Everything You Need to Know About Ledger Nano, Part 2

The recent FTX collapse shows the importance of having cold storage hardware wallets. Ledger and its Nano series are the leaders in this market.

This is Part 2 of our Ledge article series, featuring four questions about Ledger Nano products. Here’s a link to Part 1. So, let’s dive straight in and see what the Ledger Nano series is all about.

Can a Ledger Nano Be Hacked?

To hack a Ledger Nano, you need physical access to the device. This is in sharp contrast to the internet or mobile wallets. One of the big advantages of a hardware wallet is that they are not connected to the internet or W-Fi. As a result, malware, spyware, or phishing scams don’t work on your Nano wallets.

So, this only leaves physical attacks as an option. However, don’t bring an axe or a hammer. Physical violence won’t help you to access a Ledger Nano. Here are three potential ways to hack a hardware wallet.

  1. Power glitching — You flood the power supply of a hardware’s circuit board for a quick burst of time. This kind of frazzles the device, and you can access raw data. As a result, an attacker may now be able to recover the PIN code.
  2. Side-channel attack. — You track how a hardware wallet behaves whilst it executes a transaction. With an oscilloscope, you check a device’s power consumption when it’s running. This may lead to finding the PIN code.
  3. A software attack — You run a script that searches the device’s code. It’s looking for software in binary form. With reverse engineering, you can figure out the code. Now you look for a vulnerability.
Three Secure Features

Ledger opposes these three threats with three crucial infrastructure parts.

  • Secure Element — This is a military strength security chip. It can withstand highly sophisticated attacks. For example, power glitches or electromagnetic tampering. 
  • BOLOS — Ledger’s custom operating system. This keeps systems and applications isolated from each other.
  • The Donjon — A team of in-house white hat hackers. They look for every possible vulnerability.

That’s why Ledger claims that their wallets are safe from any attack. The following video shows you what scammers are looking for.

Can a Ledger Nano X Be Used With an iPhone?

Yes, you can use a Ledger Nano X with an iPhone by using a Bluetooth connection. Pairing is easy to do. Follow these steps.

  • Enable Bluetooth on your iPhone and the Nano X.
  • Have the Nano X on the main home screen. That’s your dashboard.
  • Start the pairing in your mobile Ledger Live app.
  • Once the Ledger Nano X shows up on the Ledger Live display, tap it.
  • Now wait for Bluetooth to synchronize and confirm the syncing on your Nano X. 
  • You can do this by pressing both buttons.
  • This message should show up – “Allow My Ledger to access your device.” Press both Nano X buttons once more.
  • Now you paired your Nano X with your iPhone.

The video below shows how the pairing works.

Ledger Nano Compatible Wallets

There are too many compatible Ledger Nano wallets to mention. However, I will highlight a few well-known wallets. You can also check out this link. It is the official Ledger list of compatible wallets and other compatible services.

There are wallets from various blockchains that connect to a Ledger Nano. This gives you extra security. You can run your wallet through the Ledger Nano device.

So, there are, for example:

  • MetaMask
  • MyEtherWallet (MEW)
  • Phantom and Solflare for the Solana ecosystem
  • Keplr and Leap Cosmos for the Cosmos ecosystem 
  • Wanchain Wallet for the Wanchain ecosystem
  • Neon Wallet for the Neo ecosystem

There are plenty more. Please refer to the previous link of compatible wallets.

Ledger Nano vs Trust Wallet

The Trust Wallet is a mobile wallet only. However, just like the Ledger Nano, it’s multi-currency. It is a software wallet; hence, not as safe as a hardware wallet, like a Ledger Nano.

The Nano wallets offer cold storage, and the Trust wallet is hot storage. In other words, Trust Wallet connects to the internet or Wi-Fi. This makes it vulnerable to hacks and other attacks.

The Ledger wallets are safe and secure. However, they can be challenging for beginners. On the other hand, the Trust wallet is a hot wallet that is potentially prone to hacking or scams. Trust Wallet is also not available in all countries. It’s only available as a mobile version.

The Trust Wallet is a good wallet. However, the Ledger Nano wallets outperform Trust Wallets on every front. The picture below shows the Nano X and Nano S Plus versions.

Ledger Nano

Source: Ledger shop

Conclusion

We discussed four popular questions about the Ledger Nano wallets. Now you should know everything about a Nano wallet. This is Part 2 of our two-part article series on the subject.

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