On-Device Address Verification

On-device address verification is the habit of reading a destination address on the hardware wallet's own screen and comparing it with where you meant to send, instead of trusting the address shown by the computer or phone that built the transaction. It exists because the host machine is the part most likely to be compromised: clipboard hijackers, malicious browser extensions and altered front ends all work by changing what the screen displays after a correct address was copied. The device screen is driven by the device itself, so an attacker who controls the computer cannot rewrite it. Doing it properly means checking characters from the beginning, the middle and the end rather than the opening and closing few, because lookalike addresses are generated specifically to match the parts people glance at. The same applies in reverse: an address you are about to publish for someone to pay should be displayed by the device before you share it.