2026-09-29
Someone should make PGP hardware wallets similar to crypto hardware wallets
Disclaimer
Main
- See also: Hardware wallets for 2FA keys don't make sense to me.
- I am aware you can get most of the way there by simply using PGP on TAILS OS (with handwritten paper backups of your keys). But I think the setup below is slightly more secure than even that.
- (In the same way, I think storing crypto directly on TAILS OS + bitcoin client installed + handwritten paper wallet, is slightly less secure as compared to using a hardware wallet.)
- Most existing security keys, such as Yubikey and whatnot, completely fail at this because they don't have a separate screen where you can see the plaintext or ciphertext. If the main computer has malware, you will just end up signing / encrypting / decrypting malware using the Yubikey.
Features required
- Hardware wallet should have minimal firmware on it, not a full linux OS running. Less functionality means less probability of being hacked.
- Keys generated on the hardware wallet only.
- Allow handwritten paper backup during generation.
- Ensure no way to export keys after generation.
- All plaintext encrypted and ciphertext decrypted is shown on a screen that is part of the hardware device. This protects even if the main computer has malware on it.
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