War Mode: choosing how much security is too much

Most security settings are framed as a single toggle: on or off. That framing hides an uncomfortable truth — every additional layer of security is also an additional way to lock yourself out. A vault that is impossible for an attacker to open under any circumstance is, by definition, also impossible for you to recover if you lose the wrong piece. War Mode is Prevon's attempt to make that tradeoff visible instead of pretending it doesn't exist.

The three levels

Shield — your phone. Fast, everyday privacy. Your device's biometric unlock is the key. Best for the overwhelming majority of day-to-day use, where the realistic threat is a lost or stolen phone, not a targeted attack.

Guardian — your phone plus a physical anchor. A security key or NFC tag has to be present to unlock the vault, in addition to your device. This protects against a remote attacker who has somehow obtained your password — without the physical object in your possession, the password alone is useless.

Sovereign — your phone, an anchor, and a memorized 4-word key. The highest tier, designed for protection even under physical coercion or device seizure — a scenario where an attacker has your phone and your hardware key but not something that exists only in your memory.

The honest catch

Losing your phone is always recoverable through your 12-word Recovery Seed — that safety net exists at every tier. Losing your Sovereign-level 4-word key is different: it is deliberately not recoverable, by you or by anyone else. That is not a missing feature. It is the actual mechanism that makes Sovereign mode resistant to coercion — if there were a way to recover it, that recovery path would be exactly what a coercive attacker would exploit.

Choosing a War Mode level is really choosing what kind of threat you are defending against — a lost phone, a remote hacker, or someone standing over your shoulder demanding access. Most people only ever need Shield. The other two exist for the people who genuinely need them.