If I lose my phone?...

[NozzaC]

So I've got an Android phone running Mycelium wallet. The phone in encrypted using the built in Android encrypt phone option. It is protected with a relatively complex swipe pattern. Mycelium is protected by a PIN number.

How secure is my BTC if the phone is lost or stolen? Can someone potentially retrieve my private key?

How about if they they managed to guess the swipe code - what then? Mycelium doesn't appear to have a PIN try lockout so I'm thinking that PIN code isn't going to protect it against a determined attacker and is the PIN even securely encrypted?

Thanks

N

[1715449895]

1715449895

[gio3442]

You should hold a backup to the private key letting you access your coins. If you notice your phone is stolen just swipe the addresses.

[OmegaStarScream]

The PIN is what prevents you from sending funds, signing messages etc. It's a 6 digit code so It won't be that easy to crack and It could take sometime. If you ever get your phone stolen or something, you should recover your wallet somewhere else using the 12 words passphrase they first gave you when you took backup.

[NozzaC]

The PIN is what prevents you from sending funds, signing messages etc. It's a 6 digit code so It won't be that easy to crack and It could take sometime. If you ever get your phone stolen or something, you should recover your wallet somewhere else using the 12 words passphrase they first gave you when you took backup.

Yes I have a paper backup of the word list.

However I tried testing it by restoring this to another phone with Mycelium installed on it and it appears to restore fine but from what I saw all that did was to set up an account on the new Mycelium wallet with my original address and with the BTC balance on it. It didn't remove the BTC from the original phone, it just exists on both. So what's to stop the person with the lost phone from spending them?

Whilst I'm interested in the answer to this, it doesn't really address how secure the lost phone is - I might not notice the phone being lost for a while for instance.

[harizen]

The moment you lose your phone then act quickly and do anything to log your Mycelium account to another Android platform and retrieve your coins.

About the phone, Im a long time Android enthusiast and have an idea about an Android thing. Phone security of new models today are hard to crack (well I guess you have a security code in your phone as most of the others do). It's even difficult to do on early models, you need to be rooted. If a person will get your phone why will he bothered to do a hassle way to unlock it if they can reset the phone instead so that they can use it freely.

[NozzaC]

The moment you lose your phone then act quickly and do anything to log your Mycelium account to another Android platform and retrieve your coins.

About the phone, Im a long time Android enthusiast and have an idea about an Android thing. Phone security of new models today are hard to crack (well I guess you have a security code in your phone as most of the others do). It's even difficult to do on early models, you need to be rooted. If a person will get your phone why will he bothered to do a hassle way to unlock it if they can reset the phone instead so that they can use it freely.

When you say retrieve the coin.....as I posted above I did a test restore using my word-list and it restored to a new instance of Mycelium on a different phone and I could see the account number was the same and the bitcoin balance showed up and was correct. So I'm assuming that was a successful restore. However on the original phone the exact same info was there too. So there is surely nothing to stop the thief using that to spend the coins, as well as me on my original phone. I.e. that alone doesn't prevent them from being spent.

So what would I need to do to secure them? Would I need to set up a new account on a 3rd device and send the coins to that so they are no longer linked to the multiple versions of the original account?

[OmegaStarScream]

I already explained everything on the first post. I know that when you restore the wallet both you and whoever stole the phone will have access to the wallet, the thief however, won't be able to spend anything without the PIN code (6 digit code). If he try to crack it, you will have plenty of time to move your funds somewhere else since you already restored it and even If he succeed at some point, he will find it empty because you already sent the money to another wallet. PIN should simply not be something easy to guess (definitely not your birthdate or 123456-789456-111111 etc.) and your wallet should be secure more then enough.

[bL4nkcode]

All the suggestion above is right, once your phone is lost or got stolen then you should work immediately to check your coin on another device by recovering it and send it to other address you owned just simply as that. The person who got your phone can't open your mycelium app because of the PIN you input there except if you don't have. And it's your responsibility after all to secured your coin, your backup and especially your device.

[sksaddam]

You use Gnotes.apk in your Android Mobile.It is Automated synchronise your note.Never lost your own documen.When you login another mobile sign in gnotes website or application you get everything.

[BitMaxz]

Since you had the seeds i think you can recover it in electrum once your phone was stolen or lost you can import the seeds into electrum in your desktop or phone.
And also if you really want to be safe just backup also the private keys of every address you use in mycelium  that you can import to other wallet once your phone was lost or stolen..  That is why i mine i backup and import my private keys in mycelium from electrum once my phone was stolen i can check my bitcoin address from my electrum (desktop) that i can transfer to my other new bitcoin wallet..  just to be save of my bitcoins ..

[dillpicklechips]

Since you had the seeds i think you can recover it in electrum once your phone was stolen or lost you can import the seeds into electrum in your desktop or phone.
And also if you really want to be safe just backup also the private keys of every address you use in mycelium  that you can import to other wallet once your phone was lost or stolen..  That is why i mine i backup and import my private keys in mycelium from electrum once my phone was stolen i can check my bitcoin address from my electrum (desktop) that i can transfer to my other new bitcoin wallet..  just to be save of my bitcoins ..

I just want to say that you don't need to actually import it in Electrum since you can install Mycelium then imposrt you seed then transfer it. But in your case, I presume that you have Electrum which is more convenient for you to do so. The important thing is you have another wallet to transfer your funds from your Mycelium in your stolen phone since you need to send those bitcoins of yours there. The key is to act fast in this kind of situation.

[TetraFugolini]

I for one wouldn't recommend holding the bulk of your coins in mycelium.

Do you have a daily use case for bitcoin that requires you having access to them at all times?

If the answer is no, then better use cold storage. If the answer is yes, then only keep the required amount with you all the time.

[madwica]

As long as you know the private key of your wallet you can retrieved your account and coins stored in that wallet.
Do not forget to backup your private key and place it on the safest placed which no one can access it for the security of your money.
And i think your phone is secured having password and pattern before to access all the application in your mobile.

[Scor1937]

it is Depend on your Security you add to your phone + smart of who stolen your phone

but quick   format  to your phone + keep your backup will help you

[aervin11]

The PIN is what prevents you from sending funds, signing messages etc. It's a 6 digit code so It won't be that easy to crack and It could take sometime. If you ever get your phone stolen or something, you should recover your wallet somewhere else using the 12 words passphrase they first gave you when you took backup.

Yes I have a paper backup of the word list.

However I tried testing it by restoring this to another phone with Mycelium installed on it and it appears to restore fine but from what I saw all that did was to set up an account on the new Mycelium wallet with my original address and with the BTC balance on it. It didn't remove the BTC from the original phone, it just exists on both. So what's to stop the person with the lost phone from spending them?

Whilst I'm interested in the answer to this, it doesn't really address how secure the lost phone is - I might not notice the phone being lost for a while for instance.

Try to think of this. Your phone is maybe 100$ or up. If the value of bitcoin stored on that wallet is quite big or let's say if you know the value of bitcoin in the future you must transfer your bitcoin to another wallet ASAP! It's just that you lost your phone and don't let yourself lose your bitcoin for whatever it's value you just need to minimize your lose. It's the most basic. Cheers to you getting your account again. Minimize the lose