Bitcoin Forum

I have done research on the net, and by doing it, I ended up in this forum. Hi to everyone as this is my first post and I didn't see a section for just introducing ourselves in here.
I have some BTC not that really high amount but I have earned it online. The problem is I have read so many stories of people being robbed of their BTC so I would like to know , what you guys do to keep your BTC secure online. Don't have the tech capacity to do it offline for now.  ???

Unfortunately,keeping your btc online is one of the ways your accounts can get hacked because its easy to perform phishing/key logging etc.I'm not saying it can't be safe but its more prone to hacks.Try using a offline wallet such as electrum which is very easy to install and maintain.Its as similar to a online wallet but with better functionalities and good security.If you still insist on using something like blockchain.info,make sure to import all your private keys and back up your wallet.Download the paper wallets and store the private keys off your computer.Hope that helps.

edit : Welcome to the forum,look for bitcoin discussion/Technical Discussion thread of the forums.You will start understanding more about bitcoins.

Like KenR said: try to avoid online wallets... They're known for being hacked/losing funds/...
You don't need a lot of technical knowledge to install electrum, they even have a "portable" version. Just download the package, unzip, double click the executable and you're on your way.
Don't forget to write down the seed electrum generates on a piece of paper, and store it really well.

Thank you guys I installed Electrum and did as per your instructions.

In some other websites I am using them, they told me if I cared a lot about BTC-s in my possession then I should switch to Mac or Linux if I am using Windows as too many flaws  ???

I am using Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit, so what to do ,keep it or change it ??? I am not familiar at all with Linux and I know a bit about Mac as my cousin have one.
I did a malware scan with Spyware Terminator and it looks clean. What to do, trying next step or relying on Electrum  ???

There is nothing like that,I use Electrum on my Windows 7 pc and its totally secure.Only I know where I have stored my private keys which are off my computer.If you have linux already installed its okay,don't need to install just for electrum.The security at the end of the day depends on how securely you do the deals and not on the wallet exactly.I suggest you reading through the Technical Discussion Section of the forum.

Personally, i'm a linux fan (i'm using windows at my work tough, since it's company policy). Eventough i like linux, i don't think it's a must.
Make sure you always have an up-to-date virusscanner and malware scanner, never click on suspicious links, install all untrusted programs in a sandbox and do regular updates.

If you don't hold to much coins, this setup should be sufficient... If you ever hold much coins, it's better to use a hardware wallet, an offline PC for signing or a paper wallet (generated with an offline pc)

The most secure way to "store" Bitcoins is a cold-storage wallet. Electrum is one such wallet (http://docs.electrum.org/en/latest/coldstorage.html). This requires another machine that never is connected to the internet. Once set up, transactions are done by loading them on a USB stick, transferring it to the offline machine, signing them, and transferring them back via the USB stick. The private keys to the accounts are never exposed to the internet.

Check this thread:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=899253.0

There you will find different hardware wallets available right now... those and cold storage wallets are secure...

just start with small amount of bitcoin and learn with that. because if you lose a small amount you would not be sad and will only learn from your mistake.

..Basically online wallet is not the safest wallet because possibility of turning a site into a fraud one has a chance.

but..

.. there is no harm trusting those famous online wallet exchanges today as using them gives users a no hassle transactions if you always engaged in btc transactions everyday. Converting bitcoin to fiat always accompanied by an online wallet. Just make sure you are not storing too much coins in those kind of wallets to somehow minimize the risks.

..if for holding purposes, to the point that you will hold a lots, it's really a mandatory to have an offline wallet.

In general, both online and offline wallet, without the proper handling by the user, it is proned to a possible bitcoin loss.

Thank you.

So what kind of BTC amount is considered big, 3 or 5 BTC is it big, is not that I have this much but just asking, cause thats my target 5 BTC ???

I don't think anybody can tell you how much bitcoins is considered "a lot". This is something personal... For me 1000€ worth of bitcoins is a lot, for somebody else this might be peanuts, yet for a thirth person it's worth a year of labor (if he's from a third world country)

Hardware wallet prices start at around 25€, for me i'd need about 1000€ worth of bitcoins in order to purchase a hardware wallet
An old offline pc costs around 150€, for me i'd need at least 4000€ worth of bitcoins in order to have a dedicated offline pc
a paper wallet costs mere cents, but it's harder to get your coins out (you have to sweep the wallet in order to do so). I'd never keep all my coins on a paper wallet, just because i might need to spend some coins easily

Well to me 1000 EURO is not a lot but very good, being in a third world country myself which I prefer not to tell names in here.  4000 EURO is a lot to me as this was my point in the beginning, making 2500 USD worth of BTC and waiting for price to raise, to sell them, to buy a very good used car :)

One practice Ive been doing , and anyone else doing this, is by not putting all your eggs in one basket.

I don't have any offline wallet available and Im using online wallet most of the time.

Im using multiple wallets and exchanges to save my coins.

Most of the online wallets today now has lots of security measures before you opened it like email confirmation, mobile confirmation and 2fa authentication.

so far i just using a blockchain wallet i dont have any offline wallet, but the blockchain have security system like 2fa authentication, but if you have a lot of bitcoin and want to store them for long term, i suggest to using trezor or maybe paper wallet,

you don't need the tech capacity to do it offline you just need to do a copy(backup) of your wallet data and put it in a usb , that's it, then only plug it in a secure environment

i would not recommend using any online wallet, minus maybe coinbase

Sorry but that would leave your private passwords online where malware might steal them. :(

Thank you for your suggestions, I am sticking with electrum now, I put its seed in a Password protected document, then I added it to RAR also with another password, and will open it only in secure environments.

I don't have a lot of coins, but what I have is precious to me as I have spent a lot of time earning it.

what you mean? coinbase have insurance against thief, so even if they are hacked they will cover all your funds, not like other excahnge that they will try to bring up any excuse to justify the hacking

Cortana in Windows 10 includes a keyboard logger, and transfers all your files into the Windows cloud, or so I believe. I have managed to disable it, as I consider it to be a massive security risk. I wondered if it is intelligent enough to miss out the blockchain. :)

Download anti spyware, antivirus to prevent hacker. and also becareful before you download something. make your password hard, like combination words and numbers.

Thank you all, I have done everything in my power to prevent loss of it.

Insured against outside theft. You will find that insurance companies do not cover embezzlement, which is how most theft of online wallets occur.

i'm not defending online wallet, because i actually believe that bitcoin should remain decentralized, and bitcoin wallet can only promote centralization

but they at least offer some kind of protection against hacking, if you lose the money

Your method of having the bitcoins is good. I prefer online wallets than offline,
but while going through the above posts found its secure to use a offline wallet.
Still your idea sounds good saving in various wallets so that if someone tries to
hack, it won't affect much as only little Btc will be there in each wallet.