Like others have said - stay away from illicit websites and don't click links or open attachments in emails. Also make sure you have a a good anti-virus application and add MalwareBytes to your computer. Do NOT use Kaspersky antivirus. Enable the computer's firewall, and have a good firewall on your Internet connection (I recommend Sophos firewalls). Stay safe out there!

One more consideration in using hard drives for storing coins is that hard drives fail. They have motors, bearings, and such and are prone to physical damage if dropped or banged around. A solid state drive may be a better option - there are even some out there that have built-in encryption so they can't be accessed without keying in a password on the built-in  keypad. That is what I use.

Interesting news. Since the news a couple of weeks ago in SK seemed to be a catalyst for the recent BTC price drop, it will be interesting to see if this new news has the reverse effect and causes a bump in price.

"No matter where you go - there you are" - Buckaroo Bonsai

Indeed aliens exist - who do you think invented ASIC chips?

e-currency would probably be a bit more appropriate but cryptocurrency sounds cooler

I am a cyber security professional - willing to help just about anyone.

-Phil

Being an IT security guy, I can tell you that it is next to impossible to be anonymous online. BTW, the Chrome browser is one of the worst abusers of tracking who you are and what you do online. Every Internet connected device has a signature that can be correlated through the litany of tracking systems out there that track everything you do. If you ever want to get an idea of the amount of tracking that goes on out there - install "lightbeam" on FireFox and visit a few websites and take a look at all the tracking that is going on - it's scary.

TOR browser if you are just surfing the interwebs. If you need to hide everything you will need a VPN.

I completely agree and feel the same way.

Dang dude - that is pushing the envelope a bit. Just sayin'