Gem Says Military Hardware and Bitcoin Security Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly

By Bitcoinist.Net

Gem has just announced that they’re deploying custom Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) from Thales e-Security as part of their wallet.

The Venice-based bitcoin security platform harnessing lightweight code and multi-signature technology will utilize HSMs in a similar way as the military. The devices are used to protect military encryption keys along with mission secrets. If the military trusts the technology, it might just be good enough to store bitcoins.

“Our engineers worked closely with the hardware team at Thales for months to develop a custom solution specifically for the Bitcoin industry,” said Gem CEO and founder Micah Winkelspecht in a release. “The payments industry has been using this hardware technology for years. But we looked at every HSM on the market to find one that could support Bitcoin wallets, and none of them could do it, so we built it ourselves. Thales really came through for us, and the level of enthusiasm they have for our growing industry is incredible.”

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Cautionary Tales on Bitcoin Security

By KIRK PHILLIPS

Bitcoin Exploration

The Bitcoin ecosystem has many different types of platforms such as exchanges, payment service providers, reporting platforms and an array of other supporting services. Every time you create a new account your online profile expands, increasing the risk of breach with one or all of your accounts. Private keys and passphrases should be managed as securely as possible, and the same for login credentials. The following tales are filled with valuable lessons for stepping up your game with digital identity management.

Gone Phishing

Paul Boyer, creator of the “Mad Money Machine” podcast on the “Let’s Talk Bitcoin” network, learned a tough lesson recently. Paul happily received donations totaling 3.3875 bitcoins, about $2,000, from loyal listeners until he discovered a zero balance in his wallet at the end of June 2014. He collected donations using a payment service provider normally paying out bitcoins in U.S. dollars on a daily basis, but he never submitted a bitcoin payout address, so the coins just accumulated, awaiting the attention of hackers. That was his first mistake.

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