Discussion: "Cybersecurity and Privacy" board + Poll (request v1)

[Bigpiggy01]

I haven't been overly active on here outside my main project thread in a while but this is an initiative I am happy to support. I've been in education for ages and would be happy to help condense some of the threads on best practices and attack vectors, particularly on anything that applies more or less across btccodebase altcoins as well into doodle vids or other simplified media should this get approved.
This is also something that would add immense value to a lot of speculative mining communities as they are frequently the low hanging fruit to get targeted.

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[BenCodie]

I haven't been overly active on here outside my main project thread in a while but this is an initiative I am happy to support. I've been in education for ages and would be happy to help condense some of the threads on best practices and attack vectors, particularly on anything that applies more or less across btccodebase altcoins as well into doodle vids or other simplified media should this get approved.
This is also something that would add immense value to a lot of speculative mining communities as they are frequently the low hanging fruit to get targeted.

Great to hear another so-far unmentioned sector that is directly related to Bitcoin and could benefit from this board.

As of this message, a PM was just sent to Theymos requesting a review and some feedback!

Let's hope for this idea to become a reality I am excited to start posting there!

[LoyceV]

LoyceV I suppose not being against it is not necessarily supporting it either, so I just left that quote in the section it was.

My concern is that "cybersecurity" is far too broad for Bitcointalk, there must be better places to find this information. "Privacy", however, is (in my opinion) severely underrated.

[BenCodie]

LoyceV I suppose not being against it is not necessarily supporting it either, so I just left that quote in the section it was.

My concern is that "cybersecurity" is far too broad for Bitcointalk, there must be better places to find this information. "Privacy", however, is (in my opinion) severely underrated.

I would concur, though it's hard when it would be in the same section as Politics & Society...I don't think there is a topic/board that could ever be as broad as that. I guess another way to put cybersecurity the strength of your infrastructure/system on a network and operating system level. Privacy is the next layer after the network layer. Things become a little harder to understand on the cybersecurity layer though that is one of the main points for it to be included.

While privacy prevents data exploitation, prying eyes etc, it's not enough/almost redundant for one to just be private. One should be at least to the minimal standard, secure as well. Security prevents things like losing funds, accounts being hacked, even prying eyes that privacy measures otherwise wouldn't cover.

[n0nce]

LoyceV I suppose not being against it is not necessarily supporting it either, so I just left that quote in the section it was.

My concern is that "cybersecurity" is far too broad for Bitcointalk, there must be better places to find this information. "Privacy", however, is (in my opinion) severely underrated.

I'd like to post ideas / thoughts and discussion about security-related topics relating to Bitcoin wallets (hardware & software) and nodes, attack vectors, attacker models, advantages & disadvantages of certain options and such. Of course, I can go to https://security.stackexchange.com .. but I like it here!
That place is also more about questions & answers, no real place for discussion. And obviously it is much broader (not tied to Bitcoin / cryptocurrency)..

[Bigpiggy01]

LoyceV I suppose not being against it is not necessarily supporting it either, so I just left that quote in the section it was.

My concern is that "cybersecurity" is far too broad for Bitcointalk, there must be better places to find this information. "Privacy", however, is (in my opinion) severely underrated.

There is no doubt it's well on the broad side but if it's kept to bitcoin/altcoin relevant points I don't see any harm in it. Also very frequently privacy and security go hand in hand, as for most users security without privacy/obscurity isn't attainable.
Looking at the more positive side of things, there are a lot of people on here who are happy to share and have some very teachable moments.

[Welsh]

My concern is that "cybersecurity" is far too broad for Bitcointalk, there must be better places to find this information. "Privacy", however, is (in my opinion) severely underrated.

If it's within the main Bitcoin sections, then it shouldn't be a problem. Since, the section it's in, takes precedence. Although, I'd agree, cybersecurity is actually limiting the threads that could pop up. Security & Privacy is just much better, since there's also physical security, and we'll forever be plagued with privacy issues. For example, there's a thread out there investigating companies for selling data, and this sort of thing will always be a threat. There could be companies looking to sell a product, but ultimately catering their business to collect data on Bitcoin users.

So, there's a ton of possibilities if you name it "Security & Privacy" or something along those lines, but ultimately it's in the main Bitcoin section. Therefore, should be limited to Bitcoin related topics. Physical protection of backups, installing software related to Bitcoin, and splitting your wallet up into multiple virtual machines or physical devices all come to mind.

[BenCodie]

My concern is that "cybersecurity" is far too broad for Bitcointalk, there must be better places to find this information. "Privacy", however, is (in my opinion) severely underrated.

If it's within the main Bitcoin sections, then it shouldn't be a problem. Since, the section it's in, takes precedence. Although, I'd agree, cybersecurity is actually limiting the threads that could pop up. Security & Privacy is just much better, since there's also physical security, and we'll forever be plagued with privacy issues. For example, there's a thread out there investigating companies for selling data, and this sort of thing will always be a threat. There could be companies looking to sell a product, but ultimately catering their business to collect data on Bitcoin users.

So, there's a ton of possibilities if you name it "Security & Privacy" or something along those lines, but ultimately it's in the main Bitcoin section. Therefore, should be limited to Bitcoin related topics. Physical protection of backups, installing software related to Bitcoin, and splitting your wallet up into multiple virtual machines or physical devices all come to mind.

I suppose physical protection of backups or software relating to Bitcoin could go in the wallets section. Security offline is a bit more about common sense, and would open up discussion to things that might not be entirely relevant. All of a sudden you will have a board with too-broad of a topic range. If it's limited to cybersecurity and privacy, at least these fit in the realms of "digital"/"cyber". Talking about using devices i.e anything that involves "cyber"/"digital" devices to store backups and protecting these, that's fine, as at least there's a digital element involved, or in other words there is a technical level that can be taught. Protecting a paper wallet from physical intrusion on the other hand, that can go in the wallet section (as it already does). That's my 2 cents anyway.

LoyceV I suppose not being against it is not necessarily supporting it either, so I just left that quote in the section it was.

My concern is that "cybersecurity" is far too broad for Bitcointalk, there must be better places to find this information. "Privacy", however, is (in my opinion) severely underrated.

There is no doubt it's well on the broad side but if it's kept to bitcoin/altcoin relevant points I don't see any harm in it. Also very frequently privacy and security go hand in hand, as for most users security without privacy/obscurity isn't attainable.
Looking at the more positive side of things, there are a lot of people on here who are happy to share and have some very teachable moments.

Since it would be in the Other category, we shouldn't limit posts about security/privacy just to Bitcoin/altcoins. Both are vital aspects of being safe online, being safe online should be the ultimate goal rather than topics strictly related to keeping your coins safe. The symptom of being safe online means that your coins should be safe too.

LoyceV I suppose not being against it is not necessarily supporting it either, so I just left that quote in the section it was.

My concern is that "cybersecurity" is far too broad for Bitcointalk, there must be better places to find this information. "Privacy", however, is (in my opinion) severely underrated.

I'd like to post ideas / thoughts and discussion about security-related topics relating to Bitcoin wallets (hardware & software) and nodes, attack vectors, attacker models, advantages & disadvantages of certain options and such. Of course, I can go to https://security.stackexchange.com .. but I like it here!
That place is also more about questions & answers, no real place for discussion. And obviously it is much broader (not tied to Bitcoin / cryptocurrency)..

Right. We shouldn't be saying "there are other places to discuss this" as a reason not to introduce the board anyway. Like you said, we like it here; we like the format of the forum, the people, and their brains!


So far, no response from theymos unfortunately guys. I guess no news can sometimes be good news though! Maybe it's in the works 

[NotATether]

So far, no response from theymos unfortunately guys. I guess no news can sometimes be good news though! Maybe it's in the works  

Maybe he's on holiday so wait for a week or so and "Quote" the PM to him again in another reply. I had to do that like twice in order to get bitcoincleanup.com a factoid.

So, there's a ton of possibilities if you name it "Security & Privacy" or something along those lines, but ultimately it's in the main Bitcoin section. Therefore, should be limited to Bitcoin related topics. Physical protection of backups, installing software related to Bitcoin, and splitting your wallet up into multiple virtual machines or physical devices all come to mind.

I also agree that the name of the board should be "Security and Privacy" and not cybersecurity, so long as the topic has something at least marginally to do with crypto.

[BenCodie]

So far, no response from theymos unfortunately guys. I guess no news can sometimes be good news though! Maybe it's in the works  

Maybe he's on holiday so wait for a week or so and "Quote" the PM to him again in another reply. I had to do that like twice in order to get bitcoincleanup.com a factoid.

So, there's a ton of possibilities if you name it "Security & Privacy" or something along those lines, but ultimately it's in the main Bitcoin section. Therefore, should be limited to Bitcoin related topics. Physical protection of backups, installing software related to Bitcoin, and splitting your wallet up into multiple virtual machines or physical devices all come to mind.

I also agree that the name of the board should be "Security and Privacy" and not cybersecurity, so long as the topic has something at least marginally to do with crypto.

I'll be sure to give it another try at another stage!

I don't fully agree with Security and Privacy. I understand the point and that physical security is still important...should we really want to deviate away from a specific focus on digital security, and introduce physical security to be mixed in with this board though? It feels like it would become a bit of a wide-range mess after some time. I feel like being physically secure is more subjective anyway...it's not difficult/is mostly common sense to maximize physical security in comparison to keeping a computer system safe in this day and age, in my opinion.

[joker_josue]

it's not difficult/is mostly common sense to maximize physical security in comparison to keeping a computer system safe in this day and age, in my opinion.

The point is that those who cannot behave safely in their daily lives are unlikely to act safely online.

Now, I don't think it makes sense to mix things up either. This is an online forum and what you are supposed to do is help people to behave safely online.

Also, physical security changes a lot from country to country and city to city. A person's sense of physical security in New York must be different from one in Barcelona. What is physically safe in Texas can be very different in Maimi.

Therefore, the focus should not be on physical security, which is very variable but on online security, which is the same worldwide.

[n0nce]

I also agree that the name of the board should be "Security and Privacy" and not cybersecurity, so long as the topic has something at least marginally to do with crypto.

I don't fully agree with Security and Privacy. I understand the point and that physical security is still important...should we really want to deviate away from a specific focus on digital security, and introduce physical security to be mixed in with this board though?

I think 'digital' is implied when talking about 'security' in the context of privacy and Bitcoin. There may be one or two interesting topic ideas about e.g. ways to physically secure seed phrase backups against thefts or something, and I wouldn't report them as off-topic, even if the board was called 'cybersecurity', to be honest.
So, both names are fine for me.

[BenCodie]

I also agree that the name of the board should be "Security and Privacy" and not cybersecurity, so long as the topic has something at least marginally to do with crypto.

I don't fully agree with Security and Privacy. I understand the point and that physical security is still important...should we really want to deviate away from a specific focus on digital security, and introduce physical security to be mixed in with this board though?

I think 'digital' is implied when talking about 'security' in the context of privacy and Bitcoin. There may be one or two interesting topic ideas about e.g. ways to physically secure seed phrase backups against thefts or something, and I wouldn't report them as off-topic, even if the board was called 'cybersecurity', to be honest.
So, both names are fine for me.

I wouldn't say so. Similar to what joker says, I suppose that the default interpretation of 'security' would be different for everyone. You're right, there would be interesting topics on this subject to do with backups, seeds, etc. I think they wouldn't be reported as off-topic but instead moved to the Wallets board as they relate to this most, and most posts about this already reside there. Aside from protecting your seed/private keys, there is not much else that is actually related to Bitcoin in terms of physical security that isn't wildly off topic in my opinion, and all of these topics would probably fit better in the Wallets board than they would in the 'cybersecurity' board.

If we welcome physical security posts generally with the intention that it will relate to bitcoin, I believe it would open up the avenue for people to talk about things like personal/home surveillance, setting up these tools, protecting yourself in the street, etc. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but again, I feel that it is wildly off topic. The board name would kind of allow it too...since the board will be generally named 'security and privacy'.

TLDR: Cybersecurity links to bitcoin because low cybersecurity = more risk to your coins. Privacy is in line with Bitcoin ethos. Physical security? It doesn't really fit outside of protecting offline storage/keys/seeds, all of which can be discussed in the Wallets board.

[BenCodie]

Despite the poll slowly gaining some new positive votes, the request seems to be stagnant. So far there has not been an official response from Theymos. I have sent another PM as of this message in the hopes for some feedback!

[Synchronice]

That's a good idea, we definitely need Cybersecurity and Privacy board, it will attract not only bitcoin enthusiasts but other people who are looking for enhanced security.
To be honest, we need structured WIKIs in each section too. For example, have a look at the wiki of buildapc subboard: Planning on building a computer but need some advice? This is the place to ask!
If you read and follow steps on this WIKI, you will understand what to consider when building a pc, when and where to buy components, how to assemble it and even more.

It will be amazing if we create similar wiki about bitcoin development, economics, etc. Since this thread is focused at cybersecurity and privacy, imagine how good it will be to have wiki on bitcointalk that will cover the information about:
1. Linux distros like TailsOS.
2. Browser Privacy
3. Tor and VPN
4. Information encryption including messages, videos, files, disk, etc.

If we create Cybersecurity and Privacy board with sticked Wiki thread and ombine all the information in Wiki thread, this will enlighten more people and will truly do amazing job for society.

[BenCodie]

That's a good idea, we definitely need Cybersecurity and Privacy board, it will attract not only bitcoin enthusiasts but other people who are looking for enhanced security.
To be honest, we need structured WIKIs in each section too. For example, have a look at the wiki of buildapc subboard: Planning on building a computer but need some advice? This is the place to ask!
If you read and follow steps on this WIKI, you will understand what to consider when building a pc, when and where to buy components, how to assemble it and even more.

It will be amazing if we create similar wiki about bitcoin development, economics, etc. Since this thread is focused at cybersecurity and privacy, imagine how good it will be to have wiki on bitcointalk that will cover the information about:
1. Linux distros like TailsOS.
2. Browser Privacy
3. Tor and VPN
4. Information encryption including messages, videos, files, disk, etc.

If we create Cybersecurity and Privacy board with sticked Wiki thread and ombine all the information in Wiki thread, this will enlighten more people and will truly do amazing job for society.

Right on, very much with you on the wiki idea! I can't speak for the other boards but I am very sure that wiki(s) would naturally arise after the boards creation. Privacy is kind of limited as to how much you can know and apply, but Cybersecurity is extremely widespread. I can visualize a ton of information with this addition.

I am still very excited every time I see PowerGlove's snapshot of where the board might sit. I hope that it becomes a reality.

It's a yes from me. It would be nice to have a place to post about security/privacy topics (e.g. Tor, Tails, Qubes, Whonix, etc.) and help other members to improve their opsec and keep their BTC safe.

Right between B&H and Off-topic seems like a good spot:

[joker_josue]

Despite the poll slowly gaining some new positive votes, the request seems to be stagnant. So far there has not been an official response from Theymos. I have sent another PM as of this message in the hopes for some feedback!

Attention, not overdoing the PM.

Sometimes these things take some time to have an answer. So we really have to wait with patience. 

[BenCodie]

Despite the poll slowly gaining some new positive votes, the request seems to be stagnant. So far there has not been an official response from Theymos. I have sent another PM as of this message in the hopes for some feedback!

Attention, not overdoing the PM.

Sometimes these things take some time to have an answer. So we really have to wait with patience. 

Definitely not over doing. I've only sent two PM's and I probably will not send another. Other supporters can in the future if they really feel like it I won't annoy him anymore

So far, no response from theymos unfortunately guys. I guess no news can sometimes be good news though! Maybe it's in the works  

Maybe he's on holiday so wait for a week or so and "Quote" the PM to him again in another reply. I had to do that like twice in order to get bitcoincleanup.com a factoid.

Gave that a shot!...

Though on this day of March 06, 2023, we still have no Cybersecurity & Privacy board 

[WatChe]

That's a good idea, we definitely need Cybersecurity and Privacy board, it will attract not only bitcoin enthusiasts but other people who are looking for enhanced security.
To be honest, we need structured WIKIs in each section too. For example, have a look at the wiki of buildapc subboard: Planning on building a computer but need some advice? This is the place to ask!
If you read and follow steps on this WIKI, you will understand what to consider when building a pc, when and where to buy components, how to assemble it and even more.

It will be amazing if we create similar wiki about bitcoin development, economics, etc. Since this thread is focused at cybersecurity and privacy, imagine how good it will be to have wiki on bitcointalk that will cover the information about:
1. Linux distros like TailsOS.
2. Browser Privacy
3. Tor and VPN
4. Information encryption including messages, videos, files, disk, etc.

If we create Cybersecurity and Privacy board with sticked Wiki thread and ombine all the information in Wiki thread, this will enlighten more people and will truly do amazing job for society.

I will support this idea of creating cyber security and privacy board since cybersecurity is a necessity these days. Most of us take security forgranted and embrace it only once we are hacked or experience any cyber security breach. All of us can contribute to cybersecurity according to our knowledge.
I recently cleared 'ISACA Cyber security' exam and can help ( to best of my knowledge) who is trying to pursue ISACA certification in cyber security.

[giammangiato]

I want to support this request, it is a subforum in my opinion useful for grouping these news or articles that have no place at the moment
in the end it seems like a sector destined to remain with smart working which has now become a normal thing