Safety awareness of bitcoin users

[jople2004]

Hello

My name is Nejc and I am a student of the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Slovenia. As part of my thesis entitled “The Safety of the Bitcoin Cryptocurrency” I want to gather information on the safety awareness of bitcoin users. Your answers are crucial to the implementation of my study.

The survey is anonymous, it contains 20 questions, and answering them will take you 5 minutes at the most.

Thank you in advance for your kind cooperation.

Link to the survey: FINISHED

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[5dollarbill]

done! you should be including the possibility to add several answers on the question where it asks what kinds of wallets do we use

[achow101]

Will we get to see the results? There are many surveys and research things that go on in this forum and not many share the results. Please share the results with us.

[notlist3d]

Hello

My name is Nejc and I am a student of the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security

Very interesting is it a dual major with criminal justice, and another with security?   Or is it two different majors.

Best of luck with survey.

[cogabonito]

I've done it I hope it helps, Also it's not generally about Bitcoin user's security not the system.
I think you should care about the user's confidence about bitcoin ecosystem. (Technical base of bitcoin).

[jople2004]

done! you should be including the possibility to add several answers on the question where it asks what kinds of wallets do we use

Yes, that's a mistake. For now just list all the types of wallets you use under the "other" option.

Will we get to see the results? There are many surveys and research things that go on in this forum and not many share the results. Please share the results with us.

Yes, I can upload the excel file when I export the results.

Hello

My name is Nejc and I am a student of the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security

Very interesting is it a dual major with criminal justice, and another with security? Or is it two different majors.

Best of luck with survey.

Thats just the name of faculty, I actually specialize in corporate security.

[talkbitcoin]

i have never heard of the site that your survey is located on

[batesresearch]

Just to note that newbies posting links is normally considered suspicious!

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

Considering this is about safety, does the option "paper wallet" consider that paper wallets can be encrypted since BIP38 was released? paper wallets are usually underrated because a lot of people dont know this.

[LiteCoinGuy]

7 years. exactly.

[foodstamps]

I think you would get a better idea of BTC users safety awareness by counting the amount of people that actually went to some unknown site posted by a noob account....

[LiteCoinGuy]

@OP: take a look here too:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VaWhbAj7hWNdiE73P-W-wrl5a0WNgzjofmZXe0Rh5sg/edit?pli=1#gid=0

[Mickeyb]

Done!

This was great! Thanks for doing this! Happy to see that we are slowly getting to the universities and colleges!

[BillyBobZorton]

I found one or two quetions somewhat unclear. How would you define "using the ecosystem"?, doing transactions?
I am not really concerned about security*, I have very few coins (cents/satoshis of them) to be afraid of that. I do not either care that much about anonymity, what attracts me of BTC is its low fees.

* I mean, besides the very basics... I use Coinbase, my password there is different to that in other sites, I use two factor authentication, login only from my home, access directly to their site and always check the URL, scan my PC for malware at least once a week, Firefox history disabled, etc.

Bitcoin ecosystem = anything that has to do with Bitcoin. Investing in a company that has to do with Bitcoin is in a way using the ecosystem. The most direct way are transactions through the blockchain, paying and accepting payments.
Even if you have few coins you should take good measures to keep em safe. You never know how valuable it would be in 10 years.

[cryptworld]

I have answered your test,
good luck with your work !

[kevindurant]

7 years. exactly.

It hasn't been 7 years yet.

Since January 2009; 6 and half years only

[amiryaqot]

so what security you will provide to bitcoin users through this survey because the whole system of blockchian already much secure and decentralized, i am curious to know about this?

[kevindurant]

so what security you will provide to bitcoin users through this survey because the whole system of blockchian already much secure and decentralized, i am curious to know about this?

This questionarre is not about bitcoin&blockchain's security.
It's about user's security. For example "How are you keeping your private keys safe" etc.

[amiryaqot]

so what security you will provide to bitcoin users through this survey because the whole system of blockchian already much secure and decentralized, i am curious to know about this?

This questionarre is not about bitcoin&blockchain's security.
It's about user's security. For example "How are you keeping your private keys safe" etc.

but the any link from newbie account can be suspicious and you can get hacked by this trick so i will advice everyone stay away from these kind of links where some kind of risk involve in it.

[Slark]

I am happy to answer to another survey (as apparently we have at least one new survey daily). But I will stop doing that because it can bite me in the ass in the future because clicking links from newbies
(or unknown links in general) are good way to lose your coins to the trojan or some other malware attacking bitcoin wallets.

[jople2004]

i have never heard of the site that your survey is located on

It's a local survey site, thats why...

@OP: take a look here too:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VaWhbAj7hWNdiE73P-W-wrl5a0WNgzjofmZXe0Rh5sg/edit?pli=1#gid=0

Great list, thanks.

Done!

This was great! Thanks for doing this! Happy to see that we are slowly getting to the universities and colleges!

I have answered your test,
good luck with your work !

Thank you.

[g1974ak]

Hello

My name is Nejc and I am a student of the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Slovenia. As part of my thesis entitled “The Safety of the Bitcoin Cryptocurrency” I want to gather information on the safety awareness of bitcoin users. Your answers are crucial to the implementation of my study.

The survey is anonymous, it contains 20 questions, and answering them will take you 5 minutes at the most.

Thank you in advance for your kind cooperation.

Link to the survey: CLICK

I had completed your questionnaire. Congratulation for your work and for the choice. Hope that you will find good answers from your work and this can be evaluated by your professors. Hope then that you will have the maximum of votes for your thesis. Bitcoin deserves this.

[kevindurant]

so what security you will provide to bitcoin users through this survey because the whole system of blockchian already much secure and decentralized, i am curious to know about this?

This questionarre is not about bitcoin&blockchain's security.
It's about user's security. For example "How are you keeping your private keys safe" etc.

but the any link from newbie account can be suspicious and you can get hacked by this trick so i will advice everyone stay away from these kind of links where some kind of risk involve in it.

Before clicking the link you may scan it. (Hover the link with mouse and or copy it) Then check it on virus total etc.
Virustotal says it's clean: https://www.virustotal.com/en/url/b167c862f03a1c88a3edc628e8188821c7819a47bb91c4868872ada6a8b2893f/analysis/

[jople2004]

Hello

My name is Nejc and I am a student of the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Slovenia. As part of my thesis entitled “The Safety of the Bitcoin Cryptocurrency” I want to gather information on the safety awareness of bitcoin users. Your answers are crucial to the implementation of my study.

The survey is anonymous, it contains 20 questions, and answering them will take you 5 minutes at the most.

Thank you in advance for your kind cooperation.

Link to the survey: CLICK

I had completed your questionnaire. Congratulation for your work and for the choice. Hope that you will find good answers from your work and this can be evaluated by your professors. Hope then that you will have the maximum of votes for your thesis. Bitcoin deserves this.

Thanks man.

[mooseCavalry]

Completed.

I look forward to reading your conclusions based on this study, so please post a link in the future!

[Kprawn]

With all the surveys being posted on the forum, we should ask for a built-in survey option to be hosted on this forum.

They can even monetize it a bit and ask a little fee for it, or they can deposit a small amount, which could be distributed to the participants as a reward for their participation.

Why do we need to click on some unknown external link, if it can be done internally on this forum? Most of these surveys are about Bitcoin, so it's the right place to host it.

Answering security questions about your Bitcoins on a unknown platform, is just asking for trouble. 

[jople2004]

Completed.

I look forward to reading your conclusions based on this study, so please post a link in the future!

Unfortunately it's going to be written in slovenian language... but I will upload the excel file with the results.

[LiteCoinGuy]

Completed.

I look forward to reading your conclusions based on this study, so please post a link in the future!

Unfortunately it's going to be written in slovenian language... but I will upload the excel file with the results.

Do you own BTC ? 

[jople2004]

Completed.

I look forward to reading your conclusions based on this study, so please post a link in the future!

Unfortunately it's going to be written in slovenian language... but I will upload the excel file with the results.

Do you own BTC ? 

Not anymore. I sold everything in the end of 2013, when the prices spiked up to 1000$ per bitcoin. I started mining back in the days when even CPU mining was still profitable. Made quite a lot of money.

[dothebeats]

Completed.

I look forward to reading your conclusions based on this study, so please post a link in the future!

Unfortunately it's going to be written in slovenian language... but I will upload the excel file with the results.

Do you own BTC ? 

Not anymore. I sold everything in the end of 2013, when the prices spiked up to 1000$ per bitcoin. I started mining back in the days when even CPU mining was still profitable. Made quite a lot of money.

I knew bitcoin way back 2010, I just don't have the initiative to study about it back then. If I was the same as you, I would be a millionaire by now. :v

Okay going back to your survey, I have answered it accordingly. Too bad the study will be written in Slovene which I do not know. What is the scope of your study? Focused only on the security and safety, or does it cover other topics as well?

[the bitcoin cat]

Done. I look forward to your paper.

[jople2004]

I knew bitcoin way back 2010, I just don't have the initiative to study about it back then. If I was the same as you, I would be a millionaire by now. :v

Okay going back to your survey, I have answered it accordingly. Too bad the study will be written in Slovene which I do not know. What is the scope of your study? Focused only on the security and safety, or does it cover other topics as well?

It is focused on the safety of the system itself, potential attacks on the network and the use of bitcoins as a preffered way of payment in deep web black markets.

[manselr]

7 years. exactly.

It hasn't been 7 years yet.

Since January 2009; 6 and half years only

I think there were some super early pre alpha builds that dated back to mid to late 2008, maybe only shared around in small circles. Someone else would need to confirm this tho.

[jople2004]

First block was established on january 3rd 2009... however I didn't want to put 6 years and 7 months as an answer, its simply rounded up to 7 years...

[Next BillGates]

You might change the radio button to check box on this question ► What type of bitcoin wallets do you use
Because, i'm using all wallets  except hardware wallets.

[Don007]

but the any link from newbie account can be suspicious and you can get hacked by this trick so i will advice everyone stay away from these kind of links where some kind of risk involve in it.

Exactly, and that's where my safety awareness starts. I do not open URLS from strangers, especially not here in this forum. Some people have tried to scam me by sending me strange URLs or even trying to let me download some files which should contain "only printscreens" in their opinion; they wanted me (a stranger to them) to help them fix their problems with their Bitcoin wallet.. And in order to do that, I should download some files. Right.

Common sense is already a great tool for your security awareness. I'm sorry if you really need respondents for your thesis (i've been there myself too), but I'm not going to help you with that. Especially not if you use such weird URLs.

[manselr]

but the any link from newbie account can be suspicious and you can get hacked by this trick so i will advice everyone stay away from these kind of links where some kind of risk involve in it.

Exactly, and that's where my safety awareness starts. I do not open URLS from strangers, especially not here in this forum. Some people have tried to scam me by sending me strange URLs or even trying to let me download some files which should contain "only printscreens" in their opinion; they wanted me (a stranger to them) to help them fix their problems with their Bitcoin wallet.. And in order to do that, I should download some files. Right.

Common sense is already a great tool for your security awareness. I'm sorry if you really need respondents for your thesis (i've been there myself too), but I'm not going to help you with that. Especially not if you use such weird URLs.

I don't think nothing wrong can happen if you disable javascript and plugins when opening a link. It's still common sense to be wary of any link posted by a newbie. In fact the forum should warm users when a newbie posts a link. This one seems like a legit link tho.

[BrianM]

Done, it would be nice with a 0.001 bounty for completeting, after all this is bitcoin land!

[jople2004]

You might change the radio button to check box on this question ► What type of bitcoin wallets do you use
Because, i'm using all wallets  except hardware wallets.

Done

But, i think you should fix this one.
http://s3.postimg.org/xpqdymd9f/Untitled.png
There are many bitcoiner who have more than one type of bitcoin wallet, so i think you should let them choose more than one.

I know, its a mistake. For now just list all the different wallets that you use under the option "other".

[NorrisK]

Can you share some preliminary results yet? Would be very interesting to see!

Also nice to know if older users use different wallets etc.

[jople2004]

Can you share some preliminary results yet? Would be very interesting to see!

Also nice to know if older users use different wallets etc.

I am afraid there is not enough data yet, to make any conclusions...

[Don007]

Can you share some preliminary results yet? Would be very interesting to see!

Also nice to know if older users use different wallets etc.

I am afraid there is not enough data yet, to make any conclusions...

How many respondents do you have at this moment? How many respondents do you think you need to be able to generalize the results?

You should take care of the validity of your research though; I'm not sure where you are collecting the respondents, but if all your data comes from Bitcointalk.org users, this has negative effects on your validity. (I can imagine that Bitcointalk.org members for example use their PC quite often and therefore have software wallets (and know how to use USB-sticks for back ups etcetera. There might also be people with less knowledge of PC's which only have a hardware wallet or a mobile Phone to make use of their bitcoins. The latter group is not yet involved in your research).

[jople2004]

How many respondents do you have at this moment? How many respondents do you think you need to be able to generalize the results?

You should take care of the validity of your research though; I'm not sure where you are collecting the respondents, but if all your data comes from Bitcointalk.org users, this has negative effects on your validity. (I can imagine that Bitcointalk.org members for example use their PC quite often and therefore have software wallets (and know how to use USB-sticks for back ups etcetera. There might also be people with less knowledge of PC's which only have a hardware wallet or a mobile Phone to make use of their bitcoins. The latter group is not yet involved in your research).

I have about 70 completely finished surveys (although about 200 respondents started the survey, they didn't answer all the questions), but I want at the very least 100 respondents. I have this survey on various bitcoin forums so validity isn't the problem.

And btw... mobile wallets are still software wallets

[Don007]

How many respondents do you have at this moment? How many respondents do you think you need to be able to generalize the results?

You should take care of the validity of your research though; I'm not sure where you are collecting the respondents, but if all your data comes from Bitcointalk.org users, this has negative effects on your validity. (I can imagine that Bitcointalk.org members for example use their PC quite often and therefore have software wallets (and know how to use USB-sticks for back ups etcetera. There might also be people with less knowledge of PC's which only have a hardware wallet or a mobile Phone to make use of their bitcoins. The latter group is not yet involved in your research).

I have about 70 completely finished surveys (although about 200 respondents started the survey, they didn't answer all the questions), but I want at the very least 100 respondents. I have this survey on various bitcoin forums so validity isn't the problem.

And btw... mobile wallets are still software wallets

Alright, thanks for your reply. Mobile wallets was just an example. Maybe hardware wallets was a better example.

As you still only involve people on forums, my point still lasts concerning your validity. I'm not here to complain, but I only want to help as I've been there too. I'm not sure how strict they are at the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security - University of Maribor in Slovenia, but I can imagine that you get some questions regarding the validity.

70 Respondents is already quite nice indeed. Too bad you have so many people not answering the questions. The amount of respondents you mention (200) is really a lot, I guess there has to be a reason for that. (For your interest, in previous surveys I had to do for my study years ago, 10% of all the respondents not completing the survey was already a lot, although I've used other methods to promote the survey).

[gogxmagog]

ok, i filled it out, hope you get the data you need.

one thing though, since you are studying criminal justice, you should consider this;

you should mention something about ponzis and other fraudulent investments. many lose btc to these, and due to the unregulated nature of the btc network, this may continue to be a threat for a long time. I realize people lose fiat the same way all the time, but the relative anonymity and irreversibility of btc transactions make these scams particularly attractive when done using btc. Its a HUGE security concern, just like in the old fashioned fiat world... maybe worse here in btc-land

[neurotypical]

ok, i filled it out, hope you get the data you need.

one thing though, since you are studying criminal justice, you should consider this;

you should mention something about ponzis and other fraudulent investments. many lose btc to these, and due to the unregulated nature of the btc network, this may continue to be a threat for a long time. I realize people lose fiat the same way all the time, but the relative anonymity and irreversibility of btc transactions make these scams particularly attractive when done using btc. Its a HUGE security concern, just like in the old fashioned fiat world... maybe worse here in btc-land

People will have to learn to take care of their own money. I guess businesses will arise where they act as something to count on in case of a scam, like an insurance policy against scams or something along the lines.

[jople2004]

ok, i filled it out, hope you get the data you need.

one thing though, since you are studying criminal justice, you should consider this;

you should mention something about ponzis and other fraudulent investments. many lose btc to these, and due to the unregulated nature of the btc network, this may continue to be a threat for a long time. I realize people lose fiat the same way all the time, but the relative anonymity and irreversibility of btc transactions make these scams particularly attractive when done using btc. Its a HUGE security concern, just like in the old fashioned fiat world... maybe worse here in btc-land

Yes, I've got a whole section on criminal activity in the theoretical part of my study...

[Scamalert]

are you done with your paper, did you get a good result? or did the teacher whoop your arse at the exam? I participated in the poll some time ago, answered every single question, there was a lot of them.

[Thekool1s]

It was a great survey, I would love to see the results. Multiple options would have also helped in some cases but you should get a accurate result from these questions. And I wish you best of luck

[valkir]

Done!  Great survey, quick and simple.

Will really like to see the result.

[Sarthak]

Just completed the survey! Hope that helps

[allthingsluxury]

Best of luck with your survey, looks like you are gathering some good information

[robertgoss]

wow its nice of you to pick bitcoin as a part of your thesis will take that survey

[juankburke]

nice survey .. havnt done it yet but i will later .. i would suggest you add more questions from this thread which other users suggest would make it even better

[jople2004]

It was a great survey, I would love to see the results. Multiple options would have also helped in some cases but you should get a accurate result from these questions. And I wish you best of luck

Done!   Great survey, quick and simple.

Will really like to see the result.

Just completed the survey! Hope that helps

Best of luck with your survey, looks like you are gathering some good information

wow its nice of you to pick bitcoin as a part of your thesis will take that survey

Thanks guys

[eternalgloom]

Done, it was an interesting survey to do
And yeah the question 'What kind of wallet do you use" should have had the option to choose multiple answers.

[jople2004]

Done, it was an interesting survey to do
And yeah the question 'What kind of wallet do you use" should have had the option to choose multiple answers.

Indeed, but I can't make any changes now...

[project_aLice]

Done, it was an interesting survey to do
And yeah the question 'What kind of wallet do you use" should have had the option to choose multiple answers.

Indeed, but I can't make any changes now...

why not? do you get some problems about setting? or any cases?

I think if you don't correct it right now, your survey will not be perfect at all, or are you going to make another survey for that question?

[jople2004]

Done, it was an interesting survey to do
And yeah the question 'What kind of wallet do you use" should have had the option to choose multiple answers.

Indeed, but I can't make any changes now...

why not? do you get some problems about setting? or any cases?

I think if you don't correct it right now, your survey will not be perfect at all, or are you going to make another survey for that question?

You can't just make changes on the fly, that would render all the collected data useless...

[eyeknock]

you get one more fill from me , some of the questions are really attractive, btw i would like to ask you if you are going to show us the result when you finish or not, im just curious about it.