IBM Introduces Air-Gapped Cold Storage Solution for Digital Assets

Addressing Vulnerabilities in Cold Storage Solutions

IBM has unveiled a new air-gapped cold storage solution for digital assets called the IBM Hyper Protect Offline Signing Orchestrator (OSO). Developed in collaboration with digital asset manager Metaco and tier-1 banks, OSO aims to tackle common vulnerabilities found in traditional cold storage solutions. IBM's blog post explains that the limitations of offline or physically air-gapped cold storage, such as privileged administrator access, operational costs, and human errors, can be attributed to the need for human interaction.

Enhancing Security with OSO

OSO addresses these vulnerabilities by eliminating the manual initiation and execution of transactions. Similar to a time-release safe, OSO can be configured to only send transactions from cold storage to the blockchain, and vice versa, at specific times or through the authorization of a multi-body governance scheme. This prevents insider attacks, physical access, administrative manipulation, and coercion attacks. If a bad actor gains access to the system, they can only initiate a transaction during approved times and must wait for approval before receiving or stealing assets.

Air-Gapped Storage for Added Protection

To further enhance security, digital assets can be stored in an "air-gapped" container, which means it is not connected to the internet or any device capable of connecting to the internet. This ensures that remote attacks cannot access the assets while they are at rest.

Eliminating Human Errors and Remote Access

In typical air-gapped cold storage solutions, administrators often have to physically carry storage devices to offline hardware in order to sign transactions. This manual process introduces the risk of human error, which can be as damaging as intentional attacks. OSO solves this problem by implementing a policy engine that facilitates communication between applications without simultaneously connecting to both. It operates through a virtual, partitioned server and has no direct external network connectivity, preventing human errors and remote access during transactions.

With the launch of IBM Hyper Protect Offline Signing Orchestrator, IBM aims to revolutionize the security of cold storage solutions for digital assets, providing a more robust and efficient way to protect valuable digital assets.