Your BitBox device password is your first line of defense to protect your crypto assets from unauthorized access. Setting a secure password during initialization is crucial. This guide helps you choose a strong one.
How BitBox protects your password
The BitBox is designed with robust security measures to prevent attackers from guessing your device password:
- Limited attempts: After 10 incorrect password entries, the BitBox automatically resets to factory settings. Your crypto remains safe if you have your backup, but the device itself will need to be restored.
- Secure chip protection: The BitBox’s secure chip includes a counter that permanently locks the device after approximately 730,000 unlock attempts (both successful and unsuccessful). This is equivalent to about 100 unlock attempts per day for 20 years.
This "security-in-depth" approach means that even if the firmware-level protection (10 attempts) were somehow bypassed, the hardware-level protection (secure chip) provides an additional powerful safeguard.
Recommendations for your device password
Given these strong hardware protections, here’s how to choose an effective device password:
- Length: Use a password with 5 or more random characters.
- Character types: Include a mix of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and numbers.
Consider the chances of an attacker guessing the password before the secure chip's limit is reached, even in the unlikely scenario the primary unlock protection is bypassed:
- 5 random characters:
- 6 random characters:
- 7 random characters:
A password with 5 or more random characters strikes a good balance between security and usability. Using extremely long passwords (e.g., 30 or more characters) for the device password can make it harder for you to use without significantly increasing practical security, thanks to the BitBox02's built-in protections.
Important: Device password vs. optional passphrase
It's vital not to confuse your BitBox device password with the optional passphrase (also known as BIP39 passphrase).
- The device password (which this article is about) unlocks your BitBox hardware wallet.
- The optional passphrase is an advanced feature that creates hidden wallets. It should be significantly longer and more complex than your device password, often including special characters. The brute-force protections mentioned above apply differently to the passphrase if your recovery words are compromised.
You can find out more about the optional passphrase in our blog post on the topic: Benefits and risks of using an optional passphrase