A journalist recently visited a former military bunker hidden in the Swiss Alps. This bunker is currently Xapo's safe and houses an undetermined number of bitcoins. Xapo is a Hong Kong-based company providing coin purses and bitcoin clearing cards.
Secret Bunker
In a recent article for the World Economic Forum, journalist Joon Ian Wong shared his recent visit to a former military bunker concealed and dug out of the granite of a Swiss mountain. Apparently used at the time of the cold war, this bunker is currently in the hands of the company Xapo, and the installation seems straight from a spy movie.
Wong révèle avoir été accueilli par une première barrière de 3 mètres de haut, ou un service de sécurité l’a photographié et a relevé ses empreintes digitales. Après cela, le visiteur passe par un sas entouré de vitres pare-balles, ou un employé situé à l’autre bout du bunker est chargé de lui autoriser l’accès.
Après le passage de portes-blindées nécessitant une identification, se déroule un couloir d’une centaine de mètres, ponctué par deux portes d’acier capables de résister à un choc nucléaire (oui, oui…)
Derrière ces portes, nouveau sas, puis une porte menant à une pièce de la taille d’un placard. Les accréditations de Wong ne lui on pas permis d’aller au-delà de cette pièce, mais les équipes sur place lui ont révélé que les deux pièces suivantes sont une salle de commande, puis une « chambre froide » ou sont conservées les clés privées Bitcoin.
Sécuritée maximale
Wait, it's not over! This room, already inaccessible as it were, is also surrounded by steel plates capable of canceling the effects of an electromagnetic attack (EMP). It is difficult to see how to do more secure!
In addition to this protection, no one is allowed to cross this last door, not even the operators of the site. To make sure, the door is sealed with tape, as for a crime scene.
The cold room contains material that is never connected to the internet, but it remains possible to use it to make transactions. The signature of a transaction can indeed be performed offline. The operator accesses the hardware via "special wiring" and sends encrypted data for signing. Finally, before a transaction can be approved, two more signatures, in two other safes on two separate continents, must be made.
Paranoia or essential protection?
One might wonder: so much protection, is not this slightly superfluous? Certainly not, according to the leaders of Xapo. When Wong asked the chief of security if he considered himself satisfied with the system, he reminded that he could never really be. Apparently, Xapo is under the constant fire of all types of hackers and cyberterrorists, so engages a kind of virtual "arms race" or the means implemented are growing.
"We are under attack 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's not a race, it's a chess game. We must anticipate the next movement of the opponent. You can never relax. Carlos Rienzy, Director of Security at Xapo
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