Alright, no interest whatsoever.
Neurotic Fish: I think your concerns are unfounded, but I do appreciate them. Seriously.
Now, as promised, here's the explanation. And I will, while we're at it, explain the method to my madness.
The risk of me (or anybody) forgetting the method used to secure the seed is exactly the same as the risk of forgetting where you hid the seed phrase to begin with. The idea is to use a method you're very familiar with, so, short of having a stroke (I already had one, so it'd be my second. And I'm actively working not to repeat the experience) or any other health issue that would cause such memory loss, it'd be very difficult for that to happen. To achieve that, and after thinking long and hard about the whole problem, I decided to:
1. Use simple methods I've been using for a very long time.
2. Use language to my advantage.
3. Use a phrase I've known since I was a kid.
The phrase I posted above is the result of combining those methods:
I have used a childish method (writing the words backwards), together with translating each words into my native language (Spanish), and finally inserting said words into the first verse of what is arguably the absolute best known Argentinian classic of all times: "Martín Fierro", by José Hernández. I have known that book (and its first verse by memory) since I was 9 (and I'm turning 57 today, so it's been a long time), so the chances of me forgetting it are... well... nil.
From the get go, it has been surprising to me that, in a world that's all about security, the seed words are not only always left unsecured, but they're also created to be insecure from the very beginning.
For example:
And then come the excuses.
"What if you forget or die, and your family can't access the funds?" Well, that could be easily solved by making your family memorize the securing method from the beginning, wouldn't it?
Meanwhile, what happens if a thief gets ahold of your unprotected seed words, and drains your funds? Then your family won't be able to access said funds regardless.
What do you think would be easier, for a thief to get his hands on a seed phrase, written plain as day, and take advantage of it, or for you and your family to get strokes, or somehow all to forget how you secured your seeds?
"But what if you do forget anyway?" Again, what would be easier, to write a guide on how to "remember" your securing method and keep it elsewhere, or to hide your plain seeds in a bunch of different houses, find a bunch of people you can absolutely trust with them, and who won't get curious at all about you poking holes on their walls and then covering them and painting them over? Does that really sound like a feasible way to do it?
In any case, I started the thread just to proof my initial idea. It's not meant to be an imposition to anybody: you can use it if you feel it may help. That said, like with anything else, and as I've said before many times, security is the enemy of convenience, and if you use this or any other method to secure your seed phrase you should be aware of the risks and act accordingly.
So the initial words are: truck house truth palms entry fleas shame table sound puppy token drink
I initially translated each word to Spanish, ending up with camion casa verdad palmeras entrada pulgas verguenza mesa sonido cachorro ficha bebida
Then, I wrote them backwards:
noimac asac dadrev saremlap adartne saglup azneugrev asem odinos orrohcac ahcif adibeb
And finally, I inserted, letter by letter, into this verse:
"Aqui me pongo a cantar "Here I get to sing
al compas de la viguela, to the guitar's rhythm,
que al hombre que lo desvela that a man that's kept awake
una pena estraordinaria, by an extraordinary pain,
como el ave solitaria, like a lonely bird,
con el cantar se consuela." comforts himself by singing."
And the result was posted above.
So, like I said, that's the result of combining an "encryption method" I used when I was a kid with my own native language and a verse from a book I loved since I first got my hands on it.
It's not encrypted. There's no hash to forget.
No hardware is needed.
This is not meant for anybody to copy it. Adapt it you your circumstances if you want to use it, and come up with your own method. Or don't use anything at all, it's up to you. The idea is to provide you a tool to be safer, not to impose anything on anybody. [/list]
Neurotic Fish: I think your concerns are unfounded, but I do appreciate them. Seriously.
Now, as promised, here's the explanation. And I will, while we're at it, explain the method to my madness.
The risk of me (or anybody) forgetting the method used to secure the seed is exactly the same as the risk of forgetting where you hid the seed phrase to begin with. The idea is to use a method you're very familiar with, so, short of having a stroke (I already had one, so it'd be my second. And I'm actively working not to repeat the experience) or any other health issue that would cause such memory loss, it'd be very difficult for that to happen. To achieve that, and after thinking long and hard about the whole problem, I decided to:
1. Use simple methods I've been using for a very long time.
2. Use language to my advantage.
3. Use a phrase I've known since I was a kid.
The phrase I posted above is the result of combining those methods:
I have used a childish method (writing the words backwards), together with translating each words into my native language (Spanish), and finally inserting said words into the first verse of what is arguably the absolute best known Argentinian classic of all times: "Martín Fierro", by José Hernández. I have known that book (and its first verse by memory) since I was 9 (and I'm turning 57 today, so it's been a long time), so the chances of me forgetting it are... well... nil.
From the get go, it has been surprising to me that, in a world that's all about security, the seed words are not only always left unsecured, but they're also created to be insecure from the very beginning.
For example:
- All seed words are in English, therefore denying users the chance of using another language, and at the same time greatly limiting the available words, for the benefit of the thief.
- Seed words are not capitalized, ever, which gives thieves some extra help.
- Most wallets (as far as I know) have 12 seed words. Some have 24. Did anybody think about making them 17? Or maybe "any number between 10 and 30"? With all wallets having 12 words, the thief knows to look for a 12 word set. One might think that shouldn't be that hard, right?
And then come the excuses.
"What if you forget or die, and your family can't access the funds?" Well, that could be easily solved by making your family memorize the securing method from the beginning, wouldn't it?
Meanwhile, what happens if a thief gets ahold of your unprotected seed words, and drains your funds? Then your family won't be able to access said funds regardless.
What do you think would be easier, for a thief to get his hands on a seed phrase, written plain as day, and take advantage of it, or for you and your family to get strokes, or somehow all to forget how you secured your seeds?
"But what if you do forget anyway?" Again, what would be easier, to write a guide on how to "remember" your securing method and keep it elsewhere, or to hide your plain seeds in a bunch of different houses, find a bunch of people you can absolutely trust with them, and who won't get curious at all about you poking holes on their walls and then covering them and painting them over? Does that really sound like a feasible way to do it?
In any case, I started the thread just to proof my initial idea. It's not meant to be an imposition to anybody: you can use it if you feel it may help. That said, like with anything else, and as I've said before many times, security is the enemy of convenience, and if you use this or any other method to secure your seed phrase you should be aware of the risks and act accordingly.
So the initial words are: truck house truth palms entry fleas shame table sound puppy token drink
I initially translated each word to Spanish, ending up with camion casa verdad palmeras entrada pulgas verguenza mesa sonido cachorro ficha bebida
Then, I wrote them backwards:
noimac asac dadrev saremlap adartne saglup azneugrev asem odinos orrohcac ahcif adibeb
And finally, I inserted, letter by letter, into this verse:
"Aqui me pongo a cantar "Here I get to sing
al compas de la viguela, to the guitar's rhythm,
que al hombre que lo desvela that a man that's kept awake
una pena estraordinaria, by an extraordinary pain,
como el ave solitaria, like a lonely bird,
con el cantar se consuela." comforts himself by singing."
And the result was posted above.
So, like I said, that's the result of combining an "encryption method" I used when I was a kid with my own native language and a verse from a book I loved since I first got my hands on it.
It's not encrypted. There's no hash to forget.
No hardware is needed.
This is not meant for anybody to copy it. Adapt it you your circumstances if you want to use it, and come up with your own method. Or don't use anything at all, it's up to you. The idea is to provide you a tool to be safer, not to impose anything on anybody. [/list]