██ Tutorial: How to keep your Bitcoins 100% secure! ██

[GreenStox]

Ok i saw many newbies fall for all kinds of scams lately and i feel sorry for them, so i put together this tutorial to help people to store their bitcoins very safe, without the need to rely on (scammer) 3rd parties or just any kind of unnecessary risk.

So basically if you want to store your coins 100% secure you have to store it on your own device , and not on an online wallet or 3rd party. As the saying says: "everything that's not in your hand it's not yours". If it's not in your hand it's not money, it's debt, the promise of the 3rd party that it may or may not pay you. Also many wallets don't run on 100% reserves, which is just the same as the fiat system, so it will meet the same ends...

Also many online wallets have been hacked lately which could be the users fault, but it could also be the service's fault, and by storing them there by default your funds will be targeted because they store huge amount of coins, whereas if you hold your coins in a place nobody knows about, then its safe.

Ok let's start.

Programs you will need:
■Cleopatra: http://www.gpg4win.org/features.html
■A good antivuris& internet security: I recommend Kaspersky Internet Security 2015 because of this:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/16/us-usa-cyberspying-idUSKBN0LK1QV20150216
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/17/kaspersky_labs_equation_group/
http://www.techpowerup.com/209925/nsa-hides-spying-backdoors-into-hard-drive-firmware.html
■Malware Cleaner like MalwareBytes: https://www.malwarebytes.org/
■Armory Wallet: https://bitcoinarmory.com/download/
■Veracrypt: https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/
■Linux operating system for extra security (verified by Cleopatra, after you download just check the checksum to see if it has been tampered with) or just a clean Windows or Mac


Hardware & physical objects you will need:
■Multiple solid USB sticks (ATLEAST 3)
■A junk and cheap PC which meets the system requirements of the programs listed above (preferably old because newer ones could contain firmware, but not that old that it fails because your bitcoins could be lost then)
■Your casual online PC that you are on right now
■Multiple A4 papers or similar and a pen
■A router through which you connect to the internet (optional)

After you got these tools, you will then proceed to set up your own "cold wallet" or "hardware wallet" or "offline wallet" as it is known.
You will need your usual online PC and the offline PC that you bought or your old pc that you used years ago.

Here are the steps to set up your offline wallet:

PART I. SECURE OFFLINE STORAGE

1) Set up the antivirus & MalwareBytes on your online PC, scan it and remove any virus or threat is found, all of them. Set up a strong firewall with your internet security software and if you have a router password protect it (the default password is always ADMIN, so change that)
2) Use original operating system, if it's pirated then run a full antivirus scan & anti-malware on it because there may be some malware hidden in it, even if it's original there can be some intentional malware in it so either way scan the operating system's cd, or .iso file or however you got it, to make sure no rootkit,malware or other malicious tools is built in it. If you detect any, then get another copy, until you find a clean one. (Make sure the antivirus you choose & MalwareBytes is fully updated though before scanning it)
3) Get your PC that you will dedicate to keep your bitcoins on (it can be a laptop too) and set up the operating system on it
4) Make sure you create atleast 2 or more partitions on the harddisk, because 1 will be encrypted later, and 1 for the operating system
5) Enable hidden folders and files if you are using windows on both the online and offline PC to see if anything shady sneaks itself into the USB stick, but ofcourse you will scan it also with the antivirus & MalwareBytes!

6) Disable networking in the BIOS, or remove the network card from that PC (https://www.google.com/#q=disable+network+from+bios)
7) Plug out any device that is connected to it, router, telephone wire, wireless stuff, or any other network or cable except the electricity, so that there is no other interface with which you can interact with this PC but the USB sticks, everything else should be disabled
8] Install the antivirus & MalwareBytes on this computer via the USB stick to check if there is any firmware on it, leftover rootkit or malware from previous OS or any other malicious stuff
9) After the stuff is clean,format the entire hard disk again and reinstall the operating system,and don't reinstall the antivirus nor MalwareBytes after (cos you never know if the antivirus or MalwareBytes itself is not doing something shady, you dont have to trust them more than needed ), and re-enable the hidden folders and files mentioned in step 5)
10) Make sure that in the process of doing this you dont put any other virus on your clean offline PC by any other means
11) After the clean PC is totally cleaned then it's time to install our bitcoin stuff there, first encrypt your non-system partition with Veracrypt or other trusted open source encryptors (this step is crucial unless you want it to be cracked by hackers, the encryption software must be 100% trusted and open source)
12) Encrypt that hard disk and put atleast a 30-35 digit random password for it which you generate here: https://www.random.org/passwords/, however don't use those passwords, instead generate 10 different passwords and combine them into 1, by your own, so that nobody can guess them (in case random.org collects or logs the passwords generated)
----Also write on a paper that password perhaps multiple times, because if you lose this password you cannot ever access that partition again so since your bitcoins will be stored here, you should have paper backup of this password stored in a secure place---

13) Download armory to your online PC, verify that it's genuine and not tampered with , with Cleopatra by checking it's checksum or the PGP-Signature of the author:
https://bitcoinarmory.com/tutorials/armory-basics/verify-download/
14) After download finished, disconnect your online PC's internet temporarly so that no other stuff can go in there, put the USB stick into your online PC and scan the stick itself, perhaps format it, then put the Armory on the stick and check it's checksum again before pulling it out just to make sure there was no malware on your PC that tampered the software after you downloaded it!
15) Put the stick into the offline PC and install Armory there inside the earlier encrypted partition
16) Securely Format the USB again and pull it out from the PC so that nothing is connected to it until we don't set up the sensitive stuff
17) Open armory and set up your wallet on the offline PC, from that encrypted partition, also in armory's settings use a very robust wallet

---Of course if the PC is crappy use whatever resources it can support, but still a 10 second open timer is recommended, because this is your safe wallet anyway, capable of storing billions of $ so definitely worth the wait time for this extra layer of security---
18) Enter the passphrase for the wallet, again use a the  https://www.random.org/passwords/ and combine for yourself a unique random password from those generated there, but never use 1 entirely from there. Also dont use the previous password again.
19) Make alteast 2 paper backup of this aswell (the private key), now you can print it out with armory, however make sure the printer you use is not network connected, and after you finished printing restart it so that the cache of the printer is cleaned out
20) Until now you got 3 sensitive data: the password of your encrypted hard-disk partition and the password of the wallet and the backup of the private key, make sure you got 2 backups of each stored at very safe locations
21) Use another USB stick or multiple sticks to put a digital backup of your wallet aswell, not the same one are you used before to install the stuff it must be a different and clean one,Securely Format the USB again ,however this stick is as-is and you can never ever plug this in into the online computer, but only this offline computer in case the hard-disk of the offline PC fails you will have a digital backup of the wallet , but you need to set up step 0-18 again for another PC that you will buy then to store your bitcoins. But never ever plug that USB stick (where the digital copy of the wallet is) into an online PC again!!!)
22) Ok you are ready now, your encrypted bitcoin wallet is set up in an encrypted hard disk, and you have 3 sensitive data that you must secure yourself, of which the private key is the most important. Even if the other 2 password is compromized, if you wipe your PC before they can access it (the wallet), then without private key they still cant stole your money. But of course the other 2 passwords are also important + your USB backup of the wallet. Keep these stuff very safe!
23) For additional security you can set up a password for your operating system, however its not that much needed, and it can be easily bypassed if a burglar enters your house, but they can't break the double-encrypted wallet! This password is only needed if you leave your house and don't want your wife or children accesing your PC, it's more like a privacy protection rather than security.
24) Never ever install anything else on the offline PC, even if it's not in the encrypted partition, it can only contain the clean OS install, the armory and your wallet(s), just as never put anything else on the stick that stores your digital wallet copy either. They should be left as they are!

Ok now you got a perfectly secure offline storage which can store even billions of $ worth of bitcoins, but it can still be compromized when you do a transaction. So here is how to securely transact and spend funds from it!

PART II. SECURE TRANSACTION FROM THE STORAGE

You will use the offline transaction method of armory which you can read upon here it't tutorial:
https://bitcoinarmory.com/tutorials/armory-advanced-features/offline-wallets/



 After you read about it and familizarized yourself with the process, here is how to do it securely:
1) The blockchain has to be on your online PC and also a verified download of armory, by Cleopatra:
https://bitcoinarmory.com/tutorials/armory-basics/verify-download/
2) Create a "New Offline Transaction", specify the details: address(es),how much bitcoin to send, etc. Double check if you entered the stuff correctly, and then put the Unsigned file on your USB stick that you used to install the things on the offline PC. Make sure that before plugging that USB stick back into the Online PC, you put it into the offline PC and Securely Formatted it beforehand.
3) So after you formatted the USB on the offline PC, put it on the online and put the Unsigned file on in, then move that Unsigned file onto the offline PC
4) Plug the USB into the offline PC, copy the Unsigned file into the offline PC's desktop
5) Plug out the USB
6) Open the encrypted partition, and the Armory and import the file
7) Check again if all details are entered correctly
8] Sign the file, you will need the wallet's password for this
9) Close armory, and close the encrypted partition too
10) Plug back the USB stick,Securely Format the USB again, and then put the Signed Transaction File back into it
11) Move the USB into the online PC and copy the Signed Transaction File, import it into the Armory, and verify again if all details are entered correctly
12) Broadcast the transaction
13)Securely Format the USB again
14) Waint until 6 confirmation of the transaction, and then it's all complete

PART III. MONITOR YOUR WALLET FROM THE ONLINE PC (OPTIONAL)

After you know how to keep the bitcoin 100% securely offline, and have your online PC also relatively safe, you can then monitor your wallet from your online PC without the need to compromize the private key for it. I have developed a software with which you can monitor your bitcoin addresses from your online PC without the need to compromize your offline storage. It's just like any other program on your PC now and you don't have to trust me more than any other developer whom's programs you currently use on your online pc .

My software has no access to any of your funds, since they are all kept securely offline. What my software does it checks your balances from your online PC through an internet API that connects to the blockchain. So you don't even need the blockchain downloaded on your PC to use my software, it's all lightweight and portable. You can check your balance of any of your addresses (or even other's address) to keep yourself updated with how many bitcoins you have. Also it loads instantly you don't have to wait half an hour to load like armory!

► DOWNLOAD FREE DEMO!

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This tutorial might be hard to read, disorganized, although it's as accurate as possible, but probably not that detailed and descriptive,also this forum needs internet and sometimes it could go down, so I summed up everything , more descriptive, with picture illustrations and links to download these tools in my
FREE E-BOOK that is a Guide to keep your Bitcoins 100% safe.

DOWNLOAD MY FREE E-BOOK HERE!

Enjoy

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[CryptoConfusion]

Thanks so much for writing this up OP! it helps a lot!

[notlist3d]

Very nice tutorial!  Good instructions, and pictures I give it a thumbs up.

[GreenStox]

Thanks so much for writing this up OP! it helps a lot!

Very nice tutorial!  Good instructions, and pictures I give it a thumbs up.

Thanks guys, i`m still updating my post to rething if i missed something.

Also if you guys think that i missed something security related then please tell me to correct it.

I want to make a guide here that is 100% hackproof, so please help contribute to it, thanks!

[Amph]

good giude, but i think newbie, are searching for something more easy and immediate

for example: i think windows firewall is good enough, no need to dl something else

the third point you described (Get your PC that you will dedicate to keep your bitcoins) is everything they need without adding too much

desktop dedicated entirely to btc without installing/surfing, will do the trick, if not connected to wi-fi or any other network, just with its own network

[GreenStox]

good giude, but i think newbie, are searching for something more easy and immediate

for example: i think windows firewall is good enough, no need to dl something else

the third point you described (Get your PC that you will dedicate to keep your bitcoins) is everything they need without adding too much

desktop dedicated entirely to btc without installing/surfing, will do the trick, if not connected to wi-fi or any other network, just with its own network

Yes that is true, however that is only half security.

Because windows has alot of backdoors and shady malware can always sneak into the USB and into the other PC.

Especially in this surveilance era that we live in right now, i need 100% security if i had 1 million $ to store on my own, so each step must be carefully considered.

Also armory has the lockbox feature so you can set up 2 PC's and store the wallets in 2 pieces through a lockbox for extra security.

Also this is only a storage tutorial, i`ll soon write part 2, where i`ll write about how to access the storage safely, because thats a bigger challange, than just purely storing it.

So stay tuned

[LFC_Bitcoin]

OP you should put up a BTC address for tips incase any noobs want to thank you for helping them out.

[D4C]

I would definitely add malwarebytes to whatever antivirus you might recommend. Other than that nice guide

[jjacob]

Nice article.
Here is another thread written earlier - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=17240.0

[GreenStox]

I would definitely add malwarebytes to whatever antivirus you might recommend. Other than that nice guide

Well i recommended Kaspersky IS 2015 because it has everything from rootkit scanner which can hide itself in the root sector of the USB, to normal antivirus, secure keyboard input (which can be helpful in other fields), and firewall with complete internet scam detection like phising site or virused site.

Nice article.
Here is another thread written earlier - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=17240.0

Thanks i`ll read it , gain wisdom from there and implement it in this one

OP you should put up a BTC address for tips incase any noobs want to thank you for helping them out.

If anyone wishes to support me then click the link on my signature and buy one of my high-quality products 

[Kprawn]

I would definitely add malwarebytes to whatever antivirus you might recommend. Other than that nice guide

Well i recommended Kaspersky IS 2015 because it has everything from rootkit scanner which can hide itself in the root sector of the USB, to normal antivirus, secure keyboard input (which can be helpful in other fields), and firewall with complete internet scam detection like phising site or virused site.

Nice article.
Here is another thread written earlier - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=17240.0

Thanks i`ll read it , gain wisdom from there and implement it in this one

OP you should put up a BTC address for tips incase any noobs want to thank you for helping them out.

If anyone wishes to support me then click the link on my signature and buy one of my high-quality products 

If only they can start accepting BTC directly, I would continue using their software.  How are you hoping to prevent Bad Usb virusses written into the firmware? A format will not clear the firmware.

We had some old computer and printers at work, destined to be destroyed, so I visited bitaddress.org and saved it for offline use... I then disconnected it from the internet and printed 200+ paper wallets for future use. {I then destroyed the hardware} so there are no way to get to that information.. It's already recycled material.

Those paper wallets are laminated and split between several destinations.... I used 5 for "Honey traps" on sites and none of them where hacked or accessed... so the rest should be safe.   

[GreenStox]

If only they can start accepting BTC directly, I would continue using their software.

What do you mean by this?

  How are you hoping to prevent Bad Usb virusses written into the firmware? A format will not clear the firmware.

Kaspersky has anti rootkit scanner. I just heard in the news that Kaspersky detected many new firmwares in hardware planted by the NSA to spy on people.

Since Kaspersky is Russian, and no other antivirus detected it but this, it can already be said that which antiviruses work for the governments and which are trustworthy lol.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/16/us-usa-cyberspying-idUSKBN0LK1QV20150216

We had some old computer and printers at work, destined to be destroyed, so I visited bitaddress.org and saved it for offline use... I then disconnected it from the internet and printed 200+ paper wallets for future use. {I then destroyed the hardware} so there are no way to get to that information.. It's already recycled material.

Those paper wallets are laminated and split between several destinations.... I used 5 for "Honey traps" on sites and none of them where hacked or accessed... so the rest should be safe.   

Well thats a bit crude, resetting the printer would have been enough, the printer doesnt have storable memory, only a cache, so after you keep it offline enough or just simply restart, the cache is ereased.

Or print something else with it, that also ereases the previous cache.

But i guess you wanted to make sure.

I`m not sure about honey traps, what did you store there 0.001BTC or similar? Some hackers could only target funds bigger than 1 BTC, so if you store like 10BTC next to a 0.001BTC honeytrap then only the 10BTC could get stolen and you realize it too late.

Also i dont think bitadress.org is a safe way to create an address, there can be millions of things that could stole the private key: keylogger,spyware,trojans. You can never make 100% sure that the online pc doesnt have virus, but you can with the offline PC. That is why it's better to only generate new addresses with the offline PC with a non-tampered Armory or BitcoinCore wallet

[needFREElunch]

Would you people consider the block chain wallet secure because that is what I recommend to most people who are new to bitcoin because it is super easy.

[GreenStox]

Would you people consider the block chain wallet secure because that is what I recommend to most people who are new to bitcoin because it is super easy.

I`d say all online wallets have moderate security. Sure they can be hacked, or some keylogger reads your password while your write it in, or your government is suspicious about you and all it takes is a court order to empty your online wallet, and you can do nothing about it, as the wallet will comply with the authorities.

So I personally would never store more than 1 BTC on online wallets. Sure they are good for quick-access spending wallets if you want to shop stuff or buy things with bitcoin, and you need quick access to funds (because using the offline funds needs more carefulness), then go ahead.

However if you want to store your retirement fund or your savings, then definitely dont trust them. I don't care if angels run the wallet service, you can never trust a 3rd party with 100% confidence, especially not for funds > 1m$.

Just look how responsibly banks handle the funds:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/banco-de-madrid-files-for-bankruptcy-after-parent-accused-of-money-laundering-1426495127

[randy8777]

thanks for putting this tutorial together. i am think of taking over a pc from a family member to use it solely for bitcoin.
i will buy a new hard drive for security purposes but can ram memory also contain a virus?

[GreenStox]

thanks for putting this tutorial together. i am think of taking over a pc from a family member to use it solely for bitcoin.
i will buy a new hard drive for security purposes but can ram memory also contain a virus?

Check the harddrive for hidden firmware on your online PC before putting your bitcoins on it.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/16/us-usa-cyberspying-idUSKBN0LK1QV20150216

Yes ram can also contain virus, that it is why it has be be carefully put on the offline PC. And after you want to use the funds there you need to be cautious with it.

I`ll put together a tutorial how to spend from the safe offline wallet without compromizing it. Done!

[randy8777]

thanks for putting this tutorial together. i am think of taking over a pc from a family member to use it solely for bitcoin.
i will buy a new hard drive for security purposes but can ram memory also contain a virus?

Check the harddrive for hidden firmware on your online PC before putting your bitcoins on it.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/16/us-usa-cyberspying-idUSKBN0LK1QV20150216

Yes ram can also contain virus, that it is why it has be be carefully put on the offline PC. And after you want to use the funds there you need to be cautious with it.

I`ll put together a tutorial how to spend from the safe offline wallet without compromizing it. Done!

so, even a brand new hard disk is a potential risk. you can't trust anything nowadays.
regarding the ram. is it enough to just run a full system virus scan to make sure everything is clean? 

[GreenStox]

so, even a brand new hard disk is a potential risk. you can't trust anything nowadays.
regarding the ram. is it enough to just run a full system virus scan to make sure everything is clean? 

It's not that its a potential risk, the newer the harddisk the higher the risk is, since all this surveilance got out of control. And its getting worse and worse. We live in a global tyrrany now.

A full system scan is imperative, but i also urge people to download Malwarebytes too, since Kaspersky could miss a few malware. I just ran a scan last night with it and picked up other malwares that were not detectable by Kaspersky.

Of course with this method the funds are 100% secure, however the online PC could still be compromized and if you use your online pc for interne banking then it could be a serious problem.

However for bitcoin it isnt until you follow those steps with military discipline, no hacker could hack your coins

[jonnybravo0311]

Nice writeup.  Here's a very simple one

1) Go here: https://www.buytrezor.com (you can pay with BTC)
OR
1) Go here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R6MRI50 or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R6LSAZI to purchase from one of our community members (windpath).  If you're Amazon Prime, free 2 day shipping.
2) Wait for it to arrive
3) Set it up
4) Safe and secure

[GreenStox]

Nice writeup.  Here's a very simple one

1) Go here: https://www.buytrezor.com (you can pay with BTC)
OR
1) Go here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R6MRI50 or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R6LSAZI to purchase from one of our community members (windpath).  If you're Amazon Prime, free 2 day shipping.
2) Wait for it to arrive
3) Set it up
4) Safe and secure

I have my doubts about these hardware wallets in general, for example worst case scenario they go bankrupt and that website can't be accessed anymore, how will you extract the bitcoins then from the device?

Or i also heard that the website is pretty slow and has some bugs.

Again these devices are good for quickspending, like a normal money wallet, but i would not use them for long term big wealth storage...