Generate private key offline on iPad?

[theecoinomist]

As I'm not tech savvy enough to boot my computer from a live version of Ubuntu to generate a wallet through bitaddress.org, I considered going the way:

1. Go to bitaddress.org with a non jailbroken iPad
2. Turn off wifi
3. Make a brainwallet with a random phrase of +100 letters, numbers and symbols
4. Write down private key on a piece of paper, proceed to do several backups

I will safe the public key on a computer and then send funds from a bitcoin exchange.. This way my private key cannot get hacked, unless sombody has remote access to my iPad while offline, but from my understanding that should not be possible on an IOS tablet.

Can anybody tell me if this would be a bulletproof way to generate a private key?

[djalexr]

just sounds not worth the risk ...i'm not tech  savvy either but there are step by step instructions how to do the ubuntu boot. Its not rocket science!

that said, it does seem very unlikely someone would be hacking your ipad or that it already has some kind of trojan horse on it

but you're potentially talking about the security of '000s of dollars worth of bitcoins, why not spend some time figuring out how to do things properly?

[kdrop22]

The idea behind offline generation is that you do it on a computer that is not on the internet and will never be on the internet. I don't think , doing it on the iPad is a valid scenario, as you will connect it to the internet after you generate it.
Just as you mentioned,  if you are using a brain wallet, you truly need to generate a string of random characters that is about 50 to 100 characters long, do not even think about using a short pass phrase or a random poem or prose. There are multiple instances of such wallets being hacked.
I understand your pain, as it is quite difficult to reboot into Ubuntu. Another option is to generate it on ipad , back it up and reset it to factory defaults.

[p2pbucks]

lol ... why use IPAD to do this ?

[theecoinomist]

just sounds not worth the risk ...i'm not tech  savvy either but there are step by step instructions how to do the ubuntu boot. Its not rocket science!

that said, it does seem very unlikely someone would be hacking your ipad or that it already has some kind of trojan horse on it

but you're potentially talking about the security of '000s of dollars worth of bitcoins, why not spend some time figuring out how to do things properly?

Well I've spent several weeks on it so far without luck.. Sure the 5 step guide on their webpage seems like a breeze, but apparently it itns't so. I can spend from now till christmas, but I've read up and tried all the ways, hence I'd rather spend my time elsewhere.

lol ... why use IPAD to do this ?

Cause it's way harder to get spyware/keyloggers on an IOS tablet, according to the store, it should not be possible unless you install it yourself.

[trout]

you can go to bitaddress.org and just save that page.

Then you don't need internet connection to open it, you just
need the file with the page and you can generate new addresses anytime
without internet.  All the needed javascript code is inside that one page:
it's designed to be client-side, usable offline.

[theecoinomist]

you can go to bitaddress.org and just save that page.

Then you don't need internet connection to open it, you just
need the file with the page and you can generate new addresses anytime
without internet.  All the needed javascript code is inside that one page:
it's designed to be client-side, usable offline.

Yea, I figured it was the same as loading the page and disconnecting afterwards.. However, I need a desktop computer for that, which will increase the chances of my private key being logged.. (since IOS tablets are yet to be filled with spyware)

[flatfly]

As I'm not tech savvy enough to boot my computer from a live version of Ubuntu to generate a wallet through bitaddress.org, I considered going the way:

1. Go to bitaddress.org with a non jailbroken iPad
2. Turn off wifi
3. Make a brainwallet with a random phrase of +100 letters, numbers and symbols
4. Write down private key on a piece of paper, proceed to do several backups

I will safe the public key on a computer and then send funds from a bitcoin exchange.. This way my private key cannot get hacked, unless sombody has remote access to my iPad while offline, but from my understanding that should not be possible on an IOS tablet.

Can anybody tell me if this would be a bulletproof way to generate a private key?

How can it be a "brainwallet" if it is 100 random characters?
 1. You can only remember that if you have super human memory, or they are not really random.
 2. a private key is one third of that length - so why not just remember the private key if your memory is so good?
 3. this passphrase length is absolute overkill. In practice it won't protect you more than a 15-20 character random password - it will just increase the risk of you forgetting it at some point.
 

[theecoinomist]

As I'm not tech savvy enough to boot my computer from a live version of Ubuntu to generate a wallet through bitaddress.org, I considered going the way:

1. Go to bitaddress.org with a non jailbroken iPad
2. Turn off wifi
3. Make a brainwallet with a random phrase of +100 letters, numbers and symbols
4. Write down private key on a piece of paper, proceed to do several backups

I will safe the public key on a computer and then send funds from a bitcoin exchange.. This way my private key cannot get hacked, unless sombody has remote access to my iPad while offline, but from my understanding that should not be possible on an IOS tablet.

Can anybody tell me if this would be a bulletproof way to generate a private key?

How can it be a "brainwallet" if it is 100 random characters?
 1. You can only remember that if you have super human memory, or they are not really random.
 2. a private key is one third of that length - so why not just remember the private key if your memory is so good?
 3. this passphrase length is absolute overkill. In practice it won't protect you more than a 15-20 character random password - it will just increase the risk of you forgetting it at some point.

As stated I'm gonna back-up private key in physical form, just using brain-wallet function to generate a unique private key. (So I guess you could call it a paper wallet)
So yes, the passphrase will be overkill- indeed. But my main concern was, whether it was secure to generate a private key off an offline iPad......

[theecoinomist]

bump

[theecoinomist]

I still haven't gotten a single helpful answer.
One would be appreciated..

[Barek]

But my main concern was, whether it was secure to generate a private key off an offline iPad......

As long as it is offline, yes.

My guess is that you plan to use it online afterwards. Do you know what kind of data is left is the browser cache, or if ios stores that kind of data somewhere. Maybe it wants to help you remember a password you forgot. This is all about that is theoretically possible.

Realistically, you could probably just generate that key online and be more than fine.

[theecoinomist]

But my main concern was, whether it was secure to generate a private key off an offline iPad......

As long as it is offline, yes.

My guess is that you plan to use it online afterwards. Do you know what kind of data is left is the browser cache, or if ios stores that kind of data somewhere. Maybe it wants to help you remember a password you forgot. This is all about that is theoretically possible.

Realistically, you could probably just generate that key online and be more than fine.

I'm not sure how much data the cache will pick up alot on bitaddress, but will make sure to clear all browser-related files from chrome/safari app.
Thanks for your answer