mentioned in a couple places as a method for backing up a wallet, but none of the more thorough security guides I've read mention this as either a good or bad thing to do. 
So, is this a stupidly insecure thing to do, or a reasonable means of keeping a regular automated off-site backup of a wallet?

user916: You can also use hushmail.com for emailing an encrypted wallet file to yourself for backup. It is an added layer of protection and when utilized in this way, it acts as an online wallet accessible anywhere.

user153: The wallet.dat contains not just encryption keys but addresses as well.  If you are using the encrypt feature from the Bitcoin client to encrypted the keys then mailed to yourself those keys in the wallet would be secure assuming you used a strong passphrase and that passphrase is not used elsewhere.  
But the transactions in that wallet can be viewed by anyone with access to the backup file.

user117: You can trust encryption
If you encrypt anything using a strong key and a strong algorithm (e.g. GPG) then you can be sure that it will be beyond economical reach for anyone for a long time.
So, the general procedure would be

Encrypt wallet.dat with your long and complex passphrase (which you keep safe)
Attach the ciphertext output to your email
Enjoy the free offline backup service

Do not just attach wallet.dat to the email since it will reveal your transaction history and bind your public addresses directly to you thereby removing your anonymity.

843: <p>I'd like to setup an automated process to email my encrypted wallet to myself, so that if, for instance, my house burns down, I've got easy access to a recent copy of my wallet stored off-site.</p>

<p>I've seen this mentioned in a couple places as a method for backing up a wallet, but none of the more thorough security guides I've read mention this as either a good or bad thing to do. </p>

<p>So, is this a stupidly insecure thing to do, or a reasonable means of keeping a regular automated off-site backup of a wallet?</p>
 916: <p>You can also use hushmail.com for emailing an encrypted wallet file to yourself for backup. It is an added layer of protection and when utilized in this way, it acts as an online wallet accessible anywhere.</p>
 153: <p>The wallet.dat contains not just encryption keys but addresses as well.  If you are using the encrypt feature from the Bitcoin client to encrypted the keys then mailed to yourself those keys in the wallet would be secure assuming you used a strong passphrase and that passphrase is not used elsewhere.  </p>

<p>But the transactions in that wallet can be viewed by anyone with access to the backup file.</p>
 117: <p><strong>You can trust encryption</strong></p>

<p>If you encrypt anything using a strong key and a strong algorithm (e.g. GPG) then you can be sure that it will be beyond economical reach for anyone for a long time.</p>

<p>So, the general procedure would be</p>

<ol>
<li>Encrypt wallet.dat with your long and complex passphrase (which you keep safe)</li>
<li>Attach the ciphertext output to your email</li>
<li>Enjoy the free offline backup service</li>
</ol>

<p>Do not just attach wallet.dat to the email since it will reveal your transaction history and bind your public addresses directly to you thereby removing your anonymity.</p>
