Simpler Security: Single and Personalized Grids

Valt’s fundamental design philosophy is simple: security products must be usable to be effective. The strongest security platform in the world doesn’t help anyone when nobody uses it. In support of this guiding principle, we’re pleased to announce two new changes to Valt—single grid authentication and personalized grids.

Single Grid Authentication

New Valt users will now unlock using a single grid. You can either construct a grid using your own images (see below for more details) or you can use our curated set. If you use the Valt grid, we’ll randomly choose four images as your Picture Pin. We’ll swiftly train you on these images using techniques from cognitive science so that you’ll never forget them. Unlocking your Valt is now just four quick taps away—it’s as fast as biometric authentication and a heck of a lot more fun. The best news is that a single grid yields no practical decrease in security from our original three. This is because we encrypt your information using your Valt Secret—a 256-bit AES key derived from 128 bits of randomness—that only exists in a secure storage area on your device. In practice this means creating deep, wide moats where you’re most exposed and shallow, narrow moats where you’re not.

Personalized Grids

Single grids are simple but not personal. From now on, every Valt user has the option to build their own custom grid using images from their personal photo library. You start by building a grid with fifteen images. Then you select four images as your Picture Pin. You unlock your Valt by selecting your Picture Pin from the grid. There’s never been an authentication experience as personal as this. From now on, it’s only you and your images. If you want a personalized grid, you’ll need to onboard on a mobile device. Once you’ve onboarded, we’ll synchronize your personalized grids to every device linked to your Valt account.

Existing Users

Current Valt users can migrate to a personalized grid immediately or keep their existing three grids. Migrating to a single Valt-curated grid will also be an option soon.

At Valt we’re committed to designing a platform that is simple, sublime and secure. Single grids gives you faster access to your Valt without an appreciable decrease in security. Personalized grids gives your Valt a unique and distinctive authentication experience. We’re excited about these changes to the platform but we also want to hear about them from you. Send us feedback anytime at [email protected].