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Bitcoin => Bitcoin Technical Support => Topic started by: superduh on April 26, 2013, 06:05:13 PM



Title: adding passwords to btc protocol
Post by: superduh on April 26, 2013, 06:05:13 PM
not a technical person so pardon my ignorance.

so we have a private key
a public key

would it be possibly to add a password to the btc protocol for validating transactions?
for example the hashed password is stored in the network itself.
so to send something would require private key, public key etc, and a password (like the encrypted wallet.dat)

the only reason i ask is because it may add another level of protection/validation and in the one in a million chance that someone else winds up with your private key they won't be able to use it. would this add extra security to the protocol?


Title: Re: adding passwords to btc protocol
Post by: grue on April 26, 2013, 06:28:05 PM
that's called the private key. if you need more security, you can do multisig transactions.


Title: Re: adding passwords to btc protocol
Post by: superduh on April 26, 2013, 06:42:05 PM
that's called the private key. if you need more security, you can do multisig transactions.

well what if one day someone does generate the same private key as myself. it is possible right? and with so much theft this can be great deterrent (ie someone stealing a paper wallet or something)
i just thought that instead of just having encrypted wallet.dat that the extra password (self chosen) could be used to secure the private/public key combo in the blockchain. or maybe i make no sense


Title: Re: adding passwords to btc protocol
Post by: superduh on April 26, 2013, 06:48:55 PM
that's called the private key. if you need more security, you can do multisig transactions.

well what if one day someone does generate the same private key as myself. it is possible right? and with so much theft this can be great deterrent (ie someone stealing a paper wallet or something)
i just thought that instead of just having encrypted wallet.dat that the extra password (self chosen) could be used to secure the private/public key combo in the blockchain. or maybe i make no sense

It would be very difficult to generate the same private key, so difficult that it isn't worth it to worry about that.
[/quote

what about if a paper wallet is stolen or a private key is compromised on a website wouldn't an extra layer of protection be worth it in the long long run?


Title: Re: adding passwords to btc protocol
Post by: Gabi on April 27, 2013, 11:06:11 PM
You can encrypt the key before printing it on a paperwallet

Same for the website. If a website store private keys in plain text, their fault.

Quote
well what if one day someone does generate the same private key as myself. it is possible right?
It takes more time than the life of the universe


Title: Re: adding passwords to btc protocol
Post by: falschgeld on April 28, 2013, 11:20:34 AM
the only reason i ask is because it may add another level of protection/validation and in the one in a million chance that someone else winds up with your private key they won't be able to use it. would this add extra security to the protocol?
The chance that someone manages to guess your private key is close to zero. It is more likely that 4 definite people get independently struck by lightning tomorrow, so there's not really a problem here.

And if we assume that the issue you're seeing here was an actual issue (in fact it isn't), then your idea would be a non-solution because an attacker could still try to guess your password just as he can try to guess your key.


Title: Re: adding passwords to btc protocol
Post by: w1R903 on April 28, 2013, 08:05:28 PM
well what if one day someone does generate the same private key as myself. it is possible right? and with so much theft this can be great deterrent (ie someone stealing a paper wallet or something)

It's not only extremely unlikely for someone to generate the same private key as you, it's impossible to the extent the human mind can grasp probability.  Take a look at this poster and see if you can understand how unlikely it would be: https://i.imgur.com/fYFBsqp.jpg