Digital asset protection guidelines of the Crypto Valley Association

Crypto Valley Association‘s (CVA) cybersecurity group has announced the publication of new guidelines for the protection of digital assets.

The new guidelines, designed to adopt best practices for key protection and accessibility to crypto assets, have been included in the “Trusted Key Ceremony Guidelines” report and will be officially presented during the CVA’s free online event “Demystifying Key Ceremonies” by the Cybersecurity Working Group (CWG), which will take place on Tuesday, July 7th at 5:00 PM CET. 

The event will explore best practices developed from the extensive experience of the CWG members in designing, operating and reviewing keys for regulated entities.

Indeed, the CWG’s mission is to define and foster the adoption of security standards and best practices for blockchain projects, as well as to provide a forum for Swiss-based blockchain security products and services companies to promote their adoption in the global marketplace.

These guidelines were collected and edited by Jean-Philippe Aumasson, Head of Security at Taurus Group, and Maria Sommerhalder, Crypto Custody expert at PwC Switzerland, with contributions from CWG members.

The online event will be moderated by Emi Lorincz, member of the Board of Directors of the Crypto Valley Association, and will be attended by Maria Sommerhalder, Senior Associate of Emerging Technologies Risk Assurance at PwC Switzerland, Jean-Philippe Aumasson, Head of Security at Taurus Group and Co-Chairman of the CWG, Charles Guillemet, Chief Technology Officer at Ledger, and Vassili Lavrov, Head of Blockchain Program Management at SEBA Bank. 

Emi Lorincz, said: 

“The CVA Cybersecurity Working Group is firmly committed to setting the highest security standards and best practices with regard to product development, security audits, and key management within the blockchain and crypto realm. The publication of the Trusted Key Ceremony Guidelines gives expression to this ongoing effort and captures the far-reaching ambition of the CVA to strengthen security levels in the crypto assets space more broadly, and to extend the accessibility of crypto assets”.

The President of the CWG, and head of Blockchain Risk Assurance at PwC Switzerland, Markus Perdrizat, commented: 

“With more and more financial assets locked up in cryptocurrencies, the need for a set of best practice standards regarding key ceremonies for cryptocurrencies has never been more pronounced. Ultimately, the security of financial assets begins with the key ceremony – when the cryptographic secrets are created. From that point forward, the highest standards of security must be upheld. To this end, we are delighted to officially unveil our new guidelines to the world.

Traditionally there have been many ways to create private keys, and up until now, there has been no clear set of standards or guidelines. The siloed approach generally adopted by practitioners, opens up many potential attack vectors that undermine the security of assets. By leveraging the deep insights and ceremonial acumen of our Cybersecurity Working Group, we have collated what we consider to be the best practices for new entrants and experienced practitioners in the space to create safe and secure key ceremonies, while also providing a framework to improve existing processes. We look forward to discussing the content of this new publication in more detail during our online event and encourage people to attend”.