Utilizzo questo post per riportare alcune info che ho trovato facendo un po' di ricerca, più che altro per capire meglio la situazione che si è venuta a creare con Ledger e, anche e soprattutto, per aiutare a comprendere meglio il funzionamento degli hardware wallet. Sono spezzoni di testo presi da alcuni siti e/o idee di alcuni utenti, io mi limito a riportarle con il link originale e poi ognuno si farà le proprie idee a riguardo.
What is a Secure Element? A secure element (SE) is a dedicated microprocessor chip designed to securely store and process sensitive data and protect such as biometric and transactional information. They are commonly found in devices that hold important data like credit cards, SIM cards, and since the 2010s, hardware wallets.
The purpose of a secure element in a hardware wallet is to provide an additional layer of security that helps protect sensitive data, such as private keys, seed phrases, and other cryptographic information.
In the context of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, a secure element within a hardware wallet stores its private key and seed phrass, which are critical for authorizing transactions.
https://www.coolwallet.io/hardware-wallet-secure-element-complete-guide/ Why doesn’t Trezor have a secure element?Trezor has defended its lack of a secure element countless times in the past, attributing it to various reasons such as the $5 Wrench attack (ie: the threat of physical violence trumps any wallet security measure), its open-source software, and greater flexibility.
Trezor uses a different approach to securing its hardware wallet. Rather than relying solely on a secure element, Trezor uses open-source firmware and advanced cryptography that are constantly audited and updated by a community of developers. This approach is designed to ensure that any vulnerabilities or weaknesses are quickly identified and addressed. Additionally, Trezor’s firmware is designed to run on a variety of devices, including those without a secure element, making it more versatile and accessible to a wider range of users.
Ledger very publicly disagrees with this assessment, even publicly attacking Trezor’s security flaws in 2019, and maintains that a secure element is an essential component for a hardware wallet to provide the highest level of security.
According to Ledger, Trezor’s lack of a secure element means that sensitive information can be more easily accessed by hackers or malware, making the hardware wallet less secure overall.
There is merit in both arguments. Ultimately, the choice between an open-source and closed-source hardware wallet comes down to your personal preference and the specific security features that each individual values most. You know which camp CoolWallet users are in.
https://www.coolwallet.io/hardware-wallet-secure-element-complete-guide/ OS and AppsContrary to what most people believe, the OS and apps run in the secure element. Again that chip is meant to defeat physical attacks. when Ledger updates the OS, or you update an app, the secure element gets modified. With the right permissions an app can access the seed. This has always been the case. Security of the entire system relies on software barriers that ledger controls in their closed source OS, and the level of auditing apps receive. This is also why firmware could always have theoretically turned the ledger into a device that can do anything, including exposing your seed phrase. The key is and has always been trust in ledger and it's software.
What changedFundamentally nothing has changed with the ledger hardware or software. The capabilities describes above have always been a fact and developers for ledger knew all this, it was not a secret. What has changed is that the ledger developers have decided to add a feature and take advantage of the flexibility their little computer provides, and people finally started to understand the product they purchased and trust factor involved.
What we learnedPeople do not understand hardware wallets. Even today people are buying alternatives that have the exact same flaws and possibility of rogue firmware uploads.
Open source is somewhat of a solution, but only in 2 cases 1. you can read and check the software that gets published, compile the software and use that. 2. you wait 6 months and hope someone else has checked things out before clicking on update.
The best of the shelve solutions are air-gapped as they minimize exposure. Devices like Coldcard never touch your computer or any digital device. the key on those devices can still be exported and future firmware updates, that you apply without thinking could still introduce malicious code and expose your seed theoretically.
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/13kdusd/hardware_wallets_here_are_the_facts/ What is an Air-Gapped Wallet?Air-Gapped Wallets are Completely Disconnected from the Internet, Providing Additional Security
Air-gapped wallets are crypto wallets that are completely disconnected from the internet and any form of wireless communication. This generally means that they are disconnected from both traditional internet connections as well as Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC (near-field communication), and even USB drives.
In general, air-gapped wallets provide the highest level of security of all cryptocurrency wallets. Still, there are trade-offs, as air-gapped wallets can be much less convenient than a traditional desktop, mobile, or non-air-gapped hardware wallet. Some wallets can be considered partially air-gapped, as they provide a USB connection but no Bluetooth, WiFi, or NFC connection ability.
https://supraoracles.com/academy/what-is-an-air-gapped-wallet/ Passphrase: Ledger’s Advanced Security FeatureThe passphrase is an advanced security feature that hardware wallets like the Ledger Nano X or Ledger Nano S can use. It adds an extra word of your own choosing to your already existing recovery phrase to unlock a brand-new set of accounts.
https://www.ledger.com/academy/passphrase-an-advanced-security-feature The hardware wallet is just a medium to access the funds stored on the blockchain. If the device fails you can use the 24 word seedphrase to access the funds from a new hardware device, or a software device.
The easiest solution to mitigate risk is to use 1 seedphrase generated by the device. Keep 100$ or so on it and then generate a passphrase. This alters the entire wallet, giving you a new wallet using the 24 words + a passphrase. If you lose the seedphrase, your passphrase means nothing. If you lose the passphrase, you cannot access the funds behind it. Think of it as a hidden account.
Write the seedphrase down (24 words) and stamp it into titanium, steel washers, w.e you want, but duplicate it and give it to your TRUSTED friends and family. They now have access to the 100$ in the wallet but they won't be able to access your passphrase. To protect against brute forcing you may want to use a good passphrase that is greater than 15 characters. The passphrase (sometimes referred to as the 25th word) can be stored in your brain, but if you're concerned about forgetting, I think it's completely okay to use a password manager to store it. You could name it something unrelated to ledger/crypto and you'd be pretty hard pressed to have someone hack it. Some may disagree here, but unless you have millions, I think it's worth what little risk there is. Mainly because you would need to be compromised physically and digitally. Meaning, someone would have to steal your seedphrase from you or your trusted contacts AND "hack" your master password for the password manager (something like Bitwarden is good). To me, the risk there is low AND you're able to forget everything and still be able to recover what you need, as long as you don't forget the master password to your password manager AND there is a copy of your seedphrase available.
You can also have an infinite amount of passphrases (25th words) so you could use Stashimi!123Account1 and 1tnuouccA321!imihsatS and have 2 separate accounts.
Also, the original 100$ in the 24 word account, I think of it as the "base" account, is your "tell" that your words have been compromised. If a friend or family member compromises your seed, the first thing someone will do is sweep the funds. You can see that your funds have been removed, and quickly create a new wallet and move your funds from your passphrase accounts!
https://www.reddit.com/r/ledgerwallet/comments/ysqhis/comment/iw192f5/