Jerky is usually salt cured, which creates an inhospitable environment for bacteria to propagate while the meat is desiccating. As long as you have a high enough salt content, you can safely cold smoke the jerky to your desired tenderness. Prague Powder #2 added in ratio to the mass of meat is designed specifically for this.
There are also Pasteurization curves describing a relationship between time and temperature. The goal is to achieve a sixfold (106) reduction in bacteria. You can either run the meat up to 160F for a short time, or hold it for longer at a cooler temp, say 140F, to achieve the same pasteurization effect.
Finally, there are the curing salts-- nitrates and nitrites-- that help to stabilize the meats for longer, and may also add a desirable color or flavor. They also suppress bacterial growth after curing and drying.
For my own cures, I shoot for about 15% salinity (similar to soy sauce) in my wet cure with about 160ppm of Nitrite from Prague powder #1. I cure for at least 8 hours, sometime up to 24 if I'm being lazy. Finally, I smoke the meat up to 3 or 4 hours at a nominal 165F, to the desired tenderness.
It's shelf stable at that point, but that makes me squeamish so I refrigerate it.