Usb Encryption

[LoyceV]

if you or an attacker imports this wallet with the seed phrase on a different device, you'll have access to spend the funds on the wallet and set up a different password for the wallet on that device.

That's interesting. So as we say that the password protected wallet is encrypted, it is encrypted only if it remains on that particular system.

Z-tight is talking about importing the seed word phrase, not the encrypted wallet.

If someone copies that wallet file generated by the electrum and imports it into another computer, it will not remain encrypted???

That's not how encryption works.

[Charles-Tim]

So now if anyone gets our seed or if the seed is somehow get hacked through malware or something, the hacker won't be able to get access to our wallet.

For online attack, remember that your seed phrase can be seen together with your passphrase on online wallets. The only wallet that I did not see the passphrase is Bluewallet, and it is not supporting passphrase while generating a new wallet, you can only import a seed phrase to input the passphrase. Yet, we have to be careful of online attacks because online wallets are weak and vulnerable generally, even if you use passphrase with the seed phrase.

[Stalker22]

That password protected wallet file remains password protected, even if you import that into a new electrum wallet ?

No, the password you set up only encrypts the wallet locally, if you or an attacker imports this wallet with the seed phrase on a different device, you'll have access to spend the funds on the wallet and set up a different password for the wallet on that device.

That's interesting. So as we say that the password protected wallet is encrypted, it is encrypted only if it remains on that particular system. If someone copies that wallet file generated by the electrum and imports it into another computer, it will not remain encrypted???

No, that is not correct. When you encrypt the wallet data container (file) on one computer, it remains encrypted even after importing (opening) it with the software on another computer. Of course, you will need a password to access it, and that is the whole point. However, if you recreate the same wallet from a backup seed phrase, you will once again have the option of whether you want to password protect (encrypt) the wallet file or not because it will be a new wallet file.

You do not have to encrypt the seed phrase because you can simply create a BIP39 passphrase. In this case, the seed phrase itself is useless without the additional passphrase, which you can write down and store in a safe location separately from the seed phrase.

So we can write a seed phrase on a piece of paper and make such a passphrase that we never forget, and save that passphrase in our mind. So now if anyone gets our seed or if the seed is somehow get hacked through malware or something, the hacker won't be able to get access to our wallet.

The BIP39 passphrase is designed to protect your backup seed phrase. However, it is not encryption; it is simply the method for generating wallets from a seed phrase. For instance, you can generate a wallet with a specific 24-word seed phrase. But if you add a passphrase to that same seed phrase, you will create an entirely new wallet with a completely different set of private keys and addresses. Think of it as the 25th word (although it doesn't have to be a dictionary word, and it doesn't have to be just one word since it is a passphrase, not a password).

However, if the hacker gets the whole wallet file (encrypted one), then he can import it into another computer and can access the wallet ?

No, encrypted wallet files cannot be opened on any computer without the correct password. They can potentially be brute-forced if the password is too weak.

[aylabadia05]

I write my electrum private seed on the piece of paper and save it with me but i fear that someone near to me may read that paper and get access to the wallet. So i copied the wallet file on my usb and also write the seed in notepad in that usb. Now i want to password protect that usb or encrypt it so if anyone tries to access that usb, he can never open and read it contents.  How to do this ?

How to provide a password on a USB has been given a guide in a way that is familiar to Windows users by Bitcoin Smith.
Then, you are still confused I see. Even though that is the right answer, it is related to how to give a password to the USB which contains the seed.

More than one backup needs to be saved and I am not very sure about saving it on a USB because there is still a chance that the USB will be infected with a virus which will cause the files to be damaged and no longer accessible.

How do i create a passphrase for my wallet which i have already created?

This can be done by creating a new wallet.

[_act_]

More than one backup needs to be saved and I am not very sure about saving it on a USB because there is still a chance that the USB will be infected with a virus which will cause the files to be damaged and no longer accessible.

If it an airgap device wallet, there is no problem. Get a new USB drive and backup the file.

If it is on an online wallet, it may not be safe. The problem this can have is if the USB drive is damaged or corrupted which can happen. The user will have to be doing the backup periodically like every 6 months on another USB drive.

[virasog]

I write my electrum private seed on the piece of paper and save it with me but i fear that someone near to me may read that paper and get access to the wallet. So i copied the wallet file on my usb and also write the seed in notepad in that usb. Now i want to password protect that usb or encrypt it so if anyone tries to access that usb, he can never open and read it contents.  How to do this ?

I have a better more secure solution for this. Since you want to copy your wallet files in your USB and then encrypt that USB so no one can access it. But if you connect your USB with a malware affected computer and copy it is connected to the internet, then you are not 100% sure that your wallet files were not compromised while copying this data on your USB. Even though the chance may be very slim but since we are dealing with our money, we should be 100% sure about it.

A better way is to install a USB operating system on your USB drive, like tails OS and then create an offline Electrum Wallet there and transfer your funds in that wallet. Make your the wifi option is disabled in tails OS and there will be no chance of your seed phrase or wallet file getting compromised or affected by any malware.

[Yamane_Keto]

This topic leads me to the question, which is better, keeping wallet seed digitally after encrypting it with a strong password, or keeping an encrypted copy of the wallet file with a strong password?

In both cases, storing wallet seed in a digital or encrypted form is dangerous, but the options that you can do are:

1) Divide the seeds and store them separately, for example, into four parts, and store each part in a safe place (dangerous because if you lost any part, this mean you lost your coins).
2) Extend the seed with an extra word and save it independently.
3) Create a multi-signature address 2 of 3 and save it in a trusted location that no one else can access together.

[_act_]

1) Divide the seeds and store them separately, for example, into four parts, and store each part in a safe place (dangerous because if you lost any part, this mean you lost your coins).

This should not be mentioned at all. It is one of the worst ways to backup seed phrase.

2) Extend the seed with an extra word and save it independently.
3) Create a multi-signature address 2 of 3 and save it in a trusted location that no one else can access together.

Multisig is secure than single sig wallets online wallet, not for backup if you get how to backup the single signature wallet correctly. If you use a passphrase with the seed phrase, that is enough. If you like you can backup the wallet using USB drive or not. If the passphrase is strong enough, you are good.

If it is online security, multisig wallet is better. But its transaction fee is higher than single sig wallet transaction fee. For online wallets, I will advise people to use multisig wallet, but if it is a cold wallet or hardware wallet, single sign wallet is not bad either, despite that the multisig wallet of the same type is more secure.

[Yamane_Keto]

Multisig is secure than single sig wallets online wallet, not for backup if you get how to backup the single signature wallet correctly. If you use a passphrase with the seed phrase, that is enough. If you like you can backup the wallet using USB drive or not. If the passphrase is strong enough, you are good.

You can use Sparrow wallet to generate a P2TR transaction, which is often cheaper or the same as a regular multisig transaction. Ignoring outputs (same for P2TR & P2WSH), the P2TR input transaction weighs 230 WU, which is cheaper than P2SH and P2WSH transactions.

I do not want to go into details and say that it is the cheapest, but using P2TR will definitely make multisig fees cheap or as cheap as regular transaction fees.
Follow this table, and you can go into detail from here https://murch.one/posts/2-of-3-using-p2tr/

[Charles-Tim]

You can use Sparrow wallet to generate a P2TR transaction, which is often cheaper or the same as a regular multisig transaction. Ignoring outputs (same for P2TR & P2WSH), the P2TR input transaction weighs 230 WU, which is cheaper than P2SH and P2WSH transactions.

For single sig. You can generate a pay-to-taproot single signature wallet on Sparrow:





For multisig. You can not generate a pay-to-taproot multisig wallet on Sparrow:



You can read about BIP86 which defines the derivation path to pay-to-taproot single sig wallet: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0086.mediawiki

I have not read anything about pay-to-taproot multisig wallet. I do not think that it is existing yet, although it has been made possible. Or, can you point to any BIP that points to pay-to-taproot multisig wallet?

[dkbit98]

This topic leads me to the question, which is better, keeping wallet seed digitally after encrypting it with a strong password, or keeping an encrypted copy of the wallet file with a strong password?

I have one USB drive that was previously encrypted by me, and ever since I decrypted it and did a full format it is not working correctly.
It works as it should few times but at some point it gets corrupted and I can't use it anymore until I format it again.
I am not using this usb for anything important, but this is just showing how fragile and unreliable this drives are, so I would never use them for anything bitcoin related.
For me it's much better to have offline backup on paper/metal, without keeping important stuff in digital format.

[AprilioMP]

snip

I am not using this usb for anything important, but this is just showing how fragile and unreliable this drives are, so I would never use them for anything bitcoin related.
For me it's much better to have offline backup on paper/metal, without keeping important stuff in digital format.

It is very true that USB is not a safe tool to store important files. I had to throw two USBs against the wall because all my work data files could no longer be opened. For the first usb, I didn't give a password and the price was slightly cheaper than the second usb that I had used.

Op..., I think password is only the first door which can still be compromised to the main access door. Giving/inserting a password on a USB is not a safe way.
It's still better to keep it on paper and put it in a small safe like a money safe even though people can still know where it is.
Such offline storage is better than storing it on usb.

[libert19]

This topic leads me to the question, which is better, keeping wallet seed digitally after encrypting it with a strong password, or keeping an encrypted copy of the wallet file with a strong password?

I have one USB drive that was previously encrypted by me, and ever since I decrypted it and did a full format it is not working correctly.
It works as it should few times but at some point it gets corrupted and I can't use it anymore until I format it again.
I am not using this usb for anything important, but this is just showing how fragile and unreliable this drives are, so I would never use them for anything bitcoin related.
For me it's much better to have offline backup on paper/metal, without keeping important stuff in digital format.

I like method of uploading encrypted backups done on airgapped device digitally.

Make encrypted backup on airgapped device, move it to Internet connected one and upload on cloud storages.

Files get corrupted indeed, so I make and upload them regularly. If there is one file that gets corrupted, there is another to lean back on. I tend to have peace of mind as I feel like even if my file gets leaked, attacker won't be able to open it without password, also am quite confident on my password.

So far it has worked out well.

[virasog]

I am not using this usb for anything important, but this is just showing how fragile and unreliable this drives are, so I would never use them for anything bitcoin related.
For me it's much better to have offline backup on paper/metal, without keeping important stuff in digital format.

It is very true that USB is not a safe tool to store important files. I had to throw two USBs against the wall because all my work data files could no longer be opened. For the first usb, I didn't give a password and the price was slightly cheaper than the second usb that I had used.

For all those people, who do not trust the reliability of the USB, I am surprised that you people trust the piece of paper which can be damaged too, ink fade, torn or even stolen from the money safe.

I have my Bitcoin saved on the electrum wallet on tails OS on the USB and I have a backup USB as well. So if my USB got corrupted or my tails OS got corrupted I will still have another copy. I plug in both USBs every week or 15 days to check if both of them are working. I don't think both USB can get corrupted at the same time. If so, I can buy another USB today and make a third backup too. Now there will be 0% chance of losing seed because USB is unreliable and corrupted.

[Charles-Tim]

For all those people, who do not trust the reliability of the USB, I am surprised that you people trust the piece of paper which can be damaged too, ink fade, torn or even stolen from the money safe.

To create a seed phrase wallet with a strong passphrase is enough. For the backup, two or three (I prefer three) backups can be done and the seed phrase and passphrase should be backup differently in different locations. If you can not go for paper backup, there are steel/stainless steel backup material that can be bought for it. If it is not a wallet file, I have no reason to backup anything electronically on a device.

[LoyceV]

This topic leads me to the question, which is better, keeping wallet seed digitally after encrypting it with a strong password, or keeping an encrypted copy of the wallet file with a strong password?

Why not use both? Ideally with different passwords, just in case you forget one of them.

1) Divide the seeds and store them separately, for example, into four parts, and store each part in a safe place (dangerous because if you lost any part, this mean you lost your coins).

If you're going to do this, consider this method for 24 seed words:

Code:

Card 1: mutual forum bacon XXXX ritual danger XXXX XXXX lonely blossom calm equip illegal future XXXX blur lift XXXX XXXX XXXX spoil XXXX tennis alpha
Card 2: mutual XXXX XXXX apart XXXX XXXX sponsor devote lonely XXXX calm XXXX illegal future wasp blur lift cupboard odor quiz spoil brown XXXX XXXX
Card 3: XXXX forum bacon apart ritual danger sponsor devote XXXX blossom XXXX equip XXXX XXXX wasp XXXX XXXX cupboard odor quiz XXXX brown tennis alpha

At least now you only need 2 of 3 cards, and having only 1 card is still pretty much worthless.

For all those people, who do not trust the reliability of the USB, I am surprised that you people trust the piece of paper which can be damaged too, ink fade, torn

Nothing I've ever written has faded. Paper with ink lasts hundreds of years if stored dry and you don't burn the place down.

[Z-tight]

1) Divide the seeds and store them separately, for example, into four parts, and store each part in a safe place (dangerous because if you lost any part, this mean you lost your coins).

This is not recommended and it is too risky, storing seed phrases using different methods of obscurity usually makes sense when you're doing it, until you mess up and lock yourself out of your funds, it only gives you a false sense of security. Even if you want to make multiple backups of your divided seed phrase, you'll have too many backups because you have to provide at least two backups of each divided part and keep them all separately.

I tend to have peace of mind as I feel like even if my file gets leaked, attacker won't be able to open it without password, also am quite confident on my password.

Uploading your backups to the cloud is not recommended, even if they are encrypted, because it is now online and anything online is prone to hacking, and an attacker can brute force your password. Even if you have a strong password that may take very long or even never for an attacker to brute force, i will consider any backup in the hands of an attacker as being compromised already.

For all those people, who do not trust the reliability of the USB, I am surprised that you people trust the piece of paper which can be damaged too, ink fade, torn or even stolen from the money safe.

Seed phrase written on a piece of paper can last forever if you store it well, and that's were your opsec comes into play, you wouldn't store it where it will get wet, damaged or torn; and you surely won't store it where another hand can easily see and steal it.

[Yamane_Keto]

I have not read anything about pay-to-taproot multisig wallet. I do not think that it is existing yet, although it has been made possible. Or, can you point to any BIP that points to pay-to-taproot multisig wallet?

I created this topic, I hope to find an answer
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5466118.msg62814429#msg62814429

This is not recommended and it is too risky, storing seed phrases using different methods of obscurity usually makes sense when you're doing it, until you mess up and lock yourself out of your funds, it only gives you a false sense of security. Even if you want to make multiple backups of your divided seed phrase, you'll have too many backups because you have to provide at least two backups of each divided part and keep them all separately.

You can do it the way LoyceV mentioned, you need 3 cards and made 3 copy each of those cards, this gives us about 9 copies, provided that the similar cards are in different places.

Make encrypted backup on airgapped device, move it to Internet connected one and upload on cloud storages.

Cloud storage is the worst option, whatever type of encryption you're trying to do.

[AprilioMP]

✂️

For all those people, who do not trust the reliability of the USB, I am surprised that you people trust the piece of paper which can be damaged too, ink fade, torn or even stolen from the money safe.

✂️

There's no way I can trust a piece of paper. Storing the essentials isn't always a good option where they can easily be damaged by something like water or faded if left too long.
I mentioned that it is better to store it on paper rather than on a USB as an example, even if you don't think that is a reasonable example.
I also wouldn't store it in paper because it wouldn't be safe at all.

I'm preparing steel according to the number of letters of each word seed.
It makes me feel more at ease in keeping it.

[LoyceV]

Cloud storage is the worst option, whatever type of encryption you're trying to do.

It depends on how you do it: This guy posted his private key with $1000 and a 6 character password (with hints!) on Bitcointalk, and nobody cracked it in 2 years.
I agree that the average user shouldn't do it though, most users won't really know what they're doing.

There's no way I can trust a piece of paper. Storing the essentials isn't always a good option where they can easily be damaged by something like water

Put it in plastic.

or faded if left too long.

Show me a piece of paper you own that has faded over time. I don't have any.