What risk is there creating a cold storage on a public computer considering...

[Dabs]

Cold storage implies at least an air gap. Public computers are almost always infected and most that you can rent have some sort of monitoring software (or hardware) installed.

If you want something almost as secure, do it on a phone that you have just factory reset.

Blowing up the computer shop is for movies.

Robert Clayton "Bobby" Dean: "What the hell is happening?"
Edward "Brill" Lyle: "I blew up the building."
Bobby: "Why?"
Brill: "Because you made a phone call!"
 - Enemy of the State.

[Theb]

If you want something almost as secure, do it on a phone that you have just factory reset.

If you are talking about having an extra phone and making it as a cold storage where he would just download an electrum wallet and after that be disconnected to the internet then I think this is a much better option for him but of course the problem here would be the reliability of that extra phone if it can withstand any hardward issues in the future. If the problem here mainly is you not having a personal computer I think the best alternative here is if you can't buy one ask someone who you are close with first like a family member perhaps and scan first for any viruses and malware before doing the method you already know. At least in this way you have some privacy in a creation of your cold storage.

[ranochigo]

If you are talking about having an extra phone and making it as a cold storage where he would just download an electrum wallet and after that be disconnected to the internet then I think this is a much better option for him but of course the problem here would be the reliability of that extra phone if it can withstand any hardward issues in the future.

Can't see how that's an argument at all. Unless you bring your phone around to dunk in the ocean and lakes, I don't think phones are that unreliable. There's a reason why the wallet always asks the user to write down the seeds on a piece of paper and to keep it safe. In the event of any hardware failure, the user can just restore it to another phone or device.

Old laptops are fairly cheap nowadays, if you purchase one, it could be a good investment and would probably serve as a decent airgapped wallet if you run a LiveCD using a USB flash drive.

[Theb]

If you are talking about having an extra phone and making it as a cold storage where he would just download an electrum wallet and after that be disconnected to the internet then I think this is a much better option for him but of course the problem here would be the reliability of that extra phone if it can withstand any hardward issues in the future.

Can't see how that's an argument at all. Unless you bring your phone around to dunk in the ocean and lakes, I don't think phones are that unreliable. There's a reason why the wallet always asks the user to write down the seeds on a piece of paper and to keep it safe. In the event of any hardware failure, the user can just restore it to another phone or device.

Old laptops are fairly cheap nowadays, if you purchase one, it could be a good investment and would probably serve as a decent airgapped wallet if you run a LiveCD using a USB flash drive.

I'm talking about personal experience here. When I have bought a new phone and just kept my old (working) phone in one of my storage after a couple of months when I decided to open my old phones to transfer some contact numbers it wasn't turning on. Now if I made my old phone into a cold storage during that time then I have created a big problem at present. Yeah old laptops might be a good idea but only if he will be buying one from a reliable store probably one of those refurbished ones. Just by buying old laptops or just second-hand ones without knowing the real running condition of the laptop will just give him the same problems of having an old unreliable phone.

[Dabs]

I don't know what phones you have or used, but I have some 5 year old phones with me still working today. Samsung J1 (2016). I believe they were still being sold up to last year as brand new for around $100 USD.

You can regularly get refurbished old desktops for below $100 as well, they can all run the latest update of Windows 10. You'll want to add a keyboard, mouse, cheap monitor and maybe a webcam, but you can keep that machine behind an air gap and completely offline.

[Kakmakr]

"Tails" come with a standard old version of Electrum, so you have to update that version to the latest version and the only way to do that is to enable a Persistent volume. I think enabling a Persistent volume on Tails defeats the purpose of a clean boot with Tails. 

I use a vanilla flavor the latest "Tails" for the creation of my paper wallets. (for the clean boot) and then I use bitaddress.org to create the paper wallets. (I download the script and then I go offline to create the wallets) 

[ranochigo]

"Tails" come with a standard old version of Electrum, so you have to update that version to the latest version and the only way to do that is to enable a Persistent volume. I think enabling a Persistent volume on Tails defeats the purpose of a clean boot with Tails. 

It's a cold storage. The version available on Tails is sufficient to generate the seeds and it shouldn't go online at all. Using outdated Electrum is fine, there isn't any concurrent vulnerabilities present in the installed binaries on the latest Tails that would impact the security.

I use a vanilla flavor the latest "Tails" for the creation of my paper wallets. (for the clean boot) and then I use bitaddress.org to create the paper wallets. (I download the script and then I go offline to create the wallets) 

Paper wallets are actually not very great to use. You'd have to use a printer without any wireless connectivity, ensures that it isn't stored in the ram to ensure that the paper wallets remains as an offline cold storage. If you don't print it out, then you can't store it without the persistent storage either. If you were to use an OS for that already, might as well just use the Electrum that is provided on it. Needless to say, Bitaddress doesn't even have Segwit on it and it's arguable that using an offline Electrum *could* be potentially safer than trying to download a script online to use it in a browser.

[PrimeNumber7]

Tails is designed and maintained by the NSA, and is funded by the government.
Follow the money.

Aren't the same sources telling that ToR and also Bitcoin were created by NSA?

TOR was actually created by the US Navy, although it has been open source since its creation.

Don't use a public computer to create cold storage private keys. Public computers often have surveillance tools installed so whoever owns the public computer can monitor its usage. Even if this was not the case, there is the risk that someone has installed malware on the computer, or that the private keys will remain in memory after you finish for the next person to find.

It would be best if you were to purchase any equipment for a cold storage device in person without using any kind of order-ahead type service aka you pick up the equipment off the shelf at the store. You should also maintain possession of any equipment used to generate cold storage private keys after you have created them.

[Wind_FURY]

It's almost the same price as a chromebook 

if he gonna store some bitcoin in cold storage, I'm sure he is rich enough to afford it.
btw the cheapest cold storage wallet is probably Blockstream Jade, which is only 40 USD.

I believe it’s safer to buy hardware to use for Bitcoin, that will not be known that you will use it for Bitcoin. This especially rings true after the Ledger privacy leak. Plus we shouldn’t trust third-parties anymore, not when Bitcoin is going to 6 digits. EVERYONE will be going after the thing they want most from you. Your Bitcoins.

[Dabs]

You can probably use Tails, use Persistent volume, and update using an offline download. Still keeps it offline... But I would still not use any public computer, better to get your own.