Bitcoin Airbitz Launches “Password Recovery 2.0,” with Privacy Features
Trevor Hill | Sep 02, 2016 | 17:22
SAN DIEGO, September 1, 2016 — Airbitz, the popular mobile bitcoin wallet and world’s first edge security platform allowing developers to build apps that secure users’ data, announces the first foolproof bitcoin wallet password recovery process, called Password Recovery 2.0.
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Airbitz Claims the First “Zero-Knowledge” Password Recovery Feature
This new feature allows Airbitz users and Airbitz SDK-powered app users to easily recover a forgotten password to their private data using two-key authentication format.
The user sends the first key to their own email address, with the device itself also saving a copy. The Airbitz servers blindly store the encrypted second key. The two keys are useless without each other, and can only be brought together by answering the two recovery questions to regain account access.
Airbitz CEO, Paul Pauly, says he’s excited for the chance to solve one of the major obstacles to mass adoption of cryptocurrencies.
“Solving the problem of securely storing bitcoins without having to worry about lost passwords will help bring the bitcoin economy to the 99 percent of humanity who can benefit from this amazing technology and currently is out of the loop.”
Password Recovery 2.0 prompts the user to choose two questions and provide their unique answers either when the account is created or to already existing accounts. The user then sends an email to themselves that includes a special link, which by itself is useless. Tapping on the link will take the user to their questions, and after providing their answers, will be logged back in and able to change their password.
In the event of a forgotten password and losing access to the user’s device, a user can regain access to their Airbitz account on any other device by accessing the email containing the special link that they sent to themselves.
If the user still has access to their device and only forgot their password, they can tap the “Forgot Password” tab on the login screen, answer their two questions, and complete the log-in. Since the user’s device had previously logged into their account, the key stored on the device is still there, making the emailed link unnecessary.
Airbitz COO, Will Pangman, commented on how the new feature differentiates itself from other password recovery systems, saying that it provides users password recovery functionality without needing personal information.
“The main difference is every other password recovery method by every other service requires that they know (and must then secure) personally identifiable information about their users. Airbitz knows nothing about its users and we’ve found a way to provide a solution here that’s BOTH convenient and secure.”
Refill Prepaid Phones in Three clicks
In addition to Password Recovery 2.0, the latest release of the Airbitz mobile app includes a new plugin developed by the team at Bitrefill. Now users can refill prepaid phones alongside the existing plugin services, Glidera and Fold app. This delivers a seamless bitcoin payments experience for mobile minutes topups right inside the app.
Bitrefill CEO, Sergej Kotliar, says that the new plugin will offer Airbitz customers a unique ability to instantly. and without friction, refill prepaid phones , saying:
“This integration offers an incredible user experience to Airbitz users. Three clicks and the refill is done – no need for QR codes or anything…We’re anxiously looking forward to seeing how this plugin gets adopted by Airbitz’ user community.”
What do you think of Airbitz new password recovery system? Do you think it will solve the problem of lost passwords once and for all?
Images Courtesy of Airbitz, blog.lookout.com
