OpenCyber Academy
Rapid course · Lesson 17 · English
Course code: OCA-009Lesson 17: OCA-009-A017

Test keys stay separate and unwritten

Open, free learning for anyone who wants to protect people and technology. No account is required to read this text or its worked answers.

Lesson map

Lesson 17. Map, example, EX063.

flowchart TD
  A["Synthetic points have no value"] --> B["Test keys are separate and labelled"]
  B --> C["The live ledger stays outside"]
  C --> D{"May a note write a real key?"}
  D -->|No| E["Leave every key unwritten"]

A label is a handling rule. It is not a key printed on the page.

Logical drawing

in the test
    synthetic customers
    points with no value
    test keys, separate and clearly labelled
outside the test
    the live ledger
    real customer data
    the vendor's other clients
    any written key or address

Learning outcomes

After this chapter, you should be able to:

  1. State how test keys are handled.
  2. Keep synthetic points valueless.
  3. Leave the live ledger outside the scope, and leave every key unwritten.

17.1 Separation is a rule about objects the page does not reveal.

Chapter 2 limits the work to material that cannot hurt a customer. Testing uses synthetic customers and points with no value. Test keys are kept separate from any real keys and are clearly labelled, so nobody can mistake a practice key for a key that moves real points. The manuscript states that rule and then withholds the keys themselves. It prints no key, no wallet address, and no phone number. Writing one, even a made-up string offered as an illustration, would break the rule the chapter is trying to teach. The same boundary keeps the live ledger, real customer data, and the vendor's other clients outside the scope. Findings stay in a restricted folder. Reports describe weaknesses in general terms, without steps someone could misuse. A learner who has finished the checklist can still feel tempted to "show the key so the label makes sense." The label makes sense without the secret. Real keys remain undescribed. The private-key lesson from chapter 1 still stands in general: whoever holds a key can move the tokens at that address, and the ledger cannot tell a rightful owner from anyone else. That general fact is not a reason to exhibit a key.

17.2 Worked example

Describe the handling. Do not produce a secret.

Lesson table; scroll horizontally to read all columns →

Object What the file allows Decision
Synthetic points No value Leave them valueless
Test keys Separate and clearly labelled Leave them unwritten
Live ledger and real customer data Out of scope Leave them out
A sample key or address Not printed Do not add one

Synthetic case. No practice secret is hidden elsewhere in the chapter. Absence is the point.

Errors and limits

A labelled test key can still be mishandled later. This file does not show a key being created, stored, or destroyed.

Apply

  • EX063 — What do you print? The test uses synthetic points with no value, and test keys are separate from real keys and clearly labelled. The live ledger is out of scope. Which key or address do you add so a classmate can see the idea?
    Show marking criteria
    Rubric: 3 = none; test keys stay separate, labelled, and unwritten; synthetic points stay valueless; the live ledger stays outside the scope;; 2 = no secret is written and the live ledger stays out;; 1 = the label only;; 0 = none.
Worked answers

EX063. Test keys stay separate, labelled, and unwritten. Synthetic points stay valueless. The live ledger stays outside the scope.