Skip to main content

Security Researchers Attack McAfee-Backed Wallet for “Unhackable” Claims

Security Researchers Attack McAfee-Backed Wallet for “Unhackable” Claims

With the vast amounts of money going around, it’s no surprise that the greater Bitcoin ecosystem is rife with scams, hacks and cyber attacks of all kinds. Operating in such an environment, cautious users are always mindful of their security and learn to avoid outrageous claims that are sometimes nothing more than just that. A recently released wallet was said to be “unhackable” by its promoters, including John McAfee, and this has naturally triggered security researchers.

Also Read: Football Team in Gibraltar to Pay Its Players in Cryptocurrency

“Unhackable” Bifti Wallet

Security Researchers Attack McAfee-Backed Wallet for “Unhackable” ClaimsWhen the Bitfi hardware wallet was unveiled in June, its official promotional material called it the “first truly unhackable” wallet, promising “impenetrable security” and an operation “without any risk of loss”. It was also said to offer more security than any other type of storage, including cold storage.

Vouching for the device being indeed “unhackable”, which Bitfi acknowledged is an extremely bold claim, was John McAfee. “Of all today’s elaborate and sophisticated methods for making wallets secure and easy to use, surely none is as epic as that of the new Bitfi wallet. Several of my competitors have pioneered innovative methods to protect private keys, but Bitfi pulled out all the stops to ensure that the private key can never be obtained by illicit means. No other hardware wallet has ever been built to this level of sophistication,” McAfee is quoted as saying.

This level of sophisticated security was supposedly achieved primarily by utilizing a proprietary open-source algorithm that calculates the private key from a user’s own unique secret phrase. “The private key only exists for a fraction of a second, just long enough to approve the transaction and is never stored anywhere.” And the developers added that: “Unlike other wallets, the Bitfi wallet cannot be tampered with. If it is ever lost, stolen, taken apart and forensically analyzed, the private keys cannot be retrieved, making the wallet safe to purchase from anyone within the network of authorized distribution dealers.”

Checking Under the Hood

Security Researchers Attack McAfee-Backed Wallet for “Unhackable” ClaimsInitial reviews were very unkind to Bitfi, with one security researcher stating: “my conclusion is that their product is most charitably described as a ‘footgun’,” meaning a device designed for shooting yourself in the foot. McAfee, which is known for being a shill in the crypto community but has credibility to lose in the cyber security space as an anti-virus pioneer, shoot back by labeling critics as “haters” and negative reviews as “fake” because they were based on Bitfi documentation rather than examining the actual device. Moreover, he challenged anyone to hack the wallet and receive a $100,000 bounty.

So security researchers have now gotten their hands on the device and are tearing it apart trying to answer the hacking challenge. And they already discovered a few interesting things. According to their collaborative efforts, it seems that the hardware of the wallet is basically that of a Chinese mobile phone (Mediatek MT6580) minus the camera and SIM card. And the firmware includes a Baidu GPS/WIFI tracker, a malware suite (Adups FOTA), and a tracker capable of logging all activity on the device.

Can any system claim to be truly “Unhackable”? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bifti.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

The post Security Researchers Attack McAfee-Backed Wallet for “Unhackable” Claims appeared first on Bitcoin News.



from Bitcoin News https://ift.tt/2OyYjIo
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deep Web Roundup: Dream Adds Monero and Bitcoin Tumbler “Chip Mixer” Launches

The darknet has been quiet of late, which is the way it’s meant to be. No news means no mega busts, honeypots, or mass market shutdowns. Even when it’s out of the spotlight though, the deep web is quietly making news, whether trialling the latest privacy coins or the newest coin mixers that promise to restore a little of the privacy that’s being stripped away from bitcoin users on a daily basis. Also read: U.S. Agency ICE Conducts Investigations That Exploit Blockchain Activity The Battle for Privacy Heats Up Privacy is all relative, but of late there’s been relatively little privacy to be enjoyed by bitcoin users. Blockchain monitoring software is becoming more sophisticated and more common, with U.S. law enforcement agencies using it to profile and hunt down deep web users. Chip Mixer is a relatively new bitcoin tumbler that’s designed to restore some of that privacy. Available on both the clearnet and darknet, the service uses a variety of techniques to obfuscate blockchain m...
10 comments
Read more

International Crypto Exchange Luno Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading

Luno exchange has added bitcoin cash trading to the platform following feedback from its client base. BCH is now only the third cryptocurrency available for trading on the exchange, in addition to BTC and ETH , but more options could be on the way once Luno determines that they are credible enough. Also Read: Bitflyer Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading Across Europe and the US Luno Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading Luno, the London-headquartered company formerly known as Bitx, recently announced that bitcoin cash was made available on its cryptocurrency exchange. Starting from Monday, September 23, customers at Luno are now able to store, buy and sell BCH on the platform. The reason given for adding BCH to the exchange is feedback from users in developing markets that convinced Luno to expand their offering from previously just BTC and ETH . Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of Luno, said , “We are in a new and exciting financial era. Developing economies are leading the large-scale adoption and appli...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ombudsman Receives Complaints About Crypto Investments in Spain

The Spanish ombudsman has been receiving complaints about cryptocurrency and how some Spanish citizens investing in these vehicles have lost everything. In his annual report, Angel Gabilondo recognized the rise of cryptocurrencies as a new problem due to the little or no regulation crypto sees in the country. In the same way, the EU has also warned about these assets recently. Spanish Ombudsman Gives His Take on Crypto Angel Gabilondo, the Spanish ombudsman, has given his take regarding cryptocurrencies and the effects they have on citizens investing in some of these projects. Gabilondo said in his yearly report that cryptocurrencies have become “a new problem” during the year examined, with many people having lost all of their funds invested. The report states : Cryptocurrency exchange companies or platforms are not regulated in the legal system, are not subject to any public supervision system, nor do they benefit from deposit guarantee systems. The affected users that sought...
Post a Comment
Read more