Alternative Block Chains : be safe!

[ldah94]

what you say are universals rules before the arrival of something new that generates doubt and distrust and thanks for naming them, sometimes for the fact of investing in a new currency thinking that its price is going to overflow we are dazzled and forget these rules. always before new investment we must think well and be cautious and the rest is only luck

[HertzCoin]

what is the safest way to keep your altcoins safe?
I suppose storing all funds in different wallets is just not enough
what tricks , guys, do you have?

[eodchop]

I hope that further on it will be more transparent to understand if Alternative Block Chains  are scam or not

[yugyug]

Also, don't believe everything that prominent members of the Bitcoin community have to say about alternative chains. In particular, I know some people think that the number of confirmations doesn't matter and all that matters is the total expected time of the confirmations, so that 1 10-minute-average confirmation is more secure than 3 3-minute-average confirmations. If you read Satoshi's paper it's clear this isn't true; the number of confirmations is actually more important because transaction security increases exponentially with more confirmations. (His paper has approximate figures; you'll notice that accepting 1 and 2-confirmation transactions is fairly risky.)

Fast is vulnerable, i will always think why that the bitcoin transactions can't be as fast as VISA and why does it too long like more than 5 minutes. Then i realize that security is more important than speed. We can be fast but it can't decentralized or we need another third party entity to cater that services but the danger of security is a risk. This is like the case of Equifax's data breach where they handle third party service for VISA transactions.If Lightning Network proposal is implemented, the integrity of data security is quite doubtful.

[HertzCoin]

rather useful post
but now so many projects appear at market every day
really in a rush to get profit I don't ask even a half of questions to myself

[luffare]

Fast is vulnerable, i will always think why that the bitcoin transactions can't be as fast as VISA and why does it too long like more than 5 minutes. Then i realize that security is more important than speed. We can be fast but it can't decentralized or we need another third party entity to cater that services but the danger of security is a risk. This is like the case of Equifax's data breach where they handle third party service for VISA transactions.If Lightning Network proposal is implemented, the integrity of data security is quite doubtful.

Conclusion: the more longer the more secure!
Thx a lot for your warning!

[diwataluna]

I'm usually a lurker in crypto groups and have exercised restraint when it comes to giveaways and airdrops of new altcoins. I work for a cybersecurity company and read a lot of scam and hacking stories. Safety and security in technical (IT) terms is not my strong suit. In general, when you do decide to install software for a new altcoin, I agree with the others who suggested using a separate machine. Especially for newbies like me, because we don't know how to look "under the hood" to check that malware or keylogger is not packaged with any new downloads and installs.

[satish37]

Alternative Block Chains, it is nothing more the the fear of uncertainty and doubt or let say fear of owns doubt

[downsouth]

There's way too many blockchains whom have overpromised and undelivered, we will see a lot more soon failing.

[steveouttrim]

Every other technology has come and gone in waves, before breaking through to the mainstream. There will be boom and bust cycles on various blockchains. However it does seem that BitCoin has withstood everything thrown against it at this point.

Also, we still don't know where it came from. Whoever the organization is behind BitCoin, they are likely very powerful. Powerful enough to eliminate rival blockchains? Quite possibly. Look at the Silk Road, he had hundreds of thousands of BTC and was organizing hits.

Alternate blockchains built on deep state platforms like Microsoft and IBM might be a less risky bet.

[nynextek]

I don't know about any group being able to eliminate rival block chains unless they are somehow able to find an exploit. I'm not a block chain pro or coder but I wonder if that's possible as well. Hmmmm

[IQ Coin]

I though that cyber safety is a common issue these days.
If you keep your bank card details secret, why should you reveal your crypto assets data.
Be smart and do not trust any one online, especially those who offer easy and fast fortune.

[lourdzwess]

Is IOTA an alternative blockchain?

[HertzCoin]

storing your cryptocurrency in outer memory of your computer can be useful
using several memory cards can help also
now it is so hard to protect your BTC

[DAO Fund]

I agree with the original OP; however, this shouldn't discourage people from investing if your sole purpose is to make money.  If you aren't looking to hold any coins long-term, you can trade off of the momentum and volatility alone and make money.

[1kings]

Good advice.

Using an alternate cryptocurrency client would be a great way to get many people to install a hidden virus that targets Bitcoin users.

If you have a significant amount of Bitcoins, I wouldn't run other clients on the same computer until the alternates have developed trust over a longer period of time... I'm probably on the paranoid side of things though.

These new cryptocurrencies are interesting, and it will be fascinating to see how it will all play out. 

That's true. I wouldn't want to risk my coins on any unproven "alternative" blockchain.

[jhongzjhong]

In my own idea Blockchain is hosted over all of computers around the world so that it is not controlled by only one person. Each process in the blockchain network have a full copy of every transactions on the blockchain, it means that every details and history of the transactions are traced. Besides historically being used to handle financial transactions, the security and reliability of blockchain technology means that it can be applied to other areas and industries. But there are many scammers be careful in every online transactions they are hidding and ready to attack.

[Obi2024]

I haven't seen anybody post about what would be my biggest worry if I were trying out alternative block chains. I realize this may be perceived as "Gavin is FUD'ding anything that isn't bitcoin!"  (FUD == Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt)  But I think some of you might be forgetting some basic computer security fundamentals in the excitement to be early adopters.

When I first heard about bitcoin, my questions were:

1) Can it possibly work (do the ideas for how it works make sense)?
2) Is it a scam?
3) If it is not a scam, could it open my computer up to viruses/trojans if I run it?

I answered those questions by:

1) Reading and understanding Satoshi's whitepaper.  Then thinking about it for a day or two and reading it again.
2) Finding out everything I could about the project.  I read every forum thread here (there were probably under a hundred threads back then) and read Satoshi's initial postings on the crypto mailing list.
3) Downloaded and skimmed the source code to see if it looked vulnerable to buffer overflow or other remotely exploitable attacks.

If I were going to experiment with an alternative block-chain, I'd go through the same process again. But I'm an old conservative fuddy-duddy.

If you want to take a risk on a brand-new alternative block-chain, I'd strongly suggest that you:

1) Run the software in a virtual machine or on a machine that doesn't contain anything valuable.
2) Don't invest more money or time than you can afford to lose.
3) Use a different passphrase at every exchange site.

Thanks a lot for the info @Gavin Andresen, better to be safe than sorry.
It's good to be careful and all that, but there are very good guys who are developing alt chains that are very good, i would even like you to look into one if you will have the time, can i pm/email you with the info?

[HertzCoin]

if you have a lot of btc -don't store all of them on PC
Please, divide storage places

[stefek99]

I haven't seen anybody post about what would be my biggest worry if I were trying out alternative block chains. I realize this may be perceived as "Gavin is FUD'ding anything that isn't bitcoin!"  (FUD == Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt)  But I think some of you might be forgetting some basic computer security fundamentals in the excitement to be early adopters.

When I first heard about bitcoin, my questions were:

1) Can it possibly work (do the ideas for how it works make sense)?
2) Is it a scam?
3) If it is not a scam, could it open my computer up to viruses/trojans if I run it?

I answered those questions by:

1) Reading and understanding Satoshi's whitepaper.  Then thinking about it for a day or two and reading it again.
2) Finding out everything I could about the project.  I read every forum thread here (there were probably under a hundred threads back then) and read Satoshi's initial postings on the crypto mailing list.
3) Downloaded and skimmed the source code to see if it looked vulnerable to buffer overflow or other remotely exploitable attacks.

If I were going to experiment with an alternative block-chain, I'd go through the same process again. But I'm an old conservative fuddy-duddy.

If you want to take a risk on a brand-new alternative block-chain, I'd strongly suggest that you:

1) Run the software in a virtual machine or on a machine that doesn't contain anything valuable.
2) Don't invest more money or time than you can afford to lose.
3) Use a different passphrase at every exchange site.

Thanks a lot for the info @Gavin Andresen, better to be safe than sorry.
It's good to be careful and all that, but there are very good guys who are developing alt chains that are very good, i would even like you to look into one if you will have the time, can i pm/email you with the info?

Original post from 2011, and yet so up to date!

Now the security is more important than ever...

Speaking of alternative blockchains - there are not that many wallets supporting more than 10-15-20 currencies...