How to protect bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from hackers.

[wozzek23]

A few simple steps and precautions are enough to protect your cryptocurrency assets from hackers. From what I have seen, if you use email confirmation using a Gmail account, hacking incidents can be prevented 99.99% of the times. Only using laborious methods such as SIM swap, a hacker can steal coins from a wallet which is protected with email authentication and 2FA.

But, email confirmations can only secure your coins when you store them in online web wallets like blockchain.com which is actually risky itself because there is no reason to trust your coins with any website no matter how trusted they are when you can download a wallet file and keep your coins in your own control.

I usually use 2 computers one for my day to day work and the 2nd one where I have only the core wallet installed where I make all transactions and there is no risk using this method because I don't surf interest or download any files from that computer and there is no way the hacker can gain access to it unless I have the PC lost which is again impossible because it being a PC I don't carry it anywhere either .

[Blackdeath]

To be honest, there are a lot of great hackers nowadays that they are really unpredictable that you can't really when will they attack and steal all of your cryptocurrencies or bitcoin. So the best way to protect your funds from hackers is not to visit any suspicious websites and do not share any of your information and passwords to people through online.

[South Park]

A few simple steps and precautions are enough to protect your cryptocurrency assets from hackers. From what I have seen, if you use email confirmation using a Gmail account, hacking incidents can be prevented 99.99% of the times. Only using laborious methods such as SIM swap, a hacker can steal coins from a wallet which is protected with email authentication and 2FA.

But, email confirmations can only secure your coins when you store them in online web wallets like blockchain.com which is actually risky itself because there is no reason to trust your coins with any website no matter how trusted they are when you can download a wallet file and keep your coins in your own control.

I usually use 2 computers one for my day to day work and the 2nd one where I have only the core wallet installed where I make all transactions and there is no risk using this method because I don't surf interest or download any files from that computer and there is no way the hacker can gain access to it unless I have the PC lost which is again impossible because it being a PC I don't carry it anywhere either .

This is such a simple solution and yet it is very effective, however we must recognize that not everyone has the money to have a computer on their home doing nothing, however if you have an old computer this could be a viable solution, but if that is not the case then buying something like a hardware wallet could be an even better option as you can buy them for a relatively cheap price and those devices unlike your regular computer were specifically created to be very difficult to hack.

[bearexin]

Don't visit random site and always check the site that you log in.
Don't share or send your account information to others specially for those airdrops that ask for your private key.

Added to that using hardware wallets can always help because even if your computer is infected with virus and compromised then also you cannot be hacked by hackers.

I believe people must use mobile as 2FA if they use web-wallets because there are phishing links often and you end up giving your password to them so at least they cannot login until you also give them the OTP. Moreover, if you are wise and aware enough then there is no way someone can get your coins at their will, yes a few hackers might do brute forcing and other tricks to get access but if you use hardware wallets even those are eliminated.

[royalfestus]

I think this can affect more of those that share the same phone with google authentication app. They got into your mail and the google account you sign in on your phone. have never trusted wallet and exchanges on the android phones, I believe the vulnerability is high, even more risky when the app request for google authentication code that is on the same phone with the app. I prefer the windows app and online exchange for now, maybe IOS app as well. Android is not as safe.

[hahay]

I think this can affect more of those that share the same phone with google authentication app. They got into your mail and the google account you sign in on your phone. have never trusted wallet and exchanges on the android phones, I believe the vulnerability is high, even more risky when the app request for google authentication code that is on the same phone with the app. I prefer the windows app and online exchange for now, maybe IOS app as well. Android is not as safe.

It seems iOS and Android are not much different because most of them are centralized wallets that don't give users to get recovery seeds and private keys, because one thing I feel is safe to use a wallet is about ownership of the private key itself. But as long as you can use any wallet properly and always be careful in everything, I think that is a way for us to keep our funds safe.

[wiss19]

Sadly am once a victim of hacker.Someone hacks my wallet last year.Maybe i become careless,hackers are genius.You cant protect bitcoin and any currencies in all but you can make your wallet where you store your bitcoin and any currency you hold safe and secure.

Sorry for your loss but can you mention what sort of wallet of yours was hacked because you mentioned you don't use hardware wallets so do you use exchanges as wallets or desktop/mobile wallet?

Im backing up my wallet now and also im being careful too.But someone suggest tthat i should use a more secure wallet like hardware wallet which i dont have any idea as of now.So,im doing a research now.

Since you are new, here is something that might help - https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet and always download any wallets from trusted sources.

Hardware wallets are pretty good but can be very difficult to use for quick payments and if you are not familiar I suggest you to learn a bit and maybe go with trezor.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I have been here for more than three years and I would say that if you take a limited number of basic precautions, then more than 99% of the wallet hacking attempts can be defeated. 2FA is a must and if you are not activating it, then it is like you are giving away whatever cryptocurrency assets you have in your wallets to the thieves. It takes hardly 2 minutes to install Google Authenticator in your phone. And another precaution is to be careful about the phishing sites.

[South Park]

The current state of technology is still vulnerable to hacking attempts. Regardless of device, iOS, Android or Windows app, most software wallets could potentially be hacked if we are not careful enough and we end up downloading the wrong software. Maybe we should go to the next level and start using 3 factor authentication.

Hardware Wallets could be a safer alternative in this case, like someone suggested earlier. As long as you don't lose it you should be good.

Even if you lose your hardware wallet that is not a big deal since you should have a backup of your seed words somewhere and you could use that seed to recover your coins with ease, however unlike losing a software wallet you will lose the amount of money invested to get the device and the money needed to buy a new one, but despite all of this it is a good idea to have a hardware wallet in which you keep the majority of your funds safe from the attempts of hackers to steal your coins.

[Gladiator25]

Simply don't just click any suspicious link in the internet, hardware wallets are secured, just have it and don't let anyone have physical access to it. Paper wallets are safe to online hackers, and not even to your indoor or neighbors.

Yep and I want to add that, also we should not click or be baited on some of the pop-up advertisements because sometimes there are some malicious virus that are associated with that kind of advertisements. Also don't give your private keys to anyone, especially when that key are the ones who have a lot of stored bitcoin or money.

[BTCLife.global]

So, we need to know how to manage our wallets too and have a strong antivirus to protect us from hackers and also we need to know the latest threats from cyber criminals so that we can protect ourselves away from them.

In my opinion, there should be a dedicated PC based on some well-maintained Linux distro (probably on Windows 7, but NEVER on Win10), on SSD supporting TCG Opal technology, and the most important point is that you will use this wallet-PC only for operations with cryptocurrencies. The only web browser you will use there should be TOR browser. Also, you should be a paranoid about passwords and also be a retrograde about storing your passwords. We can talk a lot about it, but in a nutshell you should come up with passwords of 10 characters and longer, as random as possible. Write it up on paper, in two copies stored in different places safely.

So on that PC above you should set up at least three passwords: 1^st for SED-drive unlocking during boot, 2^nd for your OS account, and 3^rd for your wallet. BTW check that your wallet can be unlocked with password you have just set prior to sending any funds on it's address.

Buy two flash drives with hardware encryption support for storing wallet files and private keys. Protect them with two different passwords. Be a paranoid.

If you still did not know about it - your passwords should not be repeated anywhere and never. Use 2FA everywhere. Store backups of 2FA keys on paper.

And more, and more...

[kaneki007]

Usually I always bookmark trusted websites that I often visit and if there are suspicious links you should not click or there are applications that are not from the official do not try to download it. Always being careful is the most important thing to avoid hackers who want to steal our crypto assets.

[Republikcoin.com]

to be honest, you can avoid that by not clicking on strange messages from large companies or on behalf of such things. besides that you also need to use defenses such as antivirus, or other things that help identify odd things. some other hackers try to use phishing sites, just as happened in the case of the blockchain, and myetherwallet, even some people also try to imitate the name of this forum to steal your account.
yeah, stay careful, and stay alert. Even though it's not 100%, it's good enough

[South Park]

In fact, it is almost impossible to secure your funds 100% from hackers. There are many ways, but it is 100% impossible to do it .

We all know that is impossible since every system always has some kind of flaw, however it is not really necessary, you only need to take some basic precautions and that will be more than enough to reduce the chances of a hacker stealing your coins, if you buy a hardware wallet, use a safe operating system like Linux and you create long passwords and never repeat them then you will be safe from most attacks that hackers could take against you and your coins.

[Vishnu.Reang]

In fact, it is almost impossible to secure your funds 100% from hackers. There are many ways, but it is 100% impossible to do it .

We all know that is impossible since every system always has some kind of flaw, however it is not really necessary, you only need to take some basic precautions and that will be more than enough to reduce the chances of a hacker stealing your coins, if you buy a hardware wallet, use a safe operating system like Linux and you create long passwords and never repeat them then you will be safe from most attacks that hackers could take against you and your coins.

Nothing can give 100% protection against the hackers, but it is possible to have 99.9999% protection. And I think that it is as good as 100%. If you take all the basic precautions, then only in some rare cases (such as the recent $45 million robbery involving BTC and BCH from Chinese user Zhoujianfu through SIM swap) the hackers can steal the coins in your wallets. 

[Shasha80]

In my opinion, if hackers use malware and trojans to steal the coins we have, we should always install premium antivirus. And always
update your antivirus, don't use free antivirus. And hardware wallet is still the safest to use, so don't worry too much. If you have coins
in large quantities, don't keep them in one wallet. Divide into several wallets to avoid being targeted by hackers.

[michellee]

In fact, it is almost impossible to secure your funds 100% from hackers. There are many ways, but it is 100% impossible to do it .

At least, we can try to secure our funds, and if we can protect the wallet, we can prevent the hackers too. As long as we can follow every instruction to secure the wallet, we don't have to feel worried because the hacker will need time to hack the wallet. I am not worried about that because I guess that only me that know where the wallet, and that is what we do. We don't have to tell other people that we have crypto and where we keep that crypto, because that can make them curious, and that can invite the bad people to try to steal our wallet.

[Meowth05]

The safest you could do is consult a security expert, they know what to do and how to prevent this malicious schemes. Hardware wallet and paper wallet seems the safest. Next thing you should do is have a common sense, think for yourself, don't click when the link is fishy and trust your gut feel when you are deciding.

[SUMBI99]

As I was reading news today on cointelegraph, what i read really shocked me. It was about a new trojan. The trojan can affect exchanges apps. The trojan get access to specifically google factor authenticator on devices and steal it. Use the link below for the full details

https://cointelegraph.com/news/threat-alert-new-trojans-targeting-major-crypto-exchanges-apps-discovered

I am new to cryptocurrencies  but I gained a lot from this news. We need to stay connected everyday to read news because cyber criminals are looking for ways to steal our coins.

A week ago, I read about the safest wallets, I found out that the safest are paper wallet and hardware wallet. The wallets are offline but to make a transaction, you have to connect it online. I later read of a malware that can steal cryptocurrencies  from trezor or ledger nano in just 15 seconds which are the best hardware wallets.

So, we need to know how to manage our wallets too and have a strong antivirus to protect us from hackers and also we need to know the latest threats from cyber criminals so that we can protect ourselves away from them.

Stop entering every site, just use the only trusted sites to read, buy staffs/assets, and play games, don't open emails from unknown and time to time delete your spam  folder and not download the apps from  untrusted source, also escape  to store your keys and mnemonics phase online and if necessary just use only trusted cloud storage.      

[PANK21]

When you are using bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, risk is always included. Some hackers create a suspicios link or some clickbait to make you interests in the following website or link. So i suggest that you avoid suspicious links specially in your emails or an unsafe websites. You can also create an offline wallet or hardware wallet. In your hardware wallet you can store your bitcoin offline but when you have to make a transaction, it must be connected online . It has a less chance of getting stolen but that doesn't mean that you have to be careless. You must be alert and aware of the things you used specially when online.