Understanding and setting up the right security measures.

[Hewlet]

Just like every other investment, it's necessary as bitcoin holders or intending holders to understand what could lead to your failure in the bitcoin investment so as to put out the right measures in place that will prevent it from happening.

I did failure analysis of a welded system as my undergraduate research work and I know the importance of understanding the possible point of failure in a system and how important it his to protect such a system against such failure and I think this will be very much applicable in this Bitcoin space because if we know the risk associated with bitcoin investment, we would put out the right measures in protecting our holdings and our bitcoin holding will be safe for us.

So I'm going to outline some major areas that I feel could lead us to experience looses in our bitcoin journey and look at how to protect ourselves against them.

1. Drop in bitcoin value:   everyone accumulate bitcoin because they want an increase in it value which will yield them profit in a stipulated period of time and in the event that the price goes down bellow the amount you bought your bitcoin, fear might set in but we need to understand and come to term with the volatile nature of bitcoin and still continue holding on to it and that way the momentary loss comes back as a gain after the price of bitcoin has increased.

2. You could loose your private key or an intruder could get access to it.     This is also one major thing that could lead you to experience a loss in your bitcoin investment and because of how severe this loss is, it is very necessary to take your security very seriously. Apart from the normal posting and replies we do in the forum, it is very important to put in all the necessary security measures in place to avoid losing our private keys or allowing it to get into the wrong hands. Remember that people can get access to your device without necessary having physical contact with it so we need to make sure we write out our private keys and save ourselves stories that torches the heart.
3.  Beware of hackers and fraudulent people  . This is very important at this stage where many persons are looking for newbies and victims that will fall prey to them. Avoid clicking links you are not sure of, their are mails you should avoid responding to and there are some random messages you shouldn't take seriously. Scammers are everywhere and have interesting tactics they can use on unsuspecting individual just to hack into their account. Watch out for them and be as careful as you can.

These are just a few of the areas I feel could lead one to experiencing a loss in bitcoin investment and it's necessary we guide our selves in this areas to be on a safer side.

 If you have other areas you think we should consider taking very seriously, share it here so we can all learn together.
  

[Zaguru12]

1. Drop in bitcoin value:   everyone accumulate bitcoin because they want an increase in it value which will yield them profit in a stipulated period of time and in the event that the price goes down bellow the amount you bought your bitcoin, fear might set in but we need to understand and come to term with the volatile nature of bitcoin and still continue holding on to it and that way the momentary loss comes back as a gain after the price of bitcoin has increased.

One thing we sometimes quantify bitcoin with is the price raise, bitcoin distinctive advantage is the fact that it’s value does falls but the price which is use to quantify it that raises and falls due to the demand and supply volatility, if not 1 bitcoin is always equal to 1 bitcoin. Over the years the bitcoin has proven to always increases in price and as such for you to get the maximum profit in price you just need to hold for long period.

2. You could loose your private key or an intruder could get access to it.  
3.  Beware of hackers and fraudulent people  

I will merge this two together because I think they are basically saying same thing which is about wallet security. The simplest solution is once you are holding for a long period of time or even hold large amounts of bitcoin, avoid online storage of your funds, go fully into offline storage either by buying a hardware wallet or airgap your device, and also store the seed or keys offline in a secure place.

[BIT-BENDER]

If you are looking for ways to protect yourself or trying to post ways to protect yourself in the Bitcoin ecosystem then all you need to do is a little research, because there are already tons of ways made even here on the forum that would be very helpful, I think what you say has already been said on this forum a million times, learn to use the search engine to get more information.

A more recent post I don't know if you came across it, I found it helpful and I believe all newcomers would find it helpful also.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5473830.msg63146976#msg63146976

[Amphenomenon]

If you have other areas you think we should consider taking very seriously, share it here so we can all learn together.
  

Be cautious of the type of update you install for your system and wallet
Use hardware wallet
Use a strong password and avoid using it other things,you may also use 2FA verification
Avoid storing your coins on CEX
Be cautious of phishing scam, ponzi schemes and others

[RioBlemz]

Never use public Wi-Fi  for transaction.

Do not use other people's device to access your account, wallet, mail etc.

Verify every CEX, before engaging or avoid them completely

Most Importantly;

Gain Adequate knowledge on Cyber security or read Security tips. it helps.

[lovesmayfamilis]

You can lose all your bitcoins in one moment if you are not careful when transacting with them. Checking the wallet number at the moment when you are going to send funds somewhere, as well as the correct commission, requires care and accuracy. Otherwise, no matter how you protect your investments, one moment of carelessness can work against you and your investments.

[dzungmobile]

1. Drop in bitcoin value:   everyone accumulate bitcoin because they want an increase in it value which will yield them profit in a stipulated period of time and in the event that the price goes down bellow the amount you bought your bitcoin, fear might set in but we need to understand and come to term with the volatile nature of bitcoin and still continue holding on to it and that way the momentary loss comes back as a gain after the price of bitcoin has increased.

This point does not relate to security!

It is about risk-benefit analysis before anyone starts an investment.

2. You could loose your private key or an intruder could get access to it.    

The point is if you lose your private key or mnemonic seed, you lose your bitcoin.

Who will have access to that private key or mnemonic seed is not necessary related to you because you must assume you lose your bitcoin after losing private key/ mnemonic seed.

So, let's repeat and remember it every day.

"I have to backup my private key/ mnemonic seed safely and my backups must work for me"

3.  Beware of hackers and fraudulent people  . This is very important at this stage where many persons are looking for newbies and victims that will fall prey to them. Avoid clicking links you are not sure of, their are mails you should avoid responding to and there are some random messages you shouldn't take seriously. Scammers are everywhere and have interesting tactics they can use on unsuspecting individual just to hack into their account. Watch out for them and be as careful as you can.

Don't be curious too much.
Be healthy on the Internet.
Use antivirus/Internet security softwares if possible (not free versions).

Why I put Antivirus / Internet Security softwares at the end, because if you have first two points in control, you even don't need to use those softwares. Secondly they can not completely save you if you fail at first two points practically.

[Winterfrost]

Avoid having conversations of issues on telegram and other channels. Especially with people who claim that they are customer support. This is mostly found in centralized exchange public official group. There are many scammers there that always dm and if you eventually chat with them they might deceive you into sending your private keys. If you have issues on your wallet or exchanges it is best to chat their support on their official website.

[sunsilk]

If you are thinking of hackers, fraud people, scammers, private keys and intruders. You should start with yourself, informing or learning on how to protect yourself.

There is no other people that will protect your assets but only you. I just don't understand the connection of Bitcoin's drop in value because what is the thing that pushes it with security?

The only connection that I can think of it is the security of its price and stability. But know that Bitcoin isn't like that but it's always been volatile.

[jrrsparkles]

I would like to address one common thing that most people do that will end in a result of loss which is strong funds in custodial services such as exchanges, hot wallets, staking, and lending platforms. Honestly, most of us have experienced it but it could be a small amount unless you are dumb to store the entire crypto portfolio in an exchange and the exchange gets hacked.

[Doan9269]

If you have other areas you think we should consider taking very seriously, share it here so we can all learn together.
  

We have to be very careful with the way we take some control measures against being scammed or hacked, so that by doing so we are not making a vulnerability to create an avenue for the same attack we are trying to avoid from happening, that is one thing to consider when choosing a security measure, we should always make sure that we are not leaving a loophole down for them to use in tracking us completely.

[Kelward]

You can lose all your bitcoins in one moment if you are not careful when transacting with them. Checking the wallet number at the moment when you are going to send funds somewhere, as well as the correct commission, requires care and accuracy. Otherwise, no matter how you protect your investments, one moment of carelessness can work against you and your investments.

This is true, after observing all the security measures, if a person makes the costly mistake of paying into a wrong wallet, this can never be undone. Most times we're in such a hurry to copy and paste wallet address to send crypto coins, if there's any mistake of a single number or letter, and we go ahead to send, there's no redemption afterwards. So it's Important to always crosscheck the segwith, confirm that it's the same address before sending, this little exercise can save us from regrets if mistake where to occur.

[Zaguru12]

Avoid having conversations of issues on telegram and other channels. Especially with people who claim that they are customer support. This is mostly found in centralized exchange public official group. There are many scammers there that always dm and if you eventually chat with them they might deceive you into sending your private keys. If you have issues on your wallet or exchanges it is best to chat their support on their official website.

Although centralized exchanges do not have private keys except some few that have eternal wallets apart from the exchanges but on No account should the private key to personal wallet be given. Moreover exchanges should be the last place you keep funds and also telegram shouldn’t be a place you discuss about your bitcoin holdings. Should there be a senerio where you maybe sent funds to an exchange due to this high transaction fee saga it doesn’t drops in time, do not get frustrated and start chatting support even if you do and they request for private keys or seeds even if it is the real support channel do not give it out to them. The worst is to wait for the transaction and Monitor it on explorers till it gets confirmed or dropped. Even the right support for platforms could be compromised without one’s knowledge.