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Square is going to make a hardware wallet for Bitcoin
- karmakaze 5y agoI was trying to guess how this is different than a password protected USB drive. > “We have decided to build a hardware wallet and service to make bitcoin custody more mainstream,” Dorogusker said. Third-party involvement in cryptocurrency is like not having end-to-end encryption in your 'secure' communications app. I don't play, but if I did, I would only interact online for mining or transacting, not holding. Same as I don't use the "[x] remember my credit card details" convenience.
- closeparen 5y agoHardware security modules mitigate the consequences of host PC compromise. At minimum, they expose signing and decryption operations over captive keys, so that a remote attacker might use the key but can't get their own copy. Good ones have out-of-band mechanisms for confirming and authorizing the operations, so a remote attacker would need the cooperation of someone physically present. The simplest form might just be a button (like a Yubikey). A hardware wallet like Trezor has a screen where you can actually read the destination address and amount of the transaction to sign.
- karmakaze 5y agoI don't think I'm a person who understands modern day security. How is a Yubikey permanently attached to my laptop that anyone can touch when needed better than using TouchID?
- kevincox 5y agoIt isn't. TouchID and Yubikey are in the same security class they are both HSM devices with physical presence tests. A HSM with a fingerprint reader is actually better than a Yubikey as it has a stronger presence verification. The only real advantage of a Yubikey in this case is portability. The parent is comparing to a key living in software, which TouchID is not.
- karmakaze 5y agoThe factor that TouchID verifies isn't merely presence, it's 'something I am'--others being something I have (laptop/Yubikey), and something I know.