I've just been robbed :-(

[SuperHakka]

Just to add that with bitcoin, responsibility lies in the hands of the users whereby with the normal currency, responsibility lies partly with the banks and partly with the users. In the case of money theft from a bank account, there is a good chance that the user would be fully reimbursed, even if the users were negligent. The people are dumbed down in this day and age to shy away from personal responsibilty and always be finding someone else to blame, e.e. governments, banks, etc.

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[arklan]

sincerest sympathies.

this is precisely why every backup of my wallet i've ever done isn't stored in a readily indentifiable way. i hide the compressed and encrypted (password of over 20 characters)  in another file type using a mostly forgotten about DOS command.

also it reminds me that i need to set up my brass plate etching equipment again to make "paper" wallets that are more durable.

[JoelKatz]

Just to add that with bitcoin, responsibility lies in the hands of the users whereby with the normal currency, responsibility lies partly with the banks and partly with the users. In the case of money theft from a bank account, there is a good chance that the user would be fully reimbursed, even if the users were negligent. The people are dumbed down in this day and age to shy away from personal responsibility and always be finding someone else to blame, e.e. governments, banks, etc.

The problem is that there's no good way to keep your coins secure. It's not so much a matter of blame -- it's just that there's no good way to keep your coins secure. Every reasonable suggestion I've heard is so complicated it's just not practical. And there's no good way to balance being sure you don't lose access to your own coins with being sure nobody else gains access to them. This is one of the two biggets problems facing Bitcoin today.

Try this thought experiment: Reason out an explanation of how to securely hold thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoins such that a typical American adult with somewhat above average computer skills could understand the process and the reasoning behind each step.

[chmod755]

I'll just leave this here:

http://blockchain.info/ip-address/178.140.220.181

http://www.bitbin.it/2gB4kcIa

[Cdecker]

Thanks mate, will add this to my gathered data for the police :-)
He has since then disappeared (reconnect?)

[JoelKatz]

How do you keep fiat safe? That is not fool proof either. But I do agree Bitcoin still needs some time to mature. Thanks.

In many countries, banks are insured by government agencies. That's pretty close to fool proof. You can also hide fiat and/or lock it securely. Of course, that's not 100% reliable, but its risks are very easy to understand and not that difficult to reduce. People have many years of experience protecting fiat and have gotten very good at it. It's rare for a person to be a victim of a large theft of fiat.

[Dansker]

Sorry for your loss OP.

This makes me want to rethink again how I stole my BTC.

BREAKING NEWS: Goat admits to thievery!

[Jutarul]

How do you keep fiat safe? That is not fool proof either. But I do agree Bitcoin still needs some time to mature. Thanks.

In many countries, banks are insured by government agencies. That's pretty close to fool proof. You can also hide fiat and/or lock it securely. Of course, that's not 100% reliable, but its risks are very easy to understand and not that difficult to reduce. People have many years of experience protecting fiat and have gotten very good at it. It's rare for a person to be a victim of a large theft of fiat.

What's so difficult to understand about a paper wallet?

[arklan]

How do you keep fiat safe? That is not fool proof either. But I do agree Bitcoin still needs some time to mature. Thanks.

In many countries, banks are insured by government agencies. That's pretty close to fool proof. You can also hide fiat and/or lock it securely. Of course, that's not 100% reliable, but its risks are very easy to understand and not that difficult to reduce. People have many years of experience protecting fiat and have gotten very good at it. It's rare for a person to be a victim of a large theft of fiat.

What's so difficult to understand about a paper wallet?

for the technically/cryptographically clued in, probably not much. but the process of creating one in a truly secure offline manner is a whole different kettle of fish.

[muyuu]

Just to add that with bitcoin, responsibility lies in the hands of the users whereby with the normal currency, responsibility lies partly with the banks and partly with the users. In the case of money theft from a bank account, there is a good chance that the user would be fully reimbursed, even if the users were negligent. The people are dumbed down in this day and age to shy away from personal responsibility and always be finding someone else to blame, e.e. governments, banks, etc.

The problem is that there's no good way to keep your coins secure. It's not so much a matter of blame -- it's just that there's no good way to keep your coins secure. Every reasonable suggestion I've heard is so complicated it's just not practical. And there's no good way to balance being sure you don't lose access to your own coins with being sure nobody else gains access to them. This is one of the two biggets problems facing Bitcoin today.

Try this thought experiment: Reason out an explanation of how to securely hold thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoins such that a typical American adult with somewhat above average computer skills could understand the process and the reasoning behind each step.

The best I know is this: http://bitcoinarmory.com/index.php/using-offline-wallets-in-armory and possibly paper wallets (a different level of trust is needed).

Any simple solution will involve trust because the common folk won't be a cryptography expert. So maybe a bunch of paper wallets made offline by trustworthy code (or code reviewed by trustworthy people). Provided no single wallet storage holds too much, it should be fine...

[crazy_rabbit]

Sorry for your loss OP.

This makes me want to rethink again how I stole my BTC.

BREAKING NEWS: Goat admits to thievery!

Lol.. I meant store   

Freudian slip.

[kasimir]

I would certainly recommend wiping any machines you have, clearing any authorized SSH keys on any systems you have access to, and transferring any remaining coins you have to new wallets.

If somebody had SSH access to your system and knew a bit about bitcoins, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for them to find some local privilege escalation attack against your system and deeply embed themselves into your machine.

[QuantumQrack]

Bitcoin is an excellent social experiment in the depravity of people.

And to the OP.  Sorry about the sick feeling in your stomach.  You have to protect your balls..errr, coins man.

[Jutarul]

Bitcoin is an excellent social experiment in the depravity of people.

Bitcoin has to fight at two fronts right now. Governments & Regulations and Scammers & Hackers.
It's a bit depressing to see that it's more the Scammers & Hackers site of things which makes most users suffer.

That tells you something about the predatory attitude of people. We may have abolished cannibalism in the literal meaning, but we still have it in an economical sense.

[kokojie]

Just to add that with bitcoin, responsibility lies in the hands of the users whereby with the normal currency, responsibility lies partly with the banks and partly with the users. In the case of money theft from a bank account, there is a good chance that the user would be fully reimbursed, even if the users were negligent. The people are dumbed down in this day and age to shy away from personal responsibility and always be finding someone else to blame, e.e. governments, banks, etc.

The problem is that there's no good way to keep your coins secure. It's not so much a matter of blame -- it's just that there's no good way to keep your coins secure. Every reasonable suggestion I've heard is so complicated it's just not practical. And there's no good way to balance being sure you don't lose access to your own coins with being sure nobody else gains access to them. This is one of the two biggets problems facing Bitcoin today.

Try this thought experiment: Reason out an explanation of how to securely hold thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoins such that a typical American adult with somewhat above average computer skills could understand the process and the reasoning behind each step.

blockchain.info wallet

The key is not being sure "nobody" gains access to them, the critical part is you know exactly who can potentially access them.

[Jutarul]

Just to add that with bitcoin, responsibility lies in the hands of the users whereby with the normal currency, responsibility lies partly with the banks and partly with the users. In the case of money theft from a bank account, there is a good chance that the user would be fully reimbursed, even if the users were negligent. The people are dumbed down in this day and age to shy away from personal responsibility and always be finding someone else to blame, e.e. governments, banks, etc.

The problem is that there's no good way to keep your coins secure. It's not so much a matter of blame -- it's just that there's no good way to keep your coins secure. Every reasonable suggestion I've heard is so complicated it's just not practical. And there's no good way to balance being sure you don't lose access to your own coins with being sure nobody else gains access to them. This is one of the two biggets problems facing Bitcoin today.

Try this thought experiment: Reason out an explanation of how to securely hold thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoins such that a typical American adult with somewhat above average computer skills could understand the process and the reasoning behind each step.

blockchain.info wallet

The key is not being sure "nobody" gains access to them, the critical part is you know exactly who can potentially access them.

if you have your wallet on a computer somehow connected to the internet, it's pretty safe to assume it's accessible by anybody with the proper skill set to hack into computers. The only way to mitigate the risk is to make it unattractive for thiefs, i.e. the time they have to invest to hack into your system should NOT PAY OFF (i.e. keep the incentive low). That's why I don't understand that people store >$1000 in a hot wallet.

Some services don't have a choice and they have to have hot wallets connected to the internet. However, they usually employ multi-sig and other protective mechanisms.

It always makes me sad if honest users get robbed by petty thiefs. I think one of the mission statements of the bitcoin foundation was to facilitate user education. I think that's absolutely necessary.

[dooglus]

This makes me want to rethink again how I stole my BTC.

Great Freudian slip there Goat! 

[WikileaksDude]

Bitcoin is an excellent social experiment in the depravity of people.

Bitcoin has to fight at two fronts right now. Governments & Regulations and Scammers & Hackers.
It's a bit depressing to see that it's more the Scammers & Hackers site of things which makes most users suffer.

That tells you something about the predatory attitude of people. We may have abolished cannibalism in the literal meaning, but we still have it in an economical sense.

True on this. Over the time bitcoin shall mature and hold tight aganist these people.

[axus]

Really sorry for the OP. There's not much one can say to help the situation. These kind of problems have got to be sorted out before BTC hits the mainstream. I get the feeling that on the average, we are here are quite tech savvy compared to the the normal guy. But if a granny had her wallet.dat stolen and the tabloid newspapers get hold of it, that would be a serious blow to the credibility of bitcoin and might be irreversible.

Granny doesn't use her computer or smartphone for financial transactions, she's probably more secure than any of us right now

[kwukduck]

geez, 9000 btc... thats big money...
I feel for you man, next time dont keep it online, just print the keys encrypted, keep it safe and wipe the wallet.