Best security measures for a computer with pirated software?

[davemanet]

Hi All, I have a regular computer with antivirus that has been relatively stable for years.  Some of my software are not exactly 100% legit as far as I can tell.

I have half of my tokens on a ledger nano s, and half of them on exchanges.

Are my coins on the exchanges pretty safe if I use 2FA?  How do most of you go about it?  I'm sure I'm not the only one with some pirated software on their computer so just wondering what your approach is.

[Lucius]

Hi All, I have a regular computer with antivirus that has been relatively stable for years.  Some of my software are not exactly 100% legit as far as I can tell.

I have half of my tokens on a ledger nano s, and half of them on exchanges.

Are my coins on the exchanges pretty safe if I use 2FA?  How do most of you go about it?  I'm sure I'm not the only one with some pirated software on their computer so just wondering what your approach is.

I doubt you can find a lot of computers who have 100% legit software installed,but this should not be threat to you since you use hardware wallet and so far there is no reports of such wallet is hacked,so your coins are pretty safe(just double check your sending address on Ledger/Ledger App always).

Regarding exchanges you know that your coins are not safe there 100% even if the greatest possible security measures are taken,but with 2FA you are secured your account in the best possible way.Exchanges can always be hacked,your balance can be frozen for some reason-but this is risk you must take if you want to trade.

[MasterBTspace]

Hi All, I have a regular computer with antivirus that has been relatively stable for years.  Some of my software are not exactly 100% legit as far as I can tell.

I have half of my tokens on a ledger nano s, and half of them on exchanges.

Are my coins on the exchanges pretty safe if I use 2FA?  How do most of you go about it?  I'm sure I'm not the only one with some pirated software on their computer so just wondering what your approach is.

Well, its hard to keep you tokens safe as long as your computer serf on internet. I suggest you get one more computer that keep most of your tokens in safe place, that means your computer shut from internet mostly

[dado7]

Best security is a user her/himself, always. Carefully inspecting what they browse and open should be enough.
Hower, I suggested getting a good antivirus - commercial like Symantec, or free like Avast. I confirm those two are very good. However they are not "bulletproof". You should still be careful.

The unlegit software by itself is not a problem, although you should refrain yourself from using it. I mean, many legit software have lots of vulnerabilities, even OS's (just check  the history of Windows 98, it was unsafe even to connect to the internet with it......).

Never open e-mail attachments that you are not absolutely sure of what they are.
About exploring web - here is a very useful guide: https://www.thesslstore.com/blog/5-ways-to-determine-if-a-website-is-fake-fraudulent-or-a-scam/

[davemanet]

Ok this is good to hear thank you guys.  I follow most 'best practices' and I guess there isn't a 100% protection but just have to be careful. 

Also I'm glad to know 2fa on exchange is good enough.

[chiggz]

I believe hardware wallet is the safest option out of any. I have been in a similar situation like yours. But after hearing some horror stories about people losing their money in exchanges (Mt Gox) and virus changing Bitcoin address while copying I had to go with Hardware option. Why not buy a cheap laptop to store crypto and for trading if you are into it? That would be better choice I guess. 

[TechPriest]

Are my coins on the exchanges pretty safe if I use 2FA?  How do most of you go about it?  I'm sure I'm not the only one with some pirated software on their computer so just wondering what your approach is.

Pirated software not demand on security of your funds. Use open source systems like Linux to be calm about security.
Legit softare (from Windows) can't ensure your funds from stealing (i think Windows and MacOS have backdoors for FBI and such organizations)

And i would HIGHLY not recommended to keep your funds on exchanger (not more than 10-s part of all your crypto)

[harizen]

Hi All, I have a regular computer with antivirus that has been relatively stable for years.  Some of my software are not exactly 100% legit as far as I can tell.

I have half of my tokens on a ledger nano s, and half of them on exchanges.

Are my coins on the exchanges pretty safe if I use 2FA?  How do most of you go about it?  I'm sure I'm not the only one with some pirated software on their computer so just wondering what your approach is.

I see it will not be a problem. No connections at all even some of your softwares are not 100% legit as long as you know how that software works (e.g. Photoshops, Third Party Recovery Program, VPN, Cracked Programs etc.)

About exchanges, yes it's was highly recommended to used 2FA but always take note with your backup keys. Is it safe? Yes. The only risks here is; if the exchanges you are using began turning into a shit. In my case, Im not using 2FA and Im fine with it, no problem at all. Most of my problems (only minor) came from exchanges/trading sites problem itself like delays or something like that.

[hatshepsut93]

Hi All, I have a regular computer with antivirus that has been relatively stable for years.  Some of my software are not exactly 100% legit as far as I can tell.

I have half of my tokens on a ledger nano s, and half of them on exchanges.

Are my coins on the exchanges pretty safe if I use 2FA?  How do most of you go about it?  I'm sure I'm not the only one with some pirated software on their computer so just wondering what your approach is.

2FA alone does not 100% guarantee that your exchange accounts won't get hacked, I've read reports here and on reddit how some malware were bypassing it via man-in-the-middle attack - they hijack your passwords and 2FA token when you enter them, use them to log-in instead of you while showing you that the site is unavailable. This is just one example, there can be many other potential attacks, and installing cracked software is a good way to get infected. If you are dealing with huge sums on exchanges, better invest in your security by getting a new dedicated computer for cryptocurrencies, and if you can, install Qubes OS on it.

[nullius]

I doubt you can find a lot of computers who have 100% legit software installed,

Untrue.  All of my computers have only “100% legit” software installed, because all of my computers run 100% open-source.

Not that I give a damn about copyrights for my personal usage.  I simply refuse to touch any software as for which I cannot read and modify the source code.  And, yes:  I am one of the few people who actually uses the source, rather than only navel-gazing and pontificating about it.  In practical use, having the full sources available has saved me from many problems which would otherwise have left me helpless.  (I also scrupulously observe copyrights/licenses for any code I build upon, so as to not cause trouble for other people who use my code.)

[posi]

Hi All, I have a regular computer with antivirus that has been relatively stable for years.  Some of my software are not exactly 100% legit as far as I can tell.

I have half of my tokens on a ledger nano s, and half of them on exchanges.

Are my coins on the exchanges pretty safe if I use 2FA?  How do most of you go about it?  I'm sure I'm not the only one with some pirated software on their computer so just wondering what your approach is.

Ledger is a good wallet but don't support token which I see trezor as the best option and using the 2FA is good for account safety but for every coin you have saved on exchange are not your real coin because you don't control the private of the wallet. I will advice you to get a new computer which you'll use as cold storage for your wallet and don't download any pirate software on it to avoid human error.


EDIT : use kaspersky antivirus

[Lucius]

I doubt you can find a lot of computers who have 100% legit software installed,

Untrue.  All of my computers have only “100% legit” software installed, because all of my computers run 100% open-source.

Not that I give a damn about copyrights for my personal usage.  I simply refuse to touch any software as for which I cannot read and modify the source code.  And, yes:  I am one of the few people who actually uses the source, rather than only navel-gazing and pontificating about it.  In practical use, having the full sources available has saved me from many problems which would otherwise have left me helpless.  (I also scrupulously observe copyrights/licenses for any code I build upon, so as to not cause trouble for other people who use my code.)

What do you think how many people can afford to pay for software or to have knowledge to do what you do?Statistic say that 2 of 5 copies of every software used in 2017 is unpaid so almost 40% of used software is not legit.It would be expected that countries like USA,Germany or UK are not in top 20 countries by using piracy software but they are,what to say about some third world countries where piracy rate is above 80%.

https://www.revulytics.com/blog/top-20-countries-software-piracy-2017