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Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

cipherwill.com

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Re: Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

#11

Post by mfalcao »

EnthusiastShiv wrote: post #6
wutwutwat wrote: post #5

> Securely store crypto wallets, investments, bank details, emails, logins, and notes in Cipherwill. I don’t have any investments or crypto and, sorry, if I ever did I wouldn’t trust you with that info and give you the means to rob and/or steal my identity. That’s a bold ask with a closed source app. I built my own dead man’s switch, which lives in the open on GitHub. It’s a simple rails app w/ encrypted tables and s…

Hey, I totally get your concerns — trust is crucial with personal data. It's awesome, you've built your own dead man's switch on GitHub! Our encryption means we can’t access your info — it’s yours and your beneficiaries’. But if your setup works for you, that’s great. Thanks for sharing!

Can you explain how the encryption works, who holds the keys, etc in detail? Your website seems to be very light on details.

Re: Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

#12

Post by 3np »

Where an how is user data stored? Do you use cloud providers/SaaS and in which jurisdiction? Considering legal requests for user data are being served, location/jurisdiction for both CipherWill and its servers are important and I don't seem to find this mentioned.

Aside, but I don't think I'm alone in considering this a non-starter combined with the whole stack including the client being closed-source.

Fresh advertising but still needs way more transparency (and a round of eyes on your ToS and Privacy Policy) to not look like a honeypot.

Re: Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

#13

Post by EnthusiastShiv »

nixosbestos wrote: post #7

I'm not sure there's anything a service like this could do to assure me that (1) I can trust them, and (2) that they can actually make the UX of this meaningfully better, without compromising security fundamentally. For now, I'm rocking: * yubikeys pre-provisioned with keys given to select family members * sops to encrypt my "will" to those keys * sops-encrypted file hosted on google drive, pre-shared to select famil…

totally understand your concerns, especially with your solid setup using Yubikeys and sops. We're actually adding Yubikey support for end-to-end encryption too, focusing on good UX without sacrificing security. Plus, we're using homomorphic encryption, so your data stays secure while you're alive, so family members could not empty you're wallets. Appreciate your feedback!

Re: Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

#14

Post by EnthusiastShiv »

mfalcao wrote: post #11
EnthusiastShiv wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, I totally get your concerns — trust is crucial with personal data. It's awesome, you've built your own dead man's switch on GitHub! Our encryption means we can’t access your info — it’s yours and your beneficiaries’. But if your setup works for you, that’s great. Thanks for sharing!

Can you explain how the encryption works, who holds the keys, etc in detail? Your website seems to be very light on details.

you can check on https://www.cipherwill.com/how-it-works just select "I understand how encryption works"

Re: Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

#15

Post by silisili »

EnthusiastShiv wrote: post #8
silisili wrote: post #3

I feel like these services have a chicken egg dilemma. For example, I'm highly interested in it, but don't sign up because I don't know if they'll be around in a year or 10. So I'd like to see one long established before going all in, but it's hard for one to get long established without early users.

I totally get that dilemma! It’s hard to commit without knowing if a service will be around long-term. Cipherwill is dedicated to the long haul and is also hosted on decentralized blockchain storage for added security and longevity.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm definitely interested - I'll certainly be keeping an eye on it. It'd probably be nice to try to assuage uncertainty in the FAQ somewhere if not already as a long term vision/plans comes into focus.

Re: Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

#16

Post by 3np »

EnthusiastShiv wrote: post #13
nixosbestos wrote: post #7

I'm not sure there's anything a service like this could do to assure me that (1) I can trust them, and (2) that they can actually make the UX of this meaningfully better, without compromising security fundamentally. For now, I'm rocking: * yubikeys pre-provisioned with keys given to select family members * sops to encrypt my "will" to those keys * sops-encrypted file hosted on google drive, pre-shared to select famil…

totally understand your concerns, especially with your solid setup using Yubikeys and sops. We're actually adding Yubikey support for end-to-end encryption too, focusing on good UX without sacrificing security. Plus, we're using homomorphic encryption, so your data stays secure while you're alive, so family members could not empty you're wallets. Appreciate your feedback!

Are you planning to release source code? Without at minimum client sources matching the builds, all assertions of trustlessness are pretty void. Doing under a free/open-source license would address some further concerns about long-term sustainability (which seems especially relevant here).

Re: Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

#18

Post by EnthusiastShiv »

silisili wrote: post #15
EnthusiastShiv wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally get that dilemma! It’s hard to commit without knowing if a service will be around long-term. Cipherwill is dedicated to the long haul and is also hosted on decentralized blockchain storage for added security and longevity.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm definitely interested - I'll certainly be keeping an eye on it. It'd probably be nice to try to assuage uncertainty in the FAQ somewhere if not already as a long term vision/plans comes into focus.

We’ll definitely consider adding more to the FAQ to address any uncertainties as our long-term vision develops. Thanks for feedback.

Re: Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

#19

Post by 201984 »

From: https://www.cipherwill.com/how-it-works

> Each security factor is represented by a public/private key pair, which is used to encrypt your data on your device.

So where are the private keys stored? AFAICT, this is just a web app and I know of no way to securely store a private key from one. Even if there is a desktop application and my private key is stored there, what happens if I lose my desktop? Am I locked out of my will permanently?

> Cipherwill uses Homomorphic encryption to encrypt data pods again, creating a "time capsule" key. This key ensures that the data remains encrypted and inaccessible until a specified time.

Is there anything preventing you from releasing these "time capsule" keys ahead of schedule other than good will?

> Data pods are encrypted using 256 or 512 AES encryption

512 AES encryption? Seeing as AES only goes up to 256, you aren't exactly inspiring confidence here.

> If you and your beneficiaries have security factors enabled, it is impossible for anyone, including Cipherwill, to access or decrypt your data.

So it's end-to-end encrypted only if me and my beneficiaries all choose it to be? That is a very different claim from what's on your main page.

Overall, this "how it works" page is too vague for my liking, and I wouldn't trust this website with my will.

Re: Show HN: End-to-End Encrypted Dead Man's Switch

#20

Post by dylan604 »

wutwutwat wrote: post #5

> Securely store crypto wallets, investments, bank details, emails, logins, and notes in Cipherwill. I don’t have any investments or crypto and, sorry, if I ever did I wouldn’t trust you with that info and give you the means to rob and/or steal my identity. That’s a bold ask with a closed source app. I built my own dead man’s switch, which lives in the open on GitHub. It’s a simple rails app w/ encrypted tables and s…

I wouldn't trust a third party for slightly different reasons. Even if they are ideal perfect angels, some one could buy them later. Someone could hack them and find some obscure flaw or worse sloppy backend that allows the hacker to go full tilt. Personally, they have way more cojones that I do to even contemplate taking the risk with this.
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