Bitcoin Forum

Economy => Goods => Topic started by: AmmbrPlatform on July 17, 2018, 08:29:02 AM



Title: Air-gapped hardware wallet
Post by: AmmbrPlatform on July 17, 2018, 08:29:02 AM
Hi everyone,
BlackBird Wallet is a new hardware wallet that we are developing which we believe has far better features than any of our competitors. It's got a really great design and superior security. The three security features take the BlackBird to the next level:
- It's Completely Air-gapped and is safe from key-loggers, viruses, and bad actors trying to access your crypto through hacks and other methods.
- It uses Optical Key Transfer so you know exactly who you’re sending to and receiving from. It Protects against accidental mistyping / mispasting of addresses.
- Finally, there is the round trip security feature, where you create, send, and receive a transactions without leaving the device. There's no need to trust third-party software or networks.

We're out of stock at the moment, but as soon as we can get more units out there, we really hope to create an unparalleled device that protects your private keys.

If you're interested to find out more, visit our website @ https://blackbirdwallet.io

We also recently released an unboxing video if you'd like to see what it looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9KegguLfbE&lc=z23huvjyzl2jgnhebacdp435giyylh3qmwmkai1uqldw03c010c



Title: Re: Air-gapped hardware wallet
Post by: bill gator on July 17, 2018, 12:53:40 PM
What exactly does "Air-gapped" mean in this instance? I understand the concept of an air-gap for security and have read up on particular use-cases, but I'm unsure how this would look in practice. Would you care to elaborate on that for me?

How does the technology compare to a Trezor, Ledger or other hardware wallets? There's a lot of skepticism and optimism when it comes to new hardware wallets.


Title: Re: Air-gapped hardware wallet
Post by: krogothmanhattan on July 17, 2018, 06:15:34 PM
I am interested in getting one. Please keep me in mind. Thankyou


Title: Re: Air-gapped hardware wallet
Post by: AT101ET on July 17, 2018, 09:19:24 PM
Looks cool but I’d need a lot of convincing to ditch my ledger for this. I’m all ears though @ OP.


Title: Re: Air-gapped hardware wallet
Post by: AmmbrPlatform on July 18, 2018, 10:55:44 AM
Thanks for your responses. We are still in development, so obviously some information can't be made public just yet, but allow me to try unpack some things...
First, the design is great. The gorilla glass is sturdy and protects the touch screen really well. It's smaller than a credit card and can fit in your wallet. And, although it's obviously a matter of opinion, it is just generally a good looking device...
Far more importantly is security, and our developers have been in the Bitcoin environment since the early days. The first thing is the air-gapping. Exposure to any internet connection is obviously the most dangerous factor in any attack on your wallet. Keyloggers, viruses, and bad actors will be trying to access your crypto through hacks and other methods, so through a mix of Bluetooth and two Micro-SD cards, we make sure your device is literally NEVER connected to another device that is exposed to the Internet. We are the only hardware wallet that is fully air-gapped (your Ledgers and Trezors are at risk when they connect to a PC via Micro-USB cables).
Secondly, perhaps the most unavoidable vulnerability is that of human error. Reading numbers off one device and typing them into another will always be a flaw because we're all human... We use optical key transfer that ensures you can see exactly who you are sending money to, eliminating mistyping addresses by seeing exactly who you're sending funds to. Then there's the MITM attack... It's another fault in the process of involving third parties for communication between users, which optical key transfer also eliminates as a threat.
Finally, our round-trip security feature gives you the ability to conduct an entire transaction on the device itself, without needing to trust the safety of a third-party platform.

Beyond this, we have yet to confirm whether or not we are using open source firmware, but are only supporting Bitcoin right now, with more currencies set to follow shortly after launch.

I hope this gives you guys a better picture of what the BlackBird does, but as soon as we are allowed to communicate more details I will be posting them here for you.
Glad to see you're interested


Title: Re: Air-gapped hardware wallet
Post by: hugeblack on July 18, 2018, 11:55:16 AM
Why does your site look like a site to buy a shirt or clothes or Xi has nothing to do with technology, not a wallet?
Buying a wallet needs to be trusted, so how do you plan to gain this trust? Open source code? The developer team? More warranty?
Also, what is the essence of what characterizes it ?, I mean the price is a little high, it is about 300 dollars.


Title: Re: Air-gapped hardware wallet
Post by: ThatRandom8543 on July 19, 2018, 02:21:40 PM
Hi everyone,
BlackBird Wallet is a new hardware wallet that we are developing which we believe has far better features than any of our competitors. It's got a really great design and superior security. The three security features take the BlackBird to the next level:
- It's Completely Air-gapped and is safe from key-loggers, viruses, and bad actors trying to access your crypto through hacks and other methods.
- It uses Optical Key Transfer so you know exactly who you’re sending to and receiving from. It Protects against accidental mistyping / mispasting of addresses.
- Finally, there is the round trip security feature, where you create, send, and receive a transactions without leaving the device. There's no need to trust third-party software or networks.

We're out of stock at the moment, but as soon as we can get more units out there, we really hope to create an unparalleled device that protects your private keys.

If you're interested to find out more, visit our website @ https://blackbirdwallet.io

We also recently released an unboxing video if you'd like to see what it looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9KegguLfbE&lc=z23huvjyzl2jgnhebacdp435giyylh3qmwmkai1uqldw03c010c



Are you the same user as AmmbrTech (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1635234)? If so I did make a post on another topic you made asking some questions.

The video and the website doesnt exactly explain all that much to show how it sends and receives coins, what functionality and features it has, is it open source, does it has a api or a kit people can use to implement their own coins or functionality with the device, what processor is used as well as the chip that stores the seed, etc. Unboxing videos without showing the exact use doesnt help all that much, and the website, while it looks good (to an extent) doesnt provide as much details. To top it off, the price is way to much without real justification behind it.

Since you did mention some functionality, I do would like to ask how does it justify the price? Bluetooth in itself does have its own risk as well while something like trezor/keepkey and ledger, while can be connected via usb, has security features builtin to prevent many different type of attacks. In trezor case, you would need the pin (and passphrase) to sign a transaction, retrieve the xpub, etc. They make sure the user confirm the address and transaction as well. Plus not every pc is going to have bluetooth while every pc will have some type of usb port. Taking that away pretty much limits the device to mainly the mobile market, which not everyone is going to want to use just to send cryptocurrency. Bring the price down a bit or add usb support because in my eyes, I see a clone of the ledger blue (which imo has failed in many ways at this point, mainly due to the company lack of support for the device, but thats a different story) with limited functionality, and the product may not go long without usb support.

What hardware is being used for the device and is the firmware (that is open source?) based on an existing project or your own? Is it available via github and if so could you provide a link?



Title: Re: Air-gapped hardware wallet
Post by: alexrossi on July 19, 2018, 05:33:51 PM
True airgapped hardware wallet would be something with COMPLETE control when passing data, like QR codes or manual data transfer. Airgap was never meant to be practical.


Title: Re: Air-gapped hardware wallet
Post by: ThePunisher49X on July 19, 2018, 10:29:05 PM
True airgapped hardware wallet would be something with COMPLETE control when passing data, like QR codes or manual data transfer. Airgap was never meant to be practical.

It is not a practical concept and not intended for non-tech savy users to be able to make use of an air gapped device.

You have to know why you intend to purchase one and also on how it works to fully utilize what it was created for.
That is to keep your crypto offline and no way for anybody to hack your wallet like so many have had in the past.

I think these are focused towards that audience.