Protecting Your Computer?

[stigmacryptonight]

When we say "Back up your computer" does it mean that we need to have a spare computer?

I format my PC every six months so that it would be clear of unwanted malware that may infiltrate my PC, is this advisable? Not an IT guy here.

Maybe doing it is a good step like that. Formatting or cleaning every 6 months must be done and I will try to do it. So that our computers are always clean of viruses or something. And now my computer has never even been cleaned or reformatted because I think my computer will be safe if I avoid things I don't want.

[peter0425]

[.. snip ..]

When we say "Back up your computer" does it mean that we need to have a spare computer?

I format my PC every six months so that it would be clear of unwanted malware that may infiltrate my PC, is this advisable? Not an IT guy here.

I'm guessing what he meant by that is that you should have a back-up of your files, specially important one so that in an event of a hack or viruses or phishing, you can just format everything and you can put back your files as if nothing had happened.

[coino.org]

My protection is not that good, but better than it used to be, because I was hacked and my funds were stolen, so I am trying to eliminate all possible vulnerabilities

[clipto]

I am protecting my laptop with a great anti virus systems. You do not need to be greedy if we are talking about funds security thats why in my opinion it is better to pay for a good software and be sure that you are safe.

[Artemis3]

Besides making sure not to download the wrong programs that can be fake programs like fake wallets and not clicking on links, what other important things should you do to protect your computer?  Yes i know you should not put crypto in it but even those who have hardware wallets, some coins cannot be put in the hardware wallet and you need to put it on its own wallet you install or in an exchange. 


First off, does everyone here put a password on their computer?  I read the windows password is completely useless.  But does anyone here use veracrypt or a program where you must enter a password on your computer before you can log in?  Because i read cases where a hacker if they have access to your laptop can put a virus, trojan, keylogger in your computer... then shut down your computer and if you never knew someone accessed your computer, well anything you type on it can be visible to the hacker.  Of course this requires someone smart to have physical access to your laptop.  Thus if they take your laptop, well even if they put a trojan on it, well as long as you don't type your stuff on it, thats fine.


Can someone tell me what program they use to password protect their laptop?  I do not do this as i heard this process is not that simple.  I heard there is either veracrypt or bitlocker.  Are those the only 2 options or best 2 options?  If so, which do you choose and with it, does that mean a thief with access to your laptop cannot get into your laptop and store anything in it like trojan unless they have the password?  Because say someone installed a trojan in your laptop while you are not there for a bit... let say its just a friend who did it b/c they know you have crypto... that is dangerous.  Any advice here? 

Just run a good Linux distro using an encrypted partition, it asks a password at boot and unless its correct, the data is scrambled. Incidentally if you lose your password you lose your data. I think veracrypt/bitlocker attempt to do the same in windows, but windows has several more things to worry about.

User attitude is one of the factors, but so is OS design, and Windows is flawed to the extreme. You run that and its only a matter of time, by user action or inaction (missed update, 0day exploit, accidental click). While Linux is not perfect, it is ages better. Securing Linux is much easier than securing Windows, and with the later you will always have to second guess.

So unless you didn't get the answer: Running Linux (or BSD) is first step towards computer security.

[mksundip]

I think there's nothing wrong with protecting our computer from antivirus and anti-malware networks, especially if we store all digital assets on the computer

[Nezerlan]

If you have millions worth of money in cryptocurrency then saving it in a computer is not safe. Using a hardware wallet is best but if u have to save it in a computer then at least make sure its one you don't connect very often to the Internet

[2Kool4Skewl]

Now it is impossible not to protect your computer from viruses.  Because now cyber attacks are very popular and common.  I think that this should be de facto.

[olabiyijummy02]

On the off chance that you are genuine about ensuring your coins that are put away in your PC then you have to abandon Windows and start to utilize Linux, there is basically no other way, the Windows usable framework is just to unreliable to store any significant measure of cash, so you have to download your preferred Linux dissemination, check that everything is right and after that introduce it and if conceivable attempt to abstain from associating that PC to the Internet so the odds of getting hacked remotely are low

[fvb]

I learned a lot of interesting and new things by reading the messages.  This is a really important component for users.  What is described here is worth exploring in detail.  In my opinion, the most important thing is not to shine your keys to your wallets, and of course caution is a priority.

[pixie85]

OP said that windows password is useless. It isn't. It offers very low protection but it's not there to protect your computer from outside hackers or tech savvy people or even people who have to take HDD out or load linux from a USB stick. It's there to protect your PC from children or coworkers who might do something when you're away taking a piss.

BIOS password is even better and it's pretty good when you don't want your wife or mother spying on you. Most people don't know how to reset it and won't have time to take your computer apart. It's always better to have even a weak password on your PC but it won't help you with online attacks and that's who most people lose their money.

[BennyK]

It is always good to keep ones protective softwares updated in other to enjoy the best security for ones computer. However, the best way to gain good security for ones computer is to first take precautionary measures especially when it comes to the downloading of unknown files, opening of unknown files, visiting unknown websites and the storing of login details in emails.

[Juse14]

You can try a few option :

• Save the key at flashdisk
• Make a rar for your file and encrypt the file
• Change the extension file of your rar file ( You can get double protection)
• Print out your file to a paper.

I really like the option of "Rar File" you can get more protection with double protection "Password Rar" & "Changing the extension file"

[btc_angela]

Education is the best way to protect our assets here in crypto. Cyber criminals are all over the space now and if you don't know how to even scan your pc then you are doom to be a victim at one point in time. Educated ourselves, there's a lot of tutorials/helps even here in the community so I will advise everyone to really take the time to learn and practice everything we learn from this forum.

[DDante]

Get used to paper wallet my friend,if you don't know how to get one learn how to build one yourself because your PC hard disk can die at any moment,do not keep your private keys on hard disk

[billyhaleym]

The best option for now is offline wallet, I witnessed it, even family and friends can get Acess to files store on your computer and who knows? I personally have developed codes for my self and it works for me

[BitcoinPanther]

Once a computer is connected to internet, then it is vulnerable to viruses and malware. We need a reliable anti-virus to prevent them to enter our computer.

In connection with these, we need also to protect our wallets passwords and security keys. As much as possible, we need to separate our files with our accounts credentials into an isolated offline computer. An offline computer should not be connected to the internet from the beginning of time.

[hongus]

The worst thing is that it is not known what viruses can exist and hackers have loopholes in your computer. And if you are chosen to attack you do not go anywhere. If you break the big exchanges that spend huge money on protection. It’s easy to hack your stove.

[whtchocla7e]

The internet is really complicated, I have received dozens of emails every day from winning programs, inviting investors, ... I think they are deliberately installing something into my computer through the My mailed link. This is definitely something that is harmful to your computer, possibly a virus or can read data from your computer. Be careful

[BennyK]

I am using an antivirus which have anti keylogger option to prevent sending information typed with the keyboard of your pc to hackers. I always hold my tokens in hardware wallet as those are fully safe from any hacker attack.

Anti-viruses come with their own disadvantages too. I had one anti-virus which eventually turned into a virus itself when it got outdated. I think the most safest way to protect ones computer is to take precautionary measures with the type of links and files we follow and download respectively. Some links and files lead to phishing.