Hardware wallets and cold wallets are "offline", meaning they need to be updated manually to install new firmware. This is different from APPs that can be updated automatically whenever it connects to the internet. Despite the conveniences of automatic updates, many people still choose to use hardware wallets and cold wallets for their superior security. If you are interested in how hardware wallets and cold wallets carry out their updates despite being "offline" then this article is for you!
Hardware wallets are wallets that stays offline most of the time but still needs to be connected to a PC or a smart phone in order to do transactions. To install new firmware for hardware wallets, the device must be connected via USB to a computer and download the firmware from the computer.
Cold wallets are wallets that stays offline at all times. Even during a transaction. They achieve this by using QR codes to relay data to an online device instead of using two-way connections like an USB or Bluetooth. This offers a much better security than cold wallet. That said, it is also a little trickier to update a device that must remain 100% offline at all times.
Cold wallet like the ELLIPAL Titan has a very unique yet secure way to update firmware by making sure the wallet stays offline during the whole process.
The ELLIPAL Titan employs an SD card updating method. The new firmware is downloaded into the SD card on the computer. The card os then removed from the computer and inserted on to ELLIPAL's specialized charging and updating dock. The dock has an unique magnet contacts that can then transfer the information to the ELLIPAL Titan when the it is docked. Throughout this whole process, the ELLIPAL Titan nevers connect to any network and stays completely offline, keeping its cold wallet status. This is known as an air-gapped update.
Compared to hardware wallets that uses USB connection to update, using an air-gapped SD card update method is much more secure. USB connection allows hackers to gain access to the hardware wallet device through the USB connection and try to install malicious software instead of the actual firmware update. On the other hand, air-gapped update doesn't allow any vectors of attack. The ELLIPAL firmware update file is fully encrypted and can only be decrypted inside the ELLIPAL. Unofficial files will not be accepted, preventing any intent to install malicious firmware.
Not only cold wallets like the ELLIPAL Titan can protect your crypto assets by staying completely air-gapped, inhibiting any chances of online attacks. It also provides an unique and secure way to update firmware without endangering your assets.