In a Cointelegraph interview with Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet, the interview was based on how to know more about the best practices to secure cryptocurrencies for the user.
Should we be alarmed by malware?
Guillemet noted that at this time, phishing attacks and SIM swap attacks are the most widespread. "These types of attacks are very cheap social engineering techniques, but they are still very efficient," he added.
But when the risks are higher and users start to use better security practices, malware-based attacks are likely to be more common, he warned. On mobile phones, it doesn't matter if it's an Android or an iPhone, "it is very difficult to have secure applications," according to Guillemet.
Since Ledger is one of the most important producers of hardware wallets. Guillemet explained, the hardware wallets protect against possible malicious programs on the user's computer or mobile device. Both the storage and the signing of the transaction are done in the wallet, which ensures that the seed is never seen by the device to which it is connected.
Ledger uses a chip based on Secure Element technology, which according to them is an ideal protection against physical manipulation.
Samsung's initiative to integrate similar technology into its phones with Blockchain promises to make smartphones as secure as hardware wallets, but Guillemet emphasized and warned that they will not solve all problems.
Use will continue to be unsafe
Guillemet said that manufacturers can use hardware to make cryptocurrency storage more secure, using a technology called an integrated secure element:
"In terms of storage, there is no debate. The seed is within this safe element, and is very comparable to the safe element you can find in the [Ledger] Nano S."
But the proposition changes when the secure item must be unlocked to make a transaction. The problem is the phone's screen, where Android makes no guarantee that the data displayed on it is accurate - a feature called “Trusted Display”.
That opens the way to a malware attack:
Maybe you're going to say ok, I'm going to send a Bitcoin to this specific person. ' [...] The case is that you can add malware that will exchange the address to which you want to make a transaction with another, and will show you the address to which you think you are going to send. "
Ledger's wallets, on the other hand, were developed with the necessary feature of Trusted Display, Guillemet said.
OUR SECURITY
It is a topic that we must take into account, in past articles we mentioned how Hartej Sawhney, Cybersecurity Specialist, in Zokyo said
The biggest threat with cybersecurity is usually the human being. If someone in the company opens the wrong email or makes a mistake, then the funds are compromised.
In short, having our assets in a cold wallet is more reliable than having your private keys connected to the internet.
Physical wallets mean the highest degree of security and possession of your cryptocurrencies, since they are not connected to the network, a remote attack is practically impossible, unlike if you have your cryptocurrencies online. In this case you would be the only holder of the private key, since having these keys in your possession you become the sole owner of the backed funds, taking to the maximum expression the term of decentralization that fosters a cryptocurrency.
