I've been reading up on bitcoin wallet security recently and there is no clear winner. It seems to me that there are a whole lot of complex solutions that involve encrypting volumes, memorising long passwords etc. There are many points of failure.
It seems to me that a much simpler method has been overlooked. I see this as a lo-tech solution, that can be widely used by everyone. You only have to memorise 4 or 5 steps to entirely encrypt/decrypt your private key.
You could call it "hiding in plain sight with obfuscation".
Instead of complex software encryption, you can simply take your private key and obscure it with a few personal, easy-to-remember obfuscation rules. Then, simply save the obscured data as a text file, email it to yourself or print it out and you don't have to worry whether anyone steals it or not, as it would be garbage and undecipherable to them.
a).
Take this private key:
5Kb8kLf9zgWQnogidDA76MzPL6TsZZY36hWXMssSzNydYXYB9KF
Encrypt:
1. Add/Subtract x to each number (e.g. +5)
0Kb3kLf4zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNydYXYB4KF
2. Shift characters along x places (e.g. +7)
YXYB4KF0Kb3kLf4zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNyd
3. Take a memorable name and swop first with last letter and add symbol to the first letter. So if your cat is called fluffy, you could replace every "F" with "y$". You could mix it up by having a personal rule to alternate the symbol with case, so F->y$ and f->y#
YXYB4Ky$0Kb3kLy#4zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNyd
4. Replace a number with a line break (e.g. 4).
YXYB
Ky$0Kb3kLy#
zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNyd
5. Transpose lines (e.g. 3 and 2)
YXYB
zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNyd
Ky$0Kb3kLy#
Now you have a totally obscured private key that is IMPOSSIBLE to hack without the hacker knowing your obsfucation steps/rules.
If you memorise the obsfucation steps, you now have a totally secure private key, that you can store in plain sight.
The amount of steps you choose is up to you and you can make up your own rules. Maybe you will add another step where you always replace the 10th character with an "M". It's up to you.
b).
If you feel you HAVE to write the steps down (try not to!), they need to be obfuscated to.
The above could be coded as
5_7cat4
Save it in a text file, write it on a piece of paper, carve it in a tree.
Then you keep the calculations in a separate place, which could be written as
----
++$#
3trans2
----
Save it in a different text file, write it on a different piece of paper, carve it in a different tree.
I highly suggest you create your own shorthand notation, which will obfuscate further. There are many ways you can do this, but Google translate is your friend here
Obviously use words you understand. kurang, מינוס
Decrypt with rules in reverse:
YXYB
zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNyd
Ky$0Kb3kLy#
>
YXYB
Ky$0Kb3kLy#
zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNyd
>
YXYB4Ky$0Kb3kLy#4zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNyd
>
YXYB4KF0Kb3kLf4zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNyd
>
0Kb3kLf4zgWQnogidDA21MzPL1TsZZY81hWXMssSzNydYXYB4KF
>
5Kb8kLf9zgWQnogidDA76MzPL6TsZZY36hWXMssSzNydYXYB9KF
The Avenger
Show Posts
