How does Airbitz secure my private keys?

 
(Disclaimer: These keys are actors and are not real bitcoin private keys)

The methods that bitcoin wallets use to secure private keys has been a pretty hot topic lately and we wanted to inform our users and the crypto-community at large how Airbitz secures its user’s private keys. Some software wallets store the user’s private key unencrypted on the user’s device or encrypted with a single, fixed encryption key that is common for all users. This creates a security flaw in that malicious apps with access to the storage of the device could easily access the private key.

At Airbitz, we felt that proper security requires that private keys are ALWAYS encrypted before being saved on the device, and that the encryption use a unique and strong password that only the user knows. To further increase the security, the user’s password is hashed into a pseudo-random number using a CPU and memory intensive algorithm (Scrypt) that is dynamically tuned to the speed of the user’s device. The faster the device, the stronger the hashing, the harder it is to brute force a user’s password. That strong cryptographic hash is the encryption key that secures the user’s data, helping protect it from malware on the device.

Additionally our code base is open source and our white paper is available for those interested in the details of our Edge Security platform. Our architecture has undergone a 3rd party security audit and we feel very confident we’ve found the right balance of security and ease of use for the masses and advanced users.

Many top tier blockchain projects such as Augur, Wings, Open Ledger, and Sphre are now utilizing the Airbitz Edge Security platform to secure the private keys in their apps and this is a testament to our strong focus on security and usability.

Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions about our security model and philosophy. We are always looking to improve and your feedback is appreciated.

To the moon! #Hodl #safely

    Permission.io retargeting pixel Skip to content