We all knows the danger of wallets. Even if it is open source, some malicious act (hack of developer github account) may attempt to put small piece of code in the source code to attempt steal your private key quietly. And these hackers are coming from everywhere, even can’t be spared from hacking (few times!). has so many engineers and developers, they are resource rich and can hire any top engineers/programmers/developers and yet hackers still managed to bypass their tight security.
I am a long term holder of ZILLIQA and I have full confidence of the team. My intention is to my native ZIL in a paper which is unhackable for 2–5 years. So the question is how to do that without any possibility of being hack/scam?
Even hardware may have a small risk if you buy the hardware not direct from the manufacturer.
So, the best way to do this is to make an offline paper . Let me show you how to do that. But DON’T BLAME ME, IF YOU LOSE YOUR ZIL USING MY METHOD! ALWAYS DYOR!
STEP 1
Make sure your laptop or computer is free of virus/malware/keyboard logger. Use Chrome and goto page.
STEP 2
Turn off your laptop internet (airplane mode) or if you are using a PC, then unplug the wireless dongle and turn it into Airplane mode. Pull out any RJ45 cable if you have. Then turn off the power of your router. Our purpose is to make sure it is 100% disconnected from internet.
STEP 3
See at the bottom of the page, click Create A New Wallet. YOU DO NOT NEED INTERNET WHEN YOU CREATE A NEW WALLET! Make sure STEP 2 is fully completed before you do Step 3. Now, key in some random words as password, the longer the better.
STEP 4
Click Print Wallet. Save the in PDF, and do a screen capture of the Public and Private key. Save the picture in png, jpg, bmp format. So you have 4 formats, .pdf, .png, .jpg and .bmp. Remember your computer is still OFFLINE, grab at least 5 new pendrive (low capacity is ok, use different brand for each pendrive to further reduce risk of pendrive failure), and duplicate the 4 files inside your 5 new pendrives. Test if you can open the files using each pendrive or not. The probability of 5 new pendrives failed together is very very low (but still possible). Save your public address on your computer.
STEP 5
Copy manually the private key using pen and paper, make sure no one is around. Copy at least 3 times the private key and public key on 2 pieces of paper. Do not print it using a printer. Make sure it is readable and clear! This is just to make sure you have a physical paper backup if ALL 5 pendrives failed in the future.
STEP 6
While still offline, close the tab of zillet.io. Go to Chrome settings, clear all the history and cache. Now close the Chrome. Uninstall chrome. Turn off your computer. Do not turn on the router!
STEP 7
You are almost done. You have created an almost 100% safe private key offline. This way, no one can steal your private key. Make sure to put your pendrives and papers in water proof container/plastic bag and sealed it. Put the plastic bag or container in a small fire-proof safe.
STEP 8
Now you can turn on your computer again, install your chrome and can browse internet as usual. You can now send your native ZIL to the public address you copied down.
RISK
If your safe is stolen or loss, then your private key is gone forever. If all your 5 pendrives somehow fail in the future, and your paper backup is missing or unreadable due to human error or other problem, you will also lose your private key and all your ZIL.
DISCLAIMER
This is not official guide! Do not hold me responsible if you still lose your private key. This is not financial advice and I am not a security expert. This is just a personal opinion. Always do your own research. Private key is vulnerable to attack. I may overlook something. Comment below if you have a better way to safe guard private key!
Published at Wed, 15 May 2019 07:06:23 +0000
