Because BitCoin Software is P2P, is that not a security risk in itself?

[bitcola]

I refuse to use torrents because using one allows a hacker to instantly have an IP address with a confirmed probable Widows desktop PC behind it.

Whereas if they scanned IP ranges and passed by mine normally there would be no response at all.

Short of using something as cumbersome as TOR, is there no other way to prevent this happening? I don't want to be the subject of attack. Seems that there is now an even greater incentive to hack someone connected via P2P using this software (to steal their wallet.dat).

I don't think it's a coincidence that the guy who lost half million dollars in bitcoins did. He was probably targeted.

[ender]

If you want complete security unplug your pc from the internet and keep it in a safe, any other measure is risky

Or use a proxy, a vpn or something if you are so concerned. But P2P is not a security risk in itself, p2p is a tool. Its like saying that handling a knife is a security risk by itself. It is if you are careless. There are a thousand measures you can take to be more secure, your IP is not everything. There are IP scanners that can show if you are vulnerable even though you have your torrent off.

First step, check that your ports are stealthed: https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[BenRayfield]

Encryption algorithms are trusted because anyone can read the algorithm and it still takes exponential time to break it in most cases. Open source software can be trusted for the same reason. Anyone can read the code, so the programmers must be really confident that even if a hacker knows exactly what bytes are on your system they still can't get in. Proprietary software usually covers up their security flaws until they've solved them and EXPECTS security flaws to be found in the future until the end of time because they use third party proprietary programs that they don't know the internals of. Don't trust Windows, for example, with a lot of Bitcoins. Get a completely open-source operating system from the Free Software Foundation. Antivirus is a joke, finding only the most obvious things.

Peer to peer programs usually aren't the problem. They're open-source and therefore PEER REVIEWED. Bitcoins are stolen usually when proprietary programs let hackers in and then they tunnel through that connection to access Bitcoin from the inside where they have as much permissions as you.

It is not the fault of peer to peer programs that your system was not secure before you ran such peer programs.

[creading001]

There are definitely some threats ....

http://genesysguru.com/blog/blog/2011/06/17/bitcoin-theft-the-top-ten-threats/

[joepie91]

I refuse to use torrents because using one allows a hacker to instantly have an IP address with a confirmed probable Widows desktop PC behind it.

Whereas if they scanned IP ranges and passed by mine normally there would be no response at all.

Short of using something as cumbersome as TOR, is there no other way to prevent this happening? I don't want to be the subject of attack. Seems that there is now an even greater incentive to hack someone connected via P2P using this software (to steal their wallet.dat).

I don't think it's a coincidence that the guy who lost half million dollars in bitcoins did. He was probably targeted.

Without a massive-scale timing attack making use of so many nodes that you are connected to every single legitimate node on the network, there is, as far as I am aware, no way to determine how many bitcoins a person with a specific IP address holds.

[forbun]

It is easier to limit your range of addresses to the ones on the Bitcoin network. Those are likely better targets than any random IP address.