Security services company G4S gets into cryptocurrency

G4S may be known for being one of the leading security services providers in the world, protecting everything from nuclear power plants to large-money transfers, but now it wants to protect a different asset class. The UK-based company has launched a new service to protect cryptocurrencies.

In an announcement on the company’s website, G4S indicates that it now offers highly secure cold storage for cryptocurrency private keys. It uses its existing storage facilities to also serve as offline crypto stores, which helps the company keep costs down. Client fees are calculated based on the number of storage devices requested.

Because G4S has such extensive experience protecting important assets, it knows how to ensure optimum security. The crypto keys are received by the company, which then breaks them apart and stores them across the requested number of vaults. Access to the vaults is restricted and the company provides several layers of security. Access to the vaults by clients is only permitted once they combine the keys with specific, proprietary technology offered by G4S.

Dominic MacIver, a senior risk analyst with the company, explained in the announcement, “Offline storage has become a more established and secure way of storing crypto-assets. At the same time, violent robberies and kidnappings in recent years have shown that the sector is still exposed to conventional criminal threats. In collaboration with our client, our security solution is built on a foundation of ‘vault storage’. We not only take the assets offline, but break them up into fragments that are independently without value and store them securely in our high security vaults, out of reach of cyber criminals and armed robbers alike.”

MacIver adds, “The original goal of cryptocurrencies was to redesign the fundamental architecture of money. Although some early adopters have made enormous returns, the sector has attracted the same old threats for financial systems, including robbers, scammers, market manipulators and many others. Our innovative security solution helps protect against some of those threats by taking the assets offline and storing them in high-security vaults. This gives people and businesses peace of mind to trust that their crypto-assets are secure.”

G4S is located in over 90 countries and employs more than 560,000 individuals across all of its locations. The company has been around since 2004 and is the world’s third-largest private employer.