Bank of America has secured its latest cryptocurrency patent, in the form of a hardware device designed to securely store cryptographic keys offline.
Awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week, the patent suggests how the technology could be used for securing cryptocurrency wallets and transactions, as well as in a number of other blockchain use cases.
The patent describes a hardware device that stores private keys without an Internet connection, solving one of the key vulnerabilities in private keys, which are often stored on Internet-connected devices and protected only by a password.
According to the filing, “In specific embodiments of the system, the authentication routine is conducted as part of a crypto-currency transaction, a blockchain transaction or the like…[private keys] are continuously susceptible to being misappropriated. Therefore, a need exists for a secure means for storing private cryptography keys.”
It noted, “The desired storage means should reduce the risk of misappropriation of keys due to the keys being stored internally within a computing node that is frequently or, in some instances, continuously accessible via a public communication network, such as the Internet. Moreover, the desired storage means should provide for real-time responsiveness to tampering, such that misappropriation of the private cryptography keys is prevented.”
While the system described in the patent isn’t limited to cryptocurrencies, the numerous references to crypto transactions throughout the documentation suggests this may be where Bank of America sees the technology in future.
As one of the more prolific companies tying up patents for blockchain systems, Bank of America has filed over 20 separate patent applications, Fortune reported in June.
Bank of America is also a member of the Hyperledger consortium, in addition to their ongoing research and development around blockchain tech. CTO Catherine Bessant said that while many of the patents were not yet production-ready, the bank’s strategy was to position early for future deployments of these types of technologies.
“We’ve got under 50 patents in the blockchain/distributed ledger space. While we’ve not found large-scale opportunities, we want to be ahead of it, we want to be prepared,” Bessant was quoted by the news outlet as saying.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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According to a blog post published by the firm, nChain has been awarded a new patent by the European Patent Office (EPO). The latest patent – the sixth to be awarded by the EPO – covers a system that uses a trusted device to secure content on another device or computer server. The patent extends the invention covered by nChain’s Deterministic Key Generation patent, which was previously approved by the EPO.
The patent, entitled “Personal device security using elliptic curve cryptography for secret sharing, and numbered European Patent 3257006, details how two personal devices can communicate with each other securely using a “common secret” but without requiring that any sensitive private-key information be exchanged. Instead, the technique uses digital signatures to create the common secret each time data needs to be exchanged.
According to nChain’s announcement, “For two such devices, say a smartphone and laptop, the common secret (sometimes referred to as determined common secret or ‘DCS’) is formed out of the laptop’s newly generated private/public keypair and the smartphone’s newly generated private/public keypair. This common secret allows an encryption key to be established between the devices.”
It further states, “The next time the devices communicate a digital signature is required to send information, making it impossible for third parties to imitate either device. The trusted information then allows a new common secret (and therefore encryption key) to be recalculated for each session, ensuring ongoing security every time data needs to be exchanged. The information required to recalculate the encryption key is thereby solely kept on the security device (here the smartphone).”
The system provides for increased security of user and business data and doesn’t require a PIN or pass phrase. The security of a device like a smartphone is sufficient and the device will store the necessary information. This, says nChain, will allow for greater adoption of the system, as it is virtually hassle-free and doesn’t require users to memorize additional security controls.
The enhanced common secret system can ultimately be used in a number of different scenarios. It can be used to keep passwords for sensitive online accounts, for access to data on a particular device (including individual files and folders), cryptocurrency wallets, and more.
Explains nChain, “Using DCS for such purposes would pose a more convenient, and more secure method of two-factor authentication for online services such as exchanges or online bank services, as no additional data entry is required from the user, and no central server is involved in generating the encryption key.”
nChain’s invention is not limited to usage on the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain, and can be used in any variety of digital environments. However, its mechanism can be integrated into standard BCH wallets, further taking advantage of the strong security of the BCH blockchain. This further shows how BCH’s strength can be a valuable foundation for the advancement of any blockchain-based technology.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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G4S may be known for being one of the leading security services providers in the world, protecting everything from nuclear power plants to large-money transfers, but now it wants to protect a different asset class. The UK-based company has launched a new service to protect cryptocurrencies.
In an announcement on the company’s website, G4S indicates that it now offers highly secure cold storage for cryptocurrency private keys. It uses its existing storage facilities to also serve as offline crypto stores, which helps the company keep costs down. Client fees are calculated based on the number of storage devices requested.
Because G4S has such extensive experience protecting important assets, it knows how to ensure optimum security. The crypto keys are received by the company, which then breaks them apart and stores them across the requested number of vaults. Access to the vaults is restricted and the company provides several layers of security. Access to the vaults by clients is only permitted once they combine the keys with specific, proprietary technology offered by G4S.
Dominic MacIver, a senior risk analyst with the company, explained in the announcement, “Offline storage has become a more established and secure way of storing crypto-assets. At the same time, violent robberies and kidnappings in recent years have shown that the sector is still exposed to conventional criminal threats. In collaboration with our client, our security solution is built on a foundation of ‘vault storage’. We not only take the assets offline, but break them up into fragments that are independently without value and store them securely in our high security vaults, out of reach of cyber criminals and armed robbers alike.”
MacIver adds, “The original goal of cryptocurrencies was to redesign the fundamental architecture of money. Although some early adopters have made enormous returns, the sector has attracted the same old threats for financial systems, including robbers, scammers, market manipulators and many others. Our innovative security solution helps protect against some of those threats by taking the assets offline and storing them in high-security vaults. This gives people and businesses peace of mind to trust that their crypto-assets are secure.”
G4S is located in over 90 countries and employs more than 560,000 individuals across all of its locations. The company has been around since 2004 and is the world’s third-largest private employer.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
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