SECURITY, Have you been a victim? How safe are your bitcoins?

[katiecbell]

I think of my wallet as just another computer file. So I keep it safe by:

1. keeping the overwhelming majority of my coins offline always. I keep a small amount on my phone for daily spending, an amount less than the value of the phone.

2. I only use Linux for transferring any larger amount or reloading the phone.  Windows is out of the question for me. I use open source tools that I compile myself. It's freekin crazy to just download some bitcoin related software to a winxx computer.

3. Keep the back-up "real world" safe! If you want a copy of my wallet file you can find it in my safe deposit box at the bank.

4. trust no one. Satoshi gave us trustless cash for a reason.

I have another safe option. Use Bread wallet. Keep the private key safe. Now transfer funds to your wallet.
Now uninstall it from iPhone. You're safe for sure.

I have bread wallet. I'll try this

[katiecbell]

I've never been the victim of a Bitcoin theft, though in the past someone has tried to access my blockchain.info account.
Luckily I have 2 factor auth enabled, so I get a message when someone tries to log in.

Always enable 2FA for security purpose.

[brianlee01]

Grateful i never lost a bit, I just access my wallet in my computer and android using 2 FA auth so there will never get hack from any hacker

[Lauda]

I often buy digital goods from one who accept zero confirmation transaction and so far there aren't any problem even when stress test or tx spam.
Maybe i'm just lucky

You don't understand what a double spend is then. The seller can't double spend your transaction, you could if you've wanted to (and obviously knew how).

A device that installed with untouched/original OS installer, some people call it clean install.

That is pure nonsense. Original installers are outdated and such a 'clean OS' is vulnerable. Clean install is just a fresh OS reinstall. I recommend updating in addition to removing telemetry updates.

[r1cochet]

Dear everyone!

I am writing my thesis about Bitcoin. I would like to ask for your HELP!

If you have a few minutes please fill the following survey: http://[Suspicious link removed]/forms/sCazssUUXS

You chould help a LOT! I have faith in humanity and mankind, so come on people...

Thank you!!

FriendlyGuy with a suspicious link


@OP I've always been very careful with my bitcoin though I could just be lucky to have not lost any so far. There are lots of horror stories on the scam accusation board.

[Slark]

Well, I never lost my any of BTC so far. But I lost all my data on my laptop because it got infected with CryptoWall ransomware virus, I never recovered these files.
And I think this is pretty much linked to bitcoin. At that time I got so angry that criminals got a way to incorporate cryptocurrency in their vile schemes that I considered selling all my coins.

[Holliday]

I've used the original Bitcoin client, Armory, BitcoinSpinner and Mycelium.

The majority of my savings has been kept secure with Armory.

I've never had any issues with lost or stolen coins.

[MedaR]

This is just the beginning, we could see even better creations from evil labs, malware, viruses and other as bitcoin becoming more popular..Wallets and users with low knowledge in security will be even more targeted, we can see this also on this forum, many accounts been lost by clicking on suspicious links.
 
Soon we all will become paranoid, and we could end up crazy..
Prevention, disconnect from network! 

[Wendigo]

I have had only 1 breach of security when some website I had an account at got its database stolen and my email address and password were compromised. At that time I was using only one master password with small modifications for different accounts so my email account got hacked afterwards. I was lucky that the attacker didn't find out about my online bitcoin wallets and I was quick to update my accounts with a new email address. I am using an AV solution and a firewall now and I am very cautiously clicking on any unknown links. Better safe than sorry.

[calkob]

Paper wallets for long term storage and a really secure wallet like breadwallet for everyday transactions keeping a very small balance there.

[panju1]

Even if you are a newbie, if you place your coins in cold storage, they are reasonably safe.
I use an electrum offline wallet and have not faced any issues so far.

[btccashacc]

i have never lost my bitcoin a bit or even my altcoin, to protect my pc i keep my antivirus up to date, installing 2factor auntheticator ,typed the password with screenkeyboard to protect our pass from keylogger, and so on, you must installing 2fauntheticator even though for spendable amount, and for big amount make sure to keep it safe on cold storage
the point is you have ultimate controll over your bitcoin

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Yeah, I had a breach of my trust.  My trust got hacked by a green-trusted member and I got hit for 0.3 bitcoin.  I'M STILL NOT OVER IT BUT I'M GETTING THERE.

But as far as having my wallet hacked, or my account--no, not yet.  But there are tons of people here who've been victims, and even Mt. Gox and Cryptsy say they're victims of hacking.  That's up for debate but it definitely happens.  People here are going to tell you to make paper wallets and that's probably your safest bet.

[elite3000]

I never got any single satoshi stolen by hacking or security breaches, and I can't say I adopt the most hardcore security practices, I even leave Bitcoin in exchanges and online wallets.

Maybe the fact that I use Linux has something to do with it, also I don't install altcoin stuff

[Chris!]

When I first got into Bitcoin I looked for wallets on Google Play and found 2 that looked promising. Bitcoin wallet and Blockchain.info. I liked the UI of blockchain.info's app a little more so I used it over Bitcoin wallet (on Android). I bought BTC0.05 off of an exchange and within 24h it was stolen from my wallet. I didn't have any malware on my phone (I have an encrypted BlackBerry) and I hadn't set up 2FA because I was a newbie and didn't know how. I got robbed and went to blockchain.info for answers. I got useless generic information from them saying I must have malware, sorry this happened to you, nothing we can do etc.

Lesson learned. Luckily at the time it was about an $18CAD lesson for me. Never use an online wallet. They're so easily compromisible. I looked at the address that my funds were sent to and the person was constantly getting huge amounts of Bitcoins sent to their wallet, from what I can only assume were other victims.

What I do now is create paper wallets on a fresh OS. I use an Ubuntu Live USB. I'm 99.99999% guaranteed not to have a virus on the fresh OS, then I never import the private key until I need to spend the funds. I would highly recommend you look into paper wallets (cheap, relatively easy-to-use) or hardware wallets (expensive, but more practical for moving large amounts with ease and protection).

I've never used a hardware wallet because I don't have enough Bitcoins to store to make it worthwhile.

I sell Ubuntu Live USBs, if you're looking for an easy way to make very secure paper wallets, check out my thread here.

[bitbaby]

So far I have been lucky enough to not become victim of any hack but just being lucky is not it, I take all the security measures to ensure my money remains safe and I think unless one becomes too careless, keeping your coins safe is not that big of a challenge and I am not talking about investing in hardware wallets, even the biggest volume of coins can be kept safe free if one knows how to.

But having said that, if you're running a service of some sort then it is a little different since you would then be dependent on some of your employees who may end up stealing themselves, as most recently happened with shapeshift.

[DeDordtenaar]

highly secure I save bitcoin and keep it in wallet blockchain even I'm currently very trouble to try to enter. because I lost my cell phone where I had to use SMS verification. This makes the hacker could not enter also

[armansolis593]

highly secure I save bitcoin and keep it in wallet blockchain even I'm currently very trouble to try to enter. because I lost my cell phone where I had to use SMS verification. This makes the hacker could not enter also

Since you are using a 2FA no one can enter your wallet but you alone this is a great security that blockchain.info have.

[Kakmakr]

A friend of mine got hacked a while ago, but he admitted to re-using passwords for different sites. He also used online services for email and those accounts were not protected with 2FA. You will get hacked, if you make the basic mistakes like this.

# Never re-use the same password for multiple sites.
# Use 2FA where available
# Store the majority of your coins offline and hide your private key.
# Buy a Hardware wallet for day to day payments.
# Update your AV software
# Use Virtual machines to test out new services or websites.

I hope these tips will be helpful to anyone reading this, it has worked for me thus far. ^smile^

[Amph]

A friend of mine got hacked a while ago, but he admitted to re-using passwords for different sites. He also used online services for email and those accounts were not protected with 2FA. You will get hacked, if you make the basic mistakes like this.

# Never re-use the same password for multiple sites.
# Use 2FA where available
# Store the majority of your coins offline and hide your private key.
# Buy a Hardware wallet for day to day payments.
# Update your AV software
# Use Virtual machines to test out new services or websites.

I hope these tips will be helpful to anyone reading this, it has worked for me thus far. ^smile^

they should add 2fa to bitcoin client itself, other than the passphrase, some newbie put low effort into making  a good passphrase so for them it would be good to have an additional layer of security