Protecting what you earn: common sense and simple technology

So you’ve made a lot, a lot of money. And now it is necessary to protect them from other people’s encroachments. In general, so that the uncle does not find in a cap and the wife does not take it away. A lot has already been said about multi-signatures, Shamir’s secrets and

hardware

s walletX, but, that’s not it. In other words, the common man needs simple methods. And they certainly are.

Imagine – you are being interrogated by the investigator ( God forbid…). He demands to show the contents of his pockets. You are reluctant to lay out a smartphone (where without it), the keys to the apartment and car, a mint candy and a receipt from the store on the table. The investigator picks up a smartphone and strongly asks to remove the password to enter. You must do it – I do not envy you if you refuse. So, what does he see in your smartphone? Applications, photos, videos, conversation recordings, working documents, important correspondence. Everything that will help him not only make up your psychological profile, but also learn about material well-being. Here his gaze falls on the icon on the left with a lot of talking about the name Binance. Requires to open. Looks and does not believe his eyes! What does he see on the balance sheet? $11,$640 or $1 ? What does this mean for you? The smartphone is quickly sent to the desk drawer. And you? Claim your rights to him, demand a lawyer and one phone call? Let’s leave horror to the venerable directors and think about the important. About money, health and general well-being.

What will we talk about?

Is it worth buying a hardware wallet for the sake of your bitcoins, and is it possible to replace it with a simple flash drive ? A hardware wallet is a more visible and less accessible thing, unlike a regular flash drive with a secret

What algorithms and tools should be used to encrypt important information?

Should I pay attention to Linux? Windows and Linux are not a matter of choice

How to track the balance on a cold wallet without direct access to him?

Methods of secure communication and why terrorists do not use Telegram

In general, we will discuss quite a lot of interesting and useful things , and also try to evaluate our own level of privacy at the time of reading the article.

A simple flash drive as an analogue of a hardware wallet

Why a simple flash drive, and not a heaped hardcore Trezor (or similar)? And, it’s true, after all, a hardware wallet is relatively inexpensive, and there are many benefits. It is stable, secure, small in size, with many different functions, it is a practical mini device with built-in functionality, which is being developed by the best specialists in the world of cybersecurity and computer hardware. It looks extremely stylish and many cryptans have long acquired one.

Quote:

Hardware wallets are devices designed to securely store private keys. They are considered more secure than desktop or smartphone wallets, mainly because they are not connected to the internet all the time. This feature greatly reduces the attack vectors available to attackers as they cannot remotely hack into the device.

Read more…

And they did the right thing, because I’m not going to dissuade you from exchanging such a cool thing for some Chinese flash drive with a portable wallet installed on it. Yes, it’s very simple. Just a flash drive. She has a wallet on her. And here you are your own cybersecurity specialist. And the owner is not a well-known hardware wallet, but an ordinary flash drive. Do you feel the difference? Modesty is your best friend, which will help you not to attract too much attention to yourself with various hype things. Therefore, perhaps the option with a flash drive will seem to some more reasonable, practical and safe.

Advantages of a flash drive over

hardware wallet

:

• You do not need to order a hardware wallet directly from the manufacturer and wait for it to be received. Or did you buy it from the store across the street? God forbid …

You can make yourself arbitrarily similar wallets – after all, for today , flash drives are given almost for free. True, it is not worth saving here – it is better to choose a more expensive, but high-quality flash drive.

You can make a backup from this flash drive anywhere and any way you like. Only you decide how you protect your wealth.

A flash drive is an inconspicuous thing. In addition, you can hide its visible content. Only the most common files will be on top, like photos of your favorite cat.

Why do you need an offline wallet, and why should it be on a flash drive

Indeed, why fool yourself like that at all instructions? Just go to any exchange, get yourself a wallet with different shiny coins and you will be happy. people do not use offline wallets, but use online services. They store funds directly on the exchange or on the site where they do business. And so, for a long time, until something happens and they lose access to their money. And, most importantly, they did this from the very beginning and did not even think about using a wallet that would provide them with an almost guaranteed safety of funds. Which does not require from them a copy of the passport and a glamorous selfie as a keepsake. These people do not even realize that they are voluntarily surrendering to the mercy of pro-government structures, because all services that are subject to local and international legislation merge their customers at the first request of the “men in black.”

READ MORE:

Proof of Keys: Prove what you own

I’m not suggesting you break the law, but, and is not inclined to scatter his personal data, openly declaring that I own cryptocurrencies in a specific amount. Why was Bitcoin created then? And even if you don’t care about privacy, just think about security. How many people will lose their money if tomorrow Binance slams its doors in the face of thousands of traders, dumbfounded and embittered from powerlessness before the arbitrariness? You, after all, do not need to mention the sad fate of MtGox and those who lost hundreds, or even millions of dollars there? They did not achieve any justice, and some lost their lives. But, we will talk about this in a separate article

.

OK, why can’t you just install an offline wallet, of which there are many, in particular, for mobile devices (I wrote about this in a separate article) and not think about the security of funds? After all, it’s already been taken care of. l good developers? Understand that your safety is your first priority. The developer, at best, risks his reputation, but not his money, but yours. Moreover, if money was stolen from you simply by taking possession of the password from the wallet or the funds were confiscated “for the needs of the state”, then you have nothing to blame the developers themselves. It’s your fault. Exactly, yours!

You did not take care to remove the money away from prying eyes. You were running your wallet on an insecure device that could contain viruses. You keep your cryptocurrency savings on a general purpose device. Do you care? But, not to those who want to take possession of your money.

Now imagine a different model of interaction with the Bitcoin network. You use online services only for current financial transactions, but keep the bulk of the funds separately on a secure device, owning a private key. No one knows about this money except yourself.

By the way, a translation was recently published on how to take care of your secret savings, in case if something happens to you. But that’s not what we’re talking about now.

Even you don’t have instant direct access to this money. In fact, no one can have such access a priori. The machine does it, it has access, not you. You can’t do anything without her. What else does your car do, and what doesn’t it do? You don’t know. Therefore, simply deprive her of the sole ownership of your information. Delegate access rights. Because the power of the machine ends at the end of the power cord

[предположительно].

To do this, we need to separate your wallet from a device that can think. Option one is a flash drive. And only you will know how everything works.

The flash drive will be stored separately in a drawer, among other small things. Lie in your bag or hang like a keychain on a bunch of keys. And most may not even understand that this is a flash drive, and not just a bauble.

And even if you open this flash drive, you will not see an invitation to enter wallet with treasured bitcoins. There will simply be photos, documents, something else. Decide for yourself. And only you will know how to access the funds. You can easily reveal the hidden, decrypt the wallet with an external tool that will be hidden on the same flash drive. Enter the password for the wallet and only then will the interface open in front of you, with the ability to make transactions. This is a simple action model, but by default it is more reliable than the more popular behavior of a typical user who has not yet been taught by the bitter experience of losses.

READ MORE:

What is cold storage and how to use it

Then you close the wallet, the secure container, hide everything back, and put the flash drive back in place. This is your cold wallet. You use it no more than once a week and the extra security measures will not be burdensome at all.

And for everyday payments, you use a hot wallet, maybe even multi-currency. Use what you want. But, do not forget that Bitcoin is the head of everything.

For a hot wallet, you can choose any convenient mobile application with the ability to instantly exchange for another crypto or fiat. For your interest, you can download an application that will allow you to pay in the Lightning network or with some stablecoin. Such things are becoming more and more popular, especially against the backdrop of world events.

creating a secure and confidential wallet from a regular flash drive

I will not specifically complicate the instructions. I promised – simple things for ordinary people. For those who just want to hide their few thousand dollars in Bitcoin.

What would need:

Flash drive

Which flash drive to choose? Reliable. Quite enough ancient, by today’s standards, 4 GB. Find the most expensive – this is important. You can also engrave with gilding and consecrate in the church. But seriously, look for an option that does not look like a flash drive or come up with something yourself so that the device does not make you want to check it for content.

Electrum Portable Wallet



Needs no introduction. This resource has a lot of useful materials that are dedicated to this wonderful wallet, including a detailed explanation of how to use it. At the link you will find all the information you need for the initial use and understanding of the general principle of operation of this wallet.

Here I will only remind you that Electrum has a portable version . And that’s it. It can be run from any media. There are versions for Windows and Linux.



A version of Appimage has been created for Linux – it is an analogue of Portable for Windows, which also works without integration into the operating system and leaves no traces of work in it.

By the way, Electrum allows you to work with the Lightning network, but that’s a separate point.

PS Download only from the official site! https://electrum.org/

If there is no time and desire to do something further, you can stop. Just use a flash drive with a portable Electrum. Because the most important protection is finding a wallet on a disabled external drive. If the flash drive does not attract attention, is well hidden or does not look like a flash drive at all, this will be more than enough. In principle, it can set the “Hidden” attribute for the folder with Electrum, and put several folders with videos and photos next to it. So, even when a flash drive is opened by an outsider (who is not looking for bitcoins on it), you will not indicate the presence of the wallet itself on it. Already better than trusting online services and mobile applications.

But if this is not enough for you and you want additional protection, and also have a desire to get acquainted an effective method of encrypting and hiding sensitive information – you should continue reading this manual.

Utility TrueCrypt

Here we will talk about why additional encryption is needed and about specific means such protection. We will mainly focus on the well-known TrueCrypt utility and how to use it. This is a section on how to use it to create another layer of encryption beyond the standard protection in Electrum. It’s not really necessary, but it will give you an idea of ​​how to properly store sensitive information and, in particular, why it might be important at all.

How to use TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt is an encryption program with a highly controversial history. Its creator is considered to be the same ambiguous and mysterious person for the “broad masses” – Paul Le Roux. Not a gifted programmer, not a real drug lord. The one whose last name appeared in the Kleiman v. Wright case is the one that some consider to be Satoshi Nakamoto himself. Significant personality. Well this is not the point.

In general, he developed back in 1100 d. a small encryption program for a wide user – E4M. Later, on the basis of its source code, another software was created – the famous TrueCrypt. By whom, exactly, is not known. By the way, it was TrueCrypt that did not allow the bastard Craig Wright to get his hands on a million bitcoins that belonged to either Satoshi Nakamoto, or Le Roux, or someone else … But, not Wright for sure.

Craig Wright is accused of stealing up to 1 million BTC and the developments of a colleague

B 1000 d. the latest kosher version of TrueCrypt 7.1a was released and passed a special audit. Then Le Roux was arrested, and it started spinning. TrueCrypt was shut down, called unreliable, and advised to use the BitLocker built into Windows. Well, or a complete analogue of TrueCrypt, called VeraCrypt with important changes, of course. How important these changes are is not for me to judge. In general, since Le Roux used it, why don’t we pay tribute to this wonderful thing under the license plate 7.1a?

Download only one from these links!

https://github.com/AuditProject/truecrypt-verified-mirror/find/master

https://www.truecrypt000a.com/downloads/

The second link has language packs – download the .xml file with the required language and just put it in the folder with TrueCrypt.

If you do not trust these sites, you have the right to download the source code, study it and compile the program yourself . I suspect that you will not do this ..

PS In fact, such precautions are needed only for the right attitude to the matter. Because it is not so important what encryption tool you use – this is done only from an outsider and random person who can get this flash drive into their hands. He will not open anything and will not even see, or, to put it more correctly, he will not see, and if he sees, he will not open. But, if someone knows or at least suspects that there are bitcoins on this flash drive and is extremely interested in getting them, nothing will help you against the methods of thermorectal cryptanalysis. You can use a different version or the same VeraCrypt. It’s just that in our case, TrueCrypt or VeraCrypt will allow not only to create a secure container for the wallet, but also to hide it in an extremely tricky way.

So, there are versions for different operating systems. We are currently working with Windows. Download directly to a flash drive. Do not litter in the downloads folder.

Do not install, and, accordingly, simply unpack nearby, in the same place on a flash drive, because our TrueCrypt will work exclusively in portable mode:



How does TrueCrypt work?

This simply wonderful program is extremely easy to learn and allows you to encrypt necessary files, and even entire disk partitions on the fly. Supports external media. To encrypt files, you just need to create a special container and set a password for access. Everything! Now you can drag and drop any files there in the usual mode, which will be encrypted automatically. The container is available as long as it is mounted as a new disk. Everything works exactly the same as if it were in a simple folder. As soon as you reboot or remove the flash drive, the partition will be unmounted and you will need to enter the password again to access it. It is in this container that we will put our Electrum.

I will not completely describe the entire instruction, because There are a huge number of manuals on the use of TrueCrypt on the Web.

With the permission of the editors, I give a link to a third-party private blog:

TrueCrypt is a universal tool for data encryption. Detailed instructions. Basic level

Of additional interesting features, it is worth noting the possibility of creating a hidden container in the main, i.e. container with double bottom. But, not everyone needs it. But we may need it.

So, if you did everything right, you should have an empty encrypted container and a portable TrueCrypt on your flash drive. Now open TrueCrypt and mount the created container.

Important:

TrueCrypt doesn’t care what extension the created file will have – so it’s better to immediately give it one of the most popular, for example mp4. So it will be more inconspicuous among similar ones. In addition, it is important for further actions.

A new partition with the selected drive letter will appear in the list of available drives. Now you can safely place a portable Electrum in it and use it as usual. The main thing is that after you simply remove the flash drive from the port, the disk will automatically turn off and you will not mount it again without a password. Just what we needed.

Important tip:

In order not to manually mount the partition every time you connect a flash drive, you can do a number of simple steps.

Mount the partition and add it to favorites:



We mark the item auto-connect when connecting the device:



Go to the settings and check that TrueCrypt tracks the connection of devices in the background:



Now, when you connect a flash drive and start TrueCrypt – it will automatically mount the specified partition – of course, you will first be asked to enter a password.

BUT! This somewhat devalues ​​our work on hiding the container. After all, it is enough just to run TrueCrypt to guess about the presence of a container. It remains only to pick up a password …)

Therefore, choose between additional convenience and greater security. After all, just the presence of TrueCrypt among 000- other portable programs on a flash drive does not prove the existence of the container .

Important digression:

I mentioned it not for nothing for the “cleanliness” in the downloads folder. Your main drive should not have any traces of using third-party encryption tools. In general, since the conversation has gone for working with confidential information, it is simply necessary to indicate a certain point. The fact is that many do not attach importance to how information carriers work. It cannot be considered that by throwing a file out of the trash you are sending it into oblivion. In fact, for quite a long time it can be removed back, because. the data is not immediately permanently deleted, but simply ceases to be displayed. They continue to exist on the hard drive until they are overwritten. Therefore, they can be returned even by publicly available tools. And professional software is able to find all the information that has ever been written to the media, regardless of how much time has passed since it was deleted. Therefore, in serious organizations where it is important to keep some kind of state or commercial secret, hard drives that have served their purpose are not thrown away, but physically destroyed. This is the only way to truly get rid of data on any media. e.

Ordinary citizens, as a rule, do not need to resort to such harsh measures, but, nevertheless, it is worth adhering to a certain rule. It consists in the need to “overwrite” especially sensitive data using special software before deleting. Simply put, it’s called a shredder. Some of those who work in offices remember well such a machine that cuts important documents into thin strips before they are sent to the trash. This is how, according to different algorithms, a shredder works to remove important information from any medium.

What is meant by important information and why is it relevant for the owner cryptocurrencies?

Remember how you throw away old versions of financial software, password files, copies of documents, etc. How do you do it?

There are many tools available that allow you to quickly restore what you think has been destroyed forever. Delete the file with the saved passwords from the Recycle Bin (remember that vile lie of your operating system – “Delete the file permanently?”), And then take any special file recovery program and try to return it back. At the same time, see what else you can restore. Impressive?

To significantly reduce the chances of successful recovery of confidential information – use any available shredder. Using it is quite simple. It is better if it is portable and located on external media. So calmer. I can recommend the portable OW Shredder.

How to hide files on a flash drive?

Quote:

• Imagine a situation when some intruders decided to hide a stolen two-cassette tape recorder at their home before a search. They go to the store, take their passport and buy an expensive super safe. They put it in the middle of their apartment and put a two-cassette recorder there. Servicemen come, go around the whole house, there is no two-cassette. Naturally, they ask: “What is this safe in the middle of the apartment?” And those to them: “None of your business! This is our Private Property!” Well, of course, fingers in the doorway and the safe is open …

  Methods of hiding information / Sudo Null IT News

  I will not offer any special means, because if your flash drive gets on the table of an intelligent forensic specialist, nothing will be hidden from him. But for a person who is unaware of the presence of hidden content, the simplest tricks will suffice. Although, in the future, you may decide to use more cunning methods for hiding files. for example, 1 GB (you may want to add something else to it) and a folder with portable TrueCrypt. In general, everything looks different from what you might initially imagine. But, it’s already better than it was.

  In principle, you can finish this and no longer fool yourself with additional wisdom. You can add a folder to the flash drive with 000- video and put our pseudo-video there. True, it does not open with anything and does not have a preview, which will somewhat distinguish it from the rest. But under what form you leave it is up to you. Again, you can simply assign the Hidden attribute to the container, as well as to the TrueCrypt folder. And on the surface there will be only ordinary files – video or photo in sufficient quantity so that your secret dissolves in it. Although, this is an extremely primitive technique that will simply allow you not to attract unnecessary attention.

  Let’s complicate the task a little. We will embed our crypto container into a video file that will run in any player as usual. Just home cinema. But TrueCrypt will open the file as a container containing your wallet. This is called steganography. And for this we need an additional component in the system – Python, which is preinstalled in most Linux distributions, but not in Windows.

Don’t strain yourself about this, even if you are absolutely not a programmer. The process is not much different from installing any other software.

You will also need to download a special script and enter a couple of lines on the command line.

I won’t describe how to install Python – you can easily find instructions on the Web. Install the latest third version.

Now, you will need to create the cryptocontainer again, but with a secret an additional hidden container will be created inside the main one. By default, this method is used in case force majeure forces you to reveal the password from the main container. But, in this case, this is done for a purely technical reason.

Create a container with a hidden section. Immediately give it a name [имя].mp4

Set the required size

Don’t bother with the first password – the main container will be destroyed

Set the hidden volume to the maximum possible size

Now you need to prepare the script. Go to this page and copy the whole code:

https://keyj.emphy.de/files/tcsteg3.py

Paste in notepad and save as .py.

ATTENTION! This script is provided as is by

3rd party encoder and the author of the article is not responsible for any consequences of its application.

But, you can look at the script yourself and, even without much knowledge of Python, make sure that this well-structured code is really created exclusively for merging the crypto container and the mp4 file. If you are not sure, show the script to a specialist.

Now put the script and any mp4 file that does not exceed the size of the created container in one folder, preferably directly on flash drive next to TrueCrypt.

Now open a command prompt from the same folder (just type the drive letter in the CLI, for example G: and press Enter.

Now enter this command:

python tcsteg3. py [любое видео].mp4 [ваш криптоконтейнер].mp4

Example:

I created a double-bottomed crypto-container and called it jodi.art.mp4. Then I took a video called Cryptoanarch_and_Chaos.mp4. As a result, I got the following command:

python tcsteg3.py Cryptoanarch_and_Chaos.mp4 jodi.art.mp4

If done correct – get the result:

Now I have a crypto container called jodi.art that looks like like a video, it has a preview and I can watch it in any player, and if I mount it in TrueCrypt, an encrypted section will open where I can put my portable wallet.

So, now we can create a folder on the flash drive, put a dozen videos and our container there. The chance that someone will guess about his appointment is extremely small (to put it mildly). Just imagine Check the possibilities of this method – how much you can hide in a regular video. And in a second, open with a utility weighing 3 mb. And it is almost impossible to detect this container.

There remains a small problem – TrueCrypt. It is undesirable that the very fact of the presence of such a program on a flash drive was so obvious. Again, it can be hidden through the attributes or simply put in a folder with other portable programs. Then his presence among the rest may seem just an accident. It is recommended to rename the TrueCrypt folder so that it does not catch the eye. In general, there is room for your ideas.

Bitcoin pizza is served cold

Ok, you did everything right and now you are the proud owner of a simple but secure wallet. True, there is an inconvenient aspect – you can’t just check the receipt of funds like that or, in general, make sure that the balance is safe and sound. After all, in order to gain access to such a wallet, you need to perform a number of actions.

How to track the balance on a cold wallet without direct access to it?

In this case, there has been an elegant solution for a long time. An application that monitors your address for incoming and outgoing transactions. No wonder that the blockchain is an open database. And with such an application, you do not have to keep track of your address yourself.

The most convenient and reliable option is probably the Sentinel mobile application from the developers of the famous wallet Samourai Wallet. It is very important that it exclusively tracks your balance, but does not allow you to make any transactions. You can install it on your smartphone and also hide it from prying eyes. So take it easy.

Sentinel App

PS It is recommended to download the APK directly from the developers website

Before use Sentinel be sure to familiarize yourself with the concept of xPub keys, as well as how to find out the xPub key for your wallet. In our case, this is Electrum. In short, Electrum can create any number of public addresses from a single public key, which is called xPub. The convenience is that by tracking xPub, you can know about the movement of funds on all addresses that are generated from it. In Electrum, the public master key can be copied in the Wallet-Information tab. then use it in Sentinel.

For more security, you can simply hide the application icon. Many recent devices have this feature by default. But, it should be understood that current trends in mobile devices are not striving for privacy, but for the maximum collection of your data, which can be used with benefit. And if on devices with Android OS – you have the possibility of at least some choice, then on iOS it is still more difficult. community to make their own firmware and more secure applications that are placed in absolutely legal stores, such as F-Droid.

Overview of the best bitcoin apps for Android

Therefore, before using a mobile device running Android to work with cryptocurrencies, it is recommended to carefully choose a gadget before buying it and change the factory firmware to an official custom one. If you have enough strength, be sure to carefully study this material on Habr, dedicated to installing and configuring LineageOS custom firmware. This will greatly enhance your privacy and provide a lot of useful knowledge regarding security on mobile devices in general. You will understand that Android can be different and work exactly in your interests, and not engage in covert espionage in favor of the enrichment of global corporations.

Should I use Linux?

What does Linux have to do with it? Isn’t it too much? In principle, I am sure that if you are interested in cryptocurrency, read this resource and have reached this place in the article, Linux is probably not an empty phrase for you.

It should be understood that an open source operating system is an order of magnitude more reliable than proprietary Windows or MacOS. Moreover, many Linux distributions are specially designed for maximum privacy.

Moreover, a Windows user does not have to give up the usual amenities and even install with the main OS. It is enough to install any Linux on a flash drive and use it as usual, just booting from external media if necessary.

P171603.S. Still, pay attention to other communication methods, such as Tox, Signal, etc. So calmer …

Conclusion

I note that in terms of security and convenience, the option with a simple flash drive far inferior to a hardware wallet, but for some this may be the only possible move. Why?

And because you can live not somewhere in a prosperous country, but in the outskirts of the world, risking starvation or becoming a victim of fatal circumstances. But, you have at least some access to the network. And you can do at least some business on the Web. And you work with bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Because there are no other possibilities. Crypto-cash or crypto-goods. And there is no delivery of a hardware wallet to your jungle. Or there is no time to wait for this delivery. It is necessary here and now to make yourself a more secure wallet than a mobile application on a dilapidated smartphone. Or some other circumstances push you to read this manual. For example, you need to quickly provide a whole group of people with such wallets.

in the instruction and its implementation. By completing this kind of quest, you will gain much more than saved bitcoins. You will gain knowledge that will radically change your attitude to security and improve your skill as a whole.