if I disconnect my pc will my BTC be safe

[IamAGentleman]

It's been connected to the internet, if I turn the internet off, is there a way my BTC can be stolen without physically taking my pc?

[Muhammed Zakir]

No but if you have keylogger or malwares in your PC, there is a chance that your Bitcoins can be stolen once you connect to internet.

[BitcoinAddicts]

I think no
but someone can physically take your bitcoins either taking you wallet.dat file, or exporting private keys or other way

[IamAGentleman]

I think no
but someone can physically take your bitcoins either taking you wallet.dat file, or exporting private keys or other way

No but if you have keylogger or malwares in your PC, there is a chance that your Bitcoins can be stolen once you connect to internet.

That's good then.

[favdesu]

It's been connected to the internet, if I turn the internet off, is there a way my BTC can be stolen without physically taking my pc?

depends. where do you store your bitcoins? if it's on blockchain.info for example your coins are not safe, since it's an online wallet.

if you use electrum, bitcoin core or multibit - your coins are always safe. as safe as your local machine & passwords

[IamAGentleman]

It's been connected to the internet, if I turn the internet off, is there a way my BTC can be stolen without physically taking my pc?

depends. where do you store your bitcoins? if it's on blockchain.info for example your coins are not safe, since it's an online wallet.

if you use electrum, bitcoin core or multibit - your coins are always safe. as safe as your local machine & passwords

Bitcoin armory, and electrum

[NUFCrichard]

It's been connected to the internet, if I turn the internet off, is there a way my BTC can be stolen without physically taking my pc?

Only using old fashioned things like CDs or DVDs or flash drives!

Are you still connected to a network? If another computer or device on your network is connected to the internet, you could still be vulnerable, though far less so than the most of us.

[Ghostface]

Why don't you just keep the wallet file offline instead? No point just having a laptop not being used just to keep your coins safe when you can just store them on a flash drive or cd.

[virtualx]

It's been connected to the internet, if I turn the internet off, is there a way my BTC can be stolen without physically taking my pc?

Bitcoin transactions can only be started using your private key. If you have the private key, you can transfer bitcoins from one address to another. It doesn't matter if your internet is on or off, if you have the private key you can even move bitcoins without having direct access to the internet.  

Your bitcoins are literally on the blockchain. Your computer has the private key to move them. Recently someone posted a good analogy:

Imagine there are a group of lockers in a public place. Each locker has the following:

    A lock that requires a key
    A window to see inside
    A slot that money can be put in
    An identifying number


Thefts happend because of these reasons:

    Keylogger / Virus / Spyware from plugin, altcoin etc
    Sending to a website (bitcoin transactions are not reversable)
    Sending to a scammer (fake payment sites and fake investment sites)
    Leaking of private key
    Hacked exchange
    Hacked online bitcoin wallet
    

I recommend using a sd, cd, paper wallet or hardware wallet. A computer has so muchsoftware running on it that every program you install either knowingly or unknowingly could be dangerous.

I think no
but someone can physically take your bitcoins either taking you wallet.dat file, or exporting private keys or other way

They cannot do that if you encrypt your wallet.dat file.

[notlist3d]

Why don't you just keep the wallet file offline instead? No point just having a laptop not being used just to keep your coins safe when you can just store them on a flash drive or cd.

My suggestion is a few USB's or paper wallets.  Either one works great as cold storage.  Just make sure they are stored in safe places.

I think having more then 1 is a big thing.  If you have one usb and it gets corrupted, you are out of luck most likely.

So stay with cold storage, have multiple, and you are on your way to a safe wallet.

[syuhide]

It's been connected to the internet, if I turn the internet off, is there a way my BTC can be stolen without physically taking my pc?

no man..your btc will be safe if no one has physical access except you , provided you are offline ..
if any key logger is installed and you are offline no man can hack your stuffs but the scene can be different if key logger is installed and you gonna be online..

so better be offline and don't let anyone touch your pc..

[Amph]

if your pc is clean being connected or not will not make any difference, if you knwo that your pc is infected(usually something wrong happen in this case, like cpu usage too high, strange filename ecc...) then it is better to move your wallet in another storage(offline is better)

my point is that you can have a online safe computer, in my case i have a wallet that it is always online with some btc, no one has stole those bitcoin from my desktop ever, they are still here

it is just a matter of dealing well with security

[Lauda]

if you pc is clean being connected or not will not make any difference,[1] if you knwo that your pc is infected(usually something wrong happen in this case, like cpu usage too high, strange filename ecc...) then it is better to move your wallet in another storage(offline is better)

my point is that you can have a online safe computer, in my case i have a wallet that it is always online with some btc, no one has stole those bitcoin from my desktop ever, they are still here[2]

[1]Yes it makes a difference. If your PC is disconnected a hacker can't gain access to it. While it is connected, he can. There are infections that can't be detected by anything, not by the average person nor software because of its complexity. However, a security researcher (or a group) might.
I'm going to assume that you haven't heard about The Mask (a.k.a. Careto); you should look into it. Luckily AV's can detect it now, however there are probably a lot of these out there (e.g. finfisher).
[2] If nobody has stolen your coins, that doesn't mean that they won't. Depending on your balance you might not be a likely target. We've seen a lot of people (over time) ask for help on the forums because their wallets were compromised.

My suggestion is a few USB's or paper wallets.  Either one works great as cold storage.  Just make sure they are stored in safe places.
-snip-

I wouldn't use USB's. They are have quite huge vulnerabilities and are prone to failure.


I'd recommend paper wallets as well. If you really wanted to store your Bitcoins for a longer period of time I would suggest the following:
1) Buy a type of stone (e.g. marble)
2) Get your private key and engrave it into the stone(It would be risky to let someone else engrave it; if he's familiar with Bitcoin he could steal your funds)
3) Place the stone somewhere and cover it (I have a few ideas) or bury it
4) Download D-BAN: http://www.dban.org/
5) Overwrite your HDD 35 times
6) Put HDD in a Microwave
7) If you have the proper tools, melt the HDD

The last 3 steps might be exaggerating (7 overwrites should be fine) but this is how I would stash my (potential) billions. Just make sure whatever you do, you make backups.

[Bitdonator]

Read this topic if you want to secure your coins.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=871213.0

[Amph]

if you pc is clean being connected or not will not make any difference,[1] if you knwo that your pc is infected(usually something wrong happen in this case, like cpu usage too high, strange filename ecc...) then it is better to move your wallet in another storage(offline is better)

my point is that you can have a online safe computer, in my case i have a wallet that it is always online with some btc, no one has stole those bitcoin from my desktop ever, they are still here[2]

[1]Yes it makes a difference. If your PC is disconnected a hacker can't gain access to it. While it is connected, he can. There are infections that can't be detected by anything, not by the average person nor software because of its complexity. However, a security researcher (or a group) might.
I'm going to assume that you haven't heard about The Mask (a.k.a. Careto); you should look into it. Luckily AV's can detect it now, however there are probably a lot of these out there (e.g. finfisher).
[2] If nobody has stolen your coins, that doesn't mean that they won't. Depending on your balance you might not be a likely target. We've seen a lot of people (over time) ask for help on the forums because their wallets were compromised.

if my balance is still here(about 5 btc), this only mean that my pc is safe, and not infected, it's impossible that i have a wallet stealer, and still i have all my coins here, it does not make sense at all...

same thing for a keylogger or any other virus, none of the forum that i usually visit are compromised, my bank acount is also safe, this can only mean that my pc is 100% secure

just don't download trash(only signed file) and you're safe even online, hackers cannot connect to your pc magically, they need rootkit/rat ecc...so it is actually you that allow him to connect by installing those garbage



ah great now, plenty of newbie scammer are sending me pm , they want to try to scam those 5 btc i presume

[Rmcdermott927]

I think no
but someone can physically take your bitcoins either taking you wallet.dat file, or exporting private keys or other way

No but if you have keylogger or malwares in your PC, there is a chance that your Bitcoins can be stolen once you connect to internet.

That's good then.

It is actually recommended that you store your BTC on a computer that is offline most of the time.   A lot of us have cheap laptops that have a bitcoin wallet on them that are not connected to the internet.   It is much safer.

[Bitdonator]

I think no
but someone can physically take your bitcoins either taking you wallet.dat file, or exporting private keys or other way

No but if you have keylogger or malwares in your PC, there is a chance that your Bitcoins can be stolen once you connect to internet.

That's good then.

It is actually recommended that you store your BTC on a computer that is offline most of the time.   A lot of us have cheap laptops that have a bitcoin wallet on them that are not connected to the internet.   It is much safer.

You can also use cheap old android cellphone to store your coins. You can turn on wifi or data packet,
only when you need to send or receive btc.

[nwfella]

That largely depends on whether or not your system was already compromised when you decide to shut her down.  Shutting the computer down that contains your bitcoin wallet and coins won't save you boo if some unscrupulous hacker has already managed to get his hands on a copy of your private key.

[Lauda]

if my balance is still here(about 5 btc), this only mean that my pc is safe, and not infected, it's impossible that i have a wallet stealer, and still i have all my coins here, it does not make sense at all...

same thing for a keylogger or any other virus, none of the forum that i usually visit are compromised, my bank acount is also safe, this cna only mean that my pc is 100% secure

just don't download trash(only signed file) and you're safe even online, hackers cannot connect to your pc magically, they need rootkit/rat ecc...so it is actually you that allow him to connect by installing those garbage

No. Making such conclusions is wrong. You could be infected by a sleeping type of malware. Besides, I never said that you were hacked. I said that you weren't a likely target because of your low balance.
This isn't that true either. If they know your IP address then you might also be in trouble. Gaining your IP address isn't even hard. If you use Skype, they already know it.

It is actually recommended that you store your BTC on a computer that is offline most of the time.   A lot of us have cheap laptops that have a bitcoin wallet on them that are not connected to the internet.   It is much safer.

[Amph]

if my balance is still here(about 5 btc), this only mean that my pc is safe, and not infected, it's impossible that i have a wallet stealer, and still i have all my coins here, it does not make sense at all...

same thing for a keylogger or any other virus, none of the forum that i usually visit are compromised, my bank acount is also safe, this cna only mean that my pc is 100% secure

just don't download trash(only signed file) and you're safe even online, hackers cannot connect to your pc magically, they need rootkit/rat ecc...so it is actually you that allow him to connect by installing those garbage

No. Making such conclusions is wrong. You could be infected by a sleeping type of malware. Besides, I never said that you were hacked. I said that you weren't a likely target because of your low balance.
This isn't that true either. If they know your IP address then you might also be in trouble. Gaining your IP address isn't even hard. If you use Skype, they already know it.

It is actually recommended that you store your BTC on a computer that is offline most of the time.   A lot of us have cheap laptops that have a bitcoin wallet on them that are not connected to the internet.   It is much safer.

my ip is dynamic, i'm not worried about that, being a target or not, they still need to find a way to infect me, which mean that they need that i download something or click on something, almost impossible

i think if you are really careful and know what your are doing, you are the best antivirus of your desktop, but i agree that such thing isn't advisable, average joe don't have the patience for something like this, they can not manage their own security