Ledger, the hardware wallet maker that has faced fierce criticism for its controversial key recovery service, Ledger Recover, will open source the code for that service. This decision follows a period of community backlash and a temporary pause of the cloud-based solution, which was initially introduced in 2023. The company hopes to quell fears surrounding third-party actors and improve transparency by releasing the code for public review.

Background of Ledger Recover

Ledger Recover is a user’s first line of defence when they want to recover their lost private keys. Perhaps most importantly, it addresses the challenge of seedless, self-custodial wallets. The service consists of splitting and backing up encrypted key fragments with a set of trusted third parties (TTP). The crypto community jumped on the announcement of the service, denouncing the move. Their greatest anxiety was about private or other third party involvement in the key recovery process.

In wake of this immense backlash, Ledger issued an apology and temporarily paused the rollout of Ledger Recover. This pause provided Ledger with a great opportunity to reevaluate the security and implementation of the service. More importantly, it helped them to engage with the community and better understand the community’s concerns.

Security Measures and Audits

Ledger has implemented various security measures to make Ledger Recover secure and trustworthy. The tool was treated to internal security testing with Donjon, Ledger’s white hat hacker team. In addition to these steps, Ledger has contracted cybersecurity firm Synacktiv, among others, to perform external audits on the service.

"We've received extremely positive feedback from security researchers and industry leaders, and we're excited to reveal it to the world for even more feedback ahead of its launch soon" - Charles Guillemet

These security measures are meant to assure users that their assets will be safe and secure within Ledger Recover.

Open Sourcing the Code

In response to legitimate community concerns around data privacy and security, Ledger has decided to open-source the code for Ledger Recover. This step greatly increases transparency. Additionally, the testing period provides the community an opportunity to test and verify the service’s security. By doing this, Ledger is looking to establish a higher level of trust and accountability by proactively demonstrating there are no vulnerabilities or backdoors in their code.

The decision to open-source the code was made because Ledger wanted to be transparent and responsive to community feedback, with security being Ledger’s top priority. Only then can independent experts fully examine the code in depth. They can identify problems before they become widespread and work on solutions and improvements to make the service better.

Other Concerns

Concerns over the security of Ledger hardware wallets were sparked after a physical attack on a crypto user in France. The event highlighted serious dangers associated with how cryptocurrency is stored. This remains the case despite the security precautions that hardware wallet manufacturers implement in their devices.