{"id":49,"date":"2014-07-03T09:41:15","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T16:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/?page_id=49"},"modified":"2014-07-19T22:23:53","modified_gmt":"2014-07-20T05:23:53","slug":"irony-printing-bitcoin-makes-it-safer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/irony-printing-bitcoin-makes-it-safer\/","title":{"rendered":"Irony – Printing Bitcoin Makes it Safer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Paper Wallets for a Digital Currency?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may have heard Bitcoin experts say that the only way to be safe with Bitcoin is to print “Paper Wallets” and to keep your Bitcoins stored offline in cold storage<\/em>.\u00a0Many people’s first reaction is that\u00a0this is ironic. The so-called digital currency of the future and the money of the internet can’t be safely handled online?<\/p>\n

Well the facts are that your Bitcoin is always online – so is everyone’s. What you print out and keep safely offline (if you want maximum security) is actually just the\u00a0private keys<\/em> that enable you to spend your Bitcoin. The private key is just a big number which can be stored as a long string of characters (normally beginning with a 5) or as a QR code, just like a Bitcoin address, but if you see them side by side, you may notice that the private key is\u00a0more dense (has more dots).<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Evil Themed Paper Wallet<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What’s the difference?<\/p>\n

Imagine you own a car and you keep it parked on the public street. Is it ironic that\u00a0the incredible invention of personal transport of the 20th Century is so flimsy and ethereal that it will completely vanish if the keys are\u00a0kept conveniently in the ignition?<\/p>\n

Cars are made for the road, but the keys which prevent people stealing your car should be kept safe. We accept and overlook the inconvenience of having car keys because we understand their role in securing our valuable vehicle. It’s often safe to leave your car unattended without fear of it being stolen (at least where I live) but only so long as you keep your keys safe.<\/p>\n

With Bitcoin, the keys are not metallic, they’re digital,\u00a0just like passwords (and just like\u00a0car keys all will soon be). Unlike passwords,\u00a0keys are randomly generated and much longer, but just like passwords, you have to keep them secret. If you keep your keys secret, even if your computer gets hacked, your Bitcoin is still safe. There’s no way to steal someone’s Bitcoin without having their private keys.<\/p>\n

There is a problem these days with keeping computers safe from malware and viruses. Having meaningful amounts of\u00a0Bitcoin unprotected on an\u00a0internet-connected computer or smartphone is going to make that problem a lot more expensive for us potential victims. It is also\u00a0presents a more profitable target for attackers. This problem will have to be solved but for now the\u00a0thousands\u00a0of years experience in physical security (safes, strongholds, armed guards etc.)\u00a0that our civilisation has trumps our paltry half century of experience\u00a0in computer security.\u00a0We must resort to the physical world to provide the best security against online thieves.<\/p>\n

Hardware Wallets<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"trezor_label-1024x576\"<\/a>One of the most convincing solutions to this security problem that is\u00a0being developed now is a type of tiny computer known as a\u00a0Hardware Wallet. These will be pocket-sized, special purpose and security-hardened devices\u00a0–\u00a0I expect them to ultimately be credit-card-sized. Smart-phones and laptops can certainly do the job of making convenient transactions, but it’s just too easy to be unknowingly tricked into installing some software with a hidden agenda which will sneakily grab your passwords or keys from under your fingers. Hardware wallets would permit no installing “apps” so their exposure to these dangers is incredibly low.<\/p>\n

It’s still early days for Hardware Wallets so I can’t make any recommendations, however the Trezor<\/a> is a much anticipated early mover in this innovative\u00a0product category.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paper Wallets for a Digital Currency? You may have heard Bitcoin experts say that the only way to be safe with Bitcoin is to print “Paper Wallets” and to keep your Bitcoins stored offline in cold storage.\u00a0Many people’s first reaction … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-49","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68,"href":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49\/revisions\/68"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blockzombie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}