HOWTO: create a 100% secure wallet

[Bijeebus]

Cool, ill have to give this a try

[hruicn]

thanks

[hruicn]

save with password

[Tafelpoot]

thanks for this great guide!

[netfun2000]

I use nas to store my wallet.

[MelG]

Hey guys,

I just earned a few Bitcoins and wanted to test creating a secure wallet. I have a few concerns which I hope someone could explain me. Here is my plan to do this. Please add if I miss something or some other method is better! Also I apology for my noobish questions.

1. I will create a Linux boot CD and boot my computer with that, starting Linux desktop version.
2. I will download Bitcoin software (Bitcoin-QT) from bitcoin.org/en/download and create a new wallet with a few addresses. (Is this absolutely secure on Linux environment? Without doing some hardening or adding firewall?)
3. I will encrypt the wallet by using the encryption provided within Bitcoin software.
4. I will copy the encrypted wallet over to a brand new flash drive and have a backup of it on another flash drive.
5. I will delete the wallet on my computer.
6. I will shutdown linux and go to my PC and send the coins over to the addresses of my new wallet that is stored within my flash drives.
7. I will store the flash drives separately to secure locations. (I understood that the wallets don't need to be connected to internet in order to receive Bitcoins to them?)
8. When I'd like to access my stash, I use the live CD to boot my PC, download bitcoin-qt, unencrypt the wallet from one of the flash drives and place it to the proper file path and that's it?

Is there anything else to add?

[dangue]

Very detailed and amusing guide.  Thanks.

[tuntap]

Nice info

[BitcoinAshley]

Hey guys,

I just earned a few Bitcoins and wanted to test creating a secure wallet. I have a few concerns which I hope someone could explain me. Here is my plan to do this. Please add if I miss something or some other method is better! Also I apology for my noobish questions.

1. I will create a Linux boot CD and boot my computer with that, starting Linux desktop version.
2. I will download Bitcoin software (Bitcoin-QT) from bitcoin.org/en/download and create a new wallet with a few addresses. (Is this absolutely secure on Linux environment? Without doing some hardening or adding firewall?)
3. I will encrypt the wallet by using the encryption provided within Bitcoin software.
4. I will copy the encrypted wallet over to a brand new flash drive and have a backup of it on another flash drive.
5. I will delete the wallet on my computer.
6. I will shutdown linux and go to my PC and send the coins over to the addresses of my new wallet that is stored within my flash drives.
7. I will store the flash drives separately to secure locations. (I understood that the wallets don't need to be connected to internet in order to receive Bitcoins to them?)
8. When I'd like to access my stash, I use the live CD to boot my PC, download bitcoin-qt, unencrypt the wallet from one of the flash drives and place it to the proper file path and that's it?

Is there anything else to add?

You've pretty much got it. Indeed, wallets do not have to be connected to the internet. The wallets don't contain the "coins themselves," as the coins are just an entry in the blockchain which is kept track of by the entire network. The wallets just contain the permission to use the coins.

As for #2, if you're super-worried about the haxx0rs, note that you don't even have to have this computer connected to the internet. Once you get the bitcoin source package, and the necessary dependencies, that is. Then you can disconnect the internet, start the client, and create the wallet. The wallet is just a private key; it doesn't need to send or receive anything from the network for it to be functioning/valid. You could never put that wallet online and still "send" "coins" "to" "it" for years.

As for a livedisk, I'd use "Tails" which is a distro of linux specifically set up for security, anonymity, privacy etc.

[danzigod]

Thanks for the info.
Better safe than sorry.

[tonyca]

very nice topic, good to know.thanks.

[extratw]

Thanks, amazing guide

[branefreez]

Thank you for the guide on how to secure my cryptocoin wallet! It was easy to use, and is very reliable.

[aelpop]

excellent guide

[Y.Job]

what i don't understind how i'm going to receive or send this coin if i didn't wait for the bitcoin-qt to download all the block, and how he gonna do that if its in a CD.

[sweetne$$]

I appreciate all the tips given in this thread, I'm newer to the scene so this really helps me out.

[AndrewWilliams]

If you want true security in addition to the BitCoin software your are using, you need to use the following software to prevent malware, trojans, and viruses from giving someone backdoor access to your computer. All the encryption and passwords in the world will not help you if you computer is infected. BTC



1. Anti-Keylogger
This will prevent a hacker from capturing your passwords as you enter them to decrypt wallets and posting payments.
Key Scrambler - Free and Paid editions. You need to have the paid edition to encrypt your typing using a software wallet and not just your browser. Well worth it IMO.
http://www.qfxsoftware.com

2. VPN Service
This will put a buffer and prevent hackers from having easy access to remotely control your computer if it infected.
Many available. Private Internet Access and Mulavad are recommended by many.
http://www.privateinternetaccess.com , https://www.mullvad.net/en/

3. Firewall and Anti-Virus
Self explanatory. I also recommend Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to detect malware that may not be picked up by most anti-virus software. Free as well.

4. Privacy Browser
Many people think that if you have a proxy or VPN you are immune from tracking. This could not be further from the truth. Browser fingerprinting allows an unscrupulous person to track the websites you visit and monitor your movements online. In a nutshell browser fingerprinting is the method of IDing people online, only needing 21 bits of identification. With 21 bits of identification, a person can be pinpointed with near 100% accuracy by their browser. These points include your OS, browser, any browser add-ons you use, your screen resolution, http header tags, timezone, system fonts, and many more things you probably didn't know could be accessed by a website. THIS IS WHY using Firefox and adding a few privacy addons DOES NOT WORK! If anything, using add-ons, it INCREASES your ability to be tracked. The question becomes, how do we prevent cookies, javascript, and flash from tracking us without using add-ons that contribute to bits of identification?

Test yourself:
https://panopticlick.eff.org/
http://ip-check.info/?lang=en

Solution:
JonDoBrowser: A special build of Firefox that has all privacy essential addons, disables flash cookies, and uses the TOR network to proxify your websurfing.
The best part is that JonDoBrower has the same exact browser fingerprint for ever person who uses it. So you browser fingerprint is no longer unique; it is shared by thousands! The more people use it, the greater the factor of anonymity. It will bring you to under 10 bits of identification. Yes, it is free.
https://anonymous-proxy-servers.net/index.html

[shuttleclock]

More secure = less comfortable to use,
Less secure = more comfortable to use

what i don't understind how i'm going to receive or send this coin if i didn't wait for the bitcoin-qt to download all the block, and how he gonna do that if its in a CD.

As far as I know, you can always receive payment as long as you have your bitcoin address, hence no need to wait for the client to download ll the block.

And if downloading all the blockchain sounds annoying for you, how about use some lightweight wallet instead, like Multibit?

[CYPER]

OK, so for receiving coins you don't have be connected to the internet, in fact you don't need to do anything as long as you have your wallet secured.

But what about sending coins? - I assume internet connection is needed in order to broadcast the transaction, but do I need to download the full blockchain in order to successfully send coins?
Can I just open a fresh client for less than a minute, send some coins and close it immediately after that? Is that enough time for the transaction to appear in the blockchain?



Also I would like to transfer the few coins I have to a new wallet, because my current one is on my Windows machine encrypted and I'd rather not open it in this environment, just in case there is some malware waiting for it. Is this the right procedure:

1 - I fire up a LiveCD, install a bitcoin client, get some new addresses, write them down, backup wallet.dat.
2 - Again load LiveCD and copy my original wallet.dat to be used with the bitcoin client, but this time with an internet connection, so I can send the coins to an address from step one.
3 - Delete original wallet.dat and keep the one created in step 1.

Did I miss anything?

[CYPER]

Anyone?