imKey hardware wallet, the best choice for asset management security

Friendly reminder: Regardless of market bullish or bearish, asset security is always crucial. If you choose to become a hodler, there is no doubt that imKey, which is safe and reliable, is your best choice!

Recently, the currency price has been falling continuously, and there is a sense of pessimism in the market. Some people choose to clear their positions and leave with tears, while others choose to believe in the future and become hodlers. If you are the latter, imKey will be your best choice to accompany you through the bull and bear market and secure asset management.

Reasons to choose imKey:

A team deeply rooted in the industry

ImKey was established in 2018, and its core members come from blockchain wallet companies, financial institutions, security hardware manufacturers, etc., with complementary backgrounds in embedded security and cryptocurrency. At the beginning of its establishment, it received angel investment from the globally renowned blockchain wallet imToken. ImKey has long been focused on research in the field of encrypted asset security and has launched a series of security products, such as the imKey Pro hardware wallet and the secret box.

Safe and user-friendly products

Why do we need to use a hardware wallet?

Currently, wallets on the market can generally be divided into two types: cold wallets and hot wallets:

• Cold wallet: An offline wallet created in a network-isolated environment. Cold wallets can prevent the possibility of hackers stealing user mnemonics through the Internet, making the assets in the wallet more secure.
• Hot wallet: A wallet created in a non-network-isolated environment.

Related data shows that in 66.3% of all past digital asset security incidents, mnemonic/private key leaks caused by remote attacks in networked environments resulted in asset theft. Therefore, to avoid leakage risks from the root, imKey has launched the hardware wallet (a professional cold wallet device) imKey Pro, which can generate and store mnemonics/private keys offline to ensure asset security.

In fact, the security level of a hardware wallet can be assessed from three aspects: security chips, security mechanisms, and supply chains.

1. Secure Chip

The security chip of a hardware wallet mainly refers to a Secure Element. The Secure Element is a microcomputer that implements data security storage, encryption and decryption operations and other functions through unique security components and a chip operating system (COS). Common devices that contain security chips include:

How to measure the security level of a chip?

In 1999, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) officially released the ISO/IEC 15408 standard (Information Technology - Security Techniques - Evaluation Criteria for IT Security), commonly referred to as the Common Criteria (CC) standard. This standard has become an international standard certification and is the most rigorous security system evaluation criteria worldwide. Its significance lies in:

• Enhancing user confidence in IT products through evaluation;
• Promoting the security of IT products and systems;
• Eliminating duplicate evaluations.

For secure chips, the CC standard divides its security verification levels from low to high into seven levels, from EAL1 to EAL7. The higher the level, the more security assurance requirements need to be met for certification, and the more reliable its security features. Each level of security certification requires evaluation from multiple perspectives. The EAL4+ and EAL5+ levels are commonly used in the financial industry, while EAL6+ has reached military grade.

The imKey Pro uses a CC EAL6+ security chip that has reached military grade. It has the following security features:

• Built-in true random number generator;
• Dual-core CPU, one for execution and one for security checks;
• All CPU registers have mask protection;
• All NVM and RAM are encrypted and have dedicated integrity verification protection;
• Equipped with temperature, voltage, frequency, light sensors, and dedicated protection network;
• Equipped with DES, AES, and co-processors for PKI operations.

Note: The core of a blockchain wallet is the private key, which is essentially a random number. The security of the random number directly affects the security strength of the private key. The chip used by imKey Pro generates random numbers using a true random number generator. True random number generators typically use thermal noise to generate random numbers, which have strong randomness and high security, are difficult to predict, and ensure the confidentiality of the private key from the source, thus ensuring the security of the wallet.

2. Security Mechanisms

The specific process from the production of a hardware wallet to its delivery to the user is shown in the following diagram:

From the entire process, there are several stages that may pose asset risks:

• During the production and distribution stage, the hardware wallet may be opened and used by others;
• Private key leakage caused by accidental network connection;
• Others may obtain and use your hardware wallet due to accidental loss;
• Unauthorized client access to your hardware wallet.

To address these risks, imKey has introduced the following security mechanisms in the production of the imKey Pro hardware wallet:

• Irreversible seal: An irreversible seal is attached to the product's outer packaging. Once opened, it can be discovered, ensuring that the imKey Pro you receive is unopened!

• The imKey Pro only supports Bluetooth and USB connections, without internet access, ensuring that your mnemonic phrase and private key are generated and stored offline.
• PIN code: Personal Identification Number, is used to verify the identity of the user who uses imKey. After opening the imKey, users will be required to set a PIN code to prevent the device from being stolen by others. This is an effective measure to protect asset security. ImKey uses physical button input to ensure the security of PIN code input and greatly reduce the possibility of the PIN code being intercepted. To ensure the security of wallet assets, if the PIN code is entered incorrectly five times in a row, the imKey will be forcibly reset, so please remember the set PIN code carefully, as it cannot be reset or retrieved once lost.

• Binding code: The binding code consists of 8 random digits and letters, used to bind imKey with imToken client on a one-to-one basis to prevent unauthorized client access to imKey. Please keep the binding code properly backed up to facilitate re-binding imKey in the future.

In addition, imKey Pro also supports visible signature and transaction verification. When transferring with imKey Pro, physical button confirmation is required, with operations similar to bank U shield.

      3. Preventing Supply Chain Attacks

Supply chain attacks are one of the common types of attacks that hardware wallets are susceptible to. Therefore, for hardware teams, supply chain management is a compulsory course. As there are potential risks at each stage, strengthening the security management of the supply chain is a very complex and arduous task.

imKey team's supply chain security management mainly involves the following aspects:

• Production and manufacturing: imKey team has reached a consensus with domestic renowned security hardware supplier, Feitian Chengxin, and signed a strategic cooperation agreement.
• Packaging: Original factory packaging & irreversible seal & anti-counterfeiting activation verification.

• Product storage and transportation: For product warehousing, the imKey team has specially established two warehouses in Hangzhou and Beijing, fully implementing secure warehousing management measures against water, fire, and theft risks. These warehouses are managed by dedicated personnel, and all products can be delivered directly by SF Express in mainland China.
• Regulatory compliance: The entire process is regulated and transparent, ensuring that every imKey Pro that reaches the user's hands is new and unopened!

    4.Powerful and Easy-to-Use Functions

As a hardware wallet, imKey Pro generates and stores mnemonic phrases/private keys offline and generates a wallet address, namely imKey wallet address, after being paired with imToken via Bluetooth. Apart from the different ways of generating and storing mnemonic phrases/private keys, there is no difference between imKey wallet address and imToken's own wallet address in other aspects.

Thanks to the deep integration between imKey and imToken, when you use imKey wallet address on imToken, you can experience most of the functions of imToken!

Powerful functions of imKey Pro include:

• Support for 11 public chains (BTC/ETH/EOS/ATOM wallet addresses are automatically created when creating a new wallet): You can manage assets on 11 public chains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum through imKey, conduct transfer/trade/authorization operations, and interact with DApps;
• Support for custom nodes: You can switch to EVM compatible chains such as BSC, HECO, and Polygon with one click;
• Support for various DEX services such as Tokenlon: Users outside mainland China can use DEX DApp services normally;
• Layer2 friendly: Currently, imKey Pro supports Layer2 networks such as Arbitrum, zkSync, and Optimism, and there are plenty of Layer2 ecological applications for you to explore;
• Support for desktop manager imKey Manager: imKey Pro can be paired with imKey Manager to perform firmware upgrades and experience functions such as flash exchange on the web version of Tokenlon;
• More functions are waiting for you to experience!

PS: Hardware wallets cannot completely eliminate risks. Please keep important information such as backup mnemonic phrases, binding codes, and PIN codes properly. Losing the mnemonic phrase will directly lead to the loss of your digital assets. Please do not import the offline-generated mnemonic phrase into a hot wallet in a networked environment to avoid leakage. For this reason, we recommend using physical media such as the imKey Mnemonic Phrase Secure Box to store your mnemonic phrases and other information offline.

How to get started with imKey?

You can purchase imKey through the following methods:

• Purchase in mainland China:
• Official website purchase: https://imkey.im/
• Youzan mall purchase: Youzan mall
• Purchase outside mainland China: https://store.imkey.im/

 

imKey's vision is to help build a secure blockchain ecosystem and protect your digital assets from infringement. We will adhere to the safety bottom line regardless of wind and rain and explore the world of blockchain with you!