What do you think about privacy and security

[Charles-Tim]

I hope you are are aware of what is going on in France right now. In this year alone, David Balland, co-founder of cryptocurrency wallet firm Ledger, was abducted with his wife at their home in central France. Recently, three teens kidnap Las Vegas (US) man at gunpoint, stealing $4M in crypto. Just two days ago, crypto exchange (called Paymium) CEO’s daughter fights off brazen kidnappers in Paris. French police rescued the father of a cryptocurrency millionaire who had been kidnapped and held for ransom in a Paris suburb.

There are more of such attacks but we are still enjoy in country like Nigeria but we do not know what will happen in the future, maybe crypto might even be demanded for as ransom. It is very good we see how everything is happening right now so we can know how privacy is very important. And as for those that can not have privacy like some having a crypto business that people in his town know very well, such person may probably need a security.


http://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna204718
https://cointelegraph.com/news/florida-teens-kidnap-crypto-entrepreneur-at-gunpoint-steal-4-m-in-crypto
https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-exchange-ceo-daughter-fights-kidnappers-paris


If you want to follow the attack updates, you can read about it here --> https://github.com/jlopp/physical-bitcoin-attacks

[Hatchy]

Well, the whole thing is turning into something else and I pray its not our portion. Unlike other country where technology is a thing and it's easier to at least locate criminals using cameras or identity stuffs. Crime in Nigeria is difficult to investigate. The police or security personnel takes longer in finding criminals due to lack of tools like they do in the western world. The part of crypto being mostly not reversible or untraceable will make it easier for those criminals to loot many Nigerians and hide away the crypto they had stolen even if they get caught.

But we can take security into our hands by first keeping a very low profile of our crypto investment. There are certain people you shouldn't even allow to know about what you hodl. Your closest friend can organise a kidnap for you or your family and it would be difficult to know who you told. Let's all be safe.

[Joy_learns_crypto]

It’s scary especially as a Nigerian. Those stories about the kidnapping you mentioned happened in a very functional countries and I believed the case was solved I am very sure of the man that was kidnapped at Gunpoint by teenagers, they were later apprehended.
Now in a country like ours where there security agencies are limited in terms of resources, intelligence and so on and they can’t even handle kidnapping that involves fiat, it will be scary when cryptocurrency is now being demanded.

This calls for serious privacy and security measures. Although  I think some people but themselves in such situations. I know people when the market goes up they go to their WhatsApp status and start celebrating to the public eyes and most times they may not even have half of a whole bitcoin but they have just made themselves target. Even when you let others know about bitcoin don’t make it sound as if you are Satoshi himself, try to be discreet as possible.

[Felicity_Tide]

~snip

There are more of such attacks but we are still enjoy in country like Nigeria but we do not know what will happen in the future, maybe crypto might even be demanded for as ransom. It is very good we see how everything is happening right now so we can know how privacy is very important. And as for those that can not have privacy like some having a crypto business that people in his town know very well, such person may probably need a security.

Hate to say this, but it feels like we are getting close to that point.
When the country keeps getting worse in terms of security and poverty, of course you would expect the lazy ones to be more creative, by learning and generating different means to carry out extortion. Just like Nigerians would say: "The update never cast". Kidnappers still see fiat as the only possible means of collecting ransom, but I bet you that there are might have been some cases in this country where crypto enthusiast or hodlers are specifically targeted. We might have not heard of any case probably because the media hasn't gotten anyone yet.

Privacy and confidentiality is the way forward. What's the need of adding "BTC" to your name, and getting called in a public space when you know the risk involve. If an hodler/enthusiast can't afford security, at least he/she must have a common sense to maintain privacy.

[igebotz]

I hope you are are aware of what is going on in France right now. In this year alone, David Balland, co-founder of cryptocurrency wallet firm Ledger, was abducted with his wife at their home in central France. Recently, three teens kidnap Las Vegas man at gunpoint, stealing $4M in crypto. Just two days ago, crypto exchange (called Paymium) CEO’s daughter fights off brazen kidnappers in Paris. French police rescued the father of a cryptocurrency millionaire who had been kidnapped and held for ransom in a Paris suburb.

This is what Fiat billionaires have been going through for ages; the only reason this sounds like news is that crypto billionaires thought they were less vulnerable to kidnappers/attackers; fiat billionaires travel in security convoys, whereas the ETH founder and the rest of the crypto billionaires walk down the street without securities.  The best way to safeguard your crypto is to first protect your life; once your crypto is exposed to the public, you are vulnerable to attacks both offline and online.

Crypto holders should start walking around with security details, they're not any special from fiat billionaires; the only difference is one stores money at the bank and at home while the other hid it in a single hard drive. The moment your privacy is breached, your assets becomes vulnerable.


France has been in so many bad News recently - the administration sucks.

[sokani]

There are more of such attacks but we are still enjoy in country like Nigeria but we do not know what will happen in the future, maybe crypto might even be demanded for as ransom. It is very good we see how everything is happening right now so we can know how privacy is very important. And as for those that can not have privacy like some having a crypto business that people in his town know very well, such person may probably need a security.

Ransom has been paid in Bitcoin in Nigeria before according to this news, and I think nah the first case.

https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2019/09/17/umar-ardo-confirms-15000-ransom-for-daughter-aisha/?amp=1

These cases of physical attacks nah wake up call to everybodi to take their privacy very seriously. Awa country already get big security challenge, so like this nah we be awa own security and the best way to avoid attracting the attention of robbers to awa selves nah to live a simple life and stop posting awa assets or wealth online.

[BIT-BENDER]

Most of those kidnapped cases are attacks on people that made public their affiliation to crypto-currency, so this kidnappers are already aware of the type of person they are dealing with and also have a rough estimate of how much Bitcoin this guys have.
If you are into anything that requires you to make public your Crypto-currency affiliation it is best you actually have a strong security team or leave in place with less security threats.

[Mpamaegbu]

Crypto holders should start walking around with security details, they're not any special from fiat billionaires; the only difference is one stores money at the bank and at home while the other hid it in a single hard drive. The moment your privacy is breached, your assets becomes vulnerable.

Na d koko you drop there so, especially dat part wey I bold. Maybe crypto hodlers dem be dey think sey since dem nor dey carry am waka around sey nobodi go wan harass dem as dem nor fit expect anybodi to cram Pkey or seedphrase for head. Dem nor know sey criminals are wise too. They know by kidnapping and keeping dem, dey can get their victims to instruct people at home who will get those information across to dem wit small torture or kidnappers can equally force dem to access their phones for whateva wey dem fit find there. We need to dey wise for dis industry. Whateva wey we get nor suppose be for bragging.

[Hewlet]

These cases of physical attacks nah wake up call to everybodi to take their privacy very seriously. Awa country already get big security challenge, so like this nah we be awa own security and the best way to avoid attracting the attention of robbers to awa selves nah to live a simple life and stop posting awa assets or wealth online.

Believe me that if you for any reason allow your privacy to leak out and the wrong people get to discover that you're holding a substantially amount of crypto, be sure that you're going down and that your family might even go along if care is not taken.

We all know how that once you have small money you automatically become a suspect that can be attacked any moment. Even if it's fiat or you're presumed to own an asset, you are at the risk of being targeted by kidnappers and if it's happening in foreign countries with better security architecture, how much more will it get if it starts happening in our own end? The last thing any crypto holder should do is to leak his information to random people, that will implicate him grately.

[Zaguru12]

Most of those kidnapped cases are attacks on people that made public their affiliation to crypto-currency, so this kidnappers are already aware of the type of person they are dealing with and also have a rough estimate of how much Bitcoin this guys have.
If you are into anything that requires you to make public your Crypto-currency affiliation it is best you actually have a strong security team or leave in place with less security threats.

This is definitely the truth, these people can seemingly get kidnapped no two ways about it because someone cannot be a billionaire and it doesn’t shows that such person is a rich fellow, but once you see the kidnappers ask of bitcoin as ransom then be rest assured that they did there research so well that they new such person possess it, take for example the news shared by OP is about an crypto exchange CEO reasons why they ask for bitcoin which is more like a traditional bank CEO definitely such person is a high figure and in a country which isn’t secured its best to actually get extra security.

My only advice to some Nigerian crypto investors is the how they leave off flashy lifestyle on social media, this is one way which I think most of them might get affected with security issues, flaunting crypto assets is now a norm for most Nigerian crypto investors

[Obulis]

Well, the whole thing is turning into something else and I pray its not our portion. Unlike other country where technology is a thing and it's easier to at least locate criminals using cameras or identity stuffs. Crime in Nigeria is difficult to investigate. The police or security personnel takes longer in finding criminals due to lack of tools like they do in the western world. The part of crypto being mostly not reversible or untraceable will make it easier for those criminals to loot many Nigerians and hide away the crypto they had stolen even if they get caught.

But we can take security into our hands by first keeping a very low profile of our crypto investment. There are certain people you shouldn't even allow to know about what you hodl. Your closest friend can organise a kidnap for you or your family and it would be difficult to know who you told. Let's all be safe.

It’s scary especially as a Nigerian. Those stories about the kidnapping you mentioned happened in a very functional countries and I believed the case was solved I am very sure of the man that was kidnapped at Gunpoint by teenagers, they were later apprehended.
Now in a country like ours where there security agencies are limited in terms of resources, intelligence and so on and they can’t even handle kidnapping that involves fiat, it will be scary when cryptocurrency is now being demanded.

This calls for serious privacy and security measures. Although  I think some people but themselves in such situations. I know people when the market goes up they go to their WhatsApp status and start celebrating to the public eyes and most times they may not even have half of a whole bitcoin but they have just made themselves target. Even when you let others know about bitcoin don’t make it sound as if you are Satoshi himself, try to be discreet as possible.

As for we Nigerians, level of awareness of criminals will determine if such will take place here (that's crypto demanded as ransom).
But then from all point of view you are your first security. Avoiding unnecessary publicity can go a long way in handling that...
Worthy of note, the level of crypto knowledge in Nigeria is not the same as France the focal point on this. Ordinarily as per fiat, ransom is happening if not all month many of which are unreported. Meaning that should crypto knowledge grow more, there might be that time when ransom will be crypto should this level of insecurities continue!!

 

[Frankolala]

Plebs like us that are into crypto and nobody knows about it still have the opportunity to keep it secret and live a low key life so that nobody will know that you have crypto assets. Otherwise, people will come after you because arm robbers are still active. As for those public figures wey don cast for the crypto world, them need security around them to scare their attackers. Money na money be it fiat or crypto, e must attract thieves.

[Amphenomenon]

My take is that this already happening in Nigeria and would increase more as our cryptocurrency adoption rate increases. We just have to be careful of how we speak about our funds possibly diversify, and if anyone is having fame then go for any security measures that would keep you and your love ones safe.

Crypto holders should start walking around with security details, they're not any special from fiat billionaires; the only difference is one stores money at the bank and at home while the other hid it in a single hard drive. The moment your privacy is breached, your assets becomes vulnerable.

True, when the fame comes it's your job to protect yourself  and the best way that would work. Fame comes with restrictions and people needs to accept that.

Fiat currency and cryptocurrency is still money and that means we can't ignore the risk of being force to transfer our money unwillingly. We need to protect ourselves and those around us to avoid chances for this to happen.

France has been in so many bad News recently - the administration sucks.

I'm not disrupting this but this is an inevitable challenges every Nation faces as their adoption rate and knowledge of cryptocurrency increases.

Although, the government has a huge role to play on limiting this but I will say there's no Nation that hasn't or won't suffer or is still not suffering from this, though the rate varies but it does. Although not all are spoken in the media.

I will rather rely on myself than the government for my security, this would make it better even if they are fighting real hard against it or not. Nigeria is not a place we should rely on our government and so we should find a better and feasible solution to protect ourselves.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Crypto holders should start walking around with security details, they're not any special from fiat billionaires; the only difference is one stores money at the bank and at home while the other hid it in a single hard drive. The moment your privacy is breached, your assets becomes vulnerable.

Better they don't have to disclose how much they own but we homosapiens prefer to be praised for how much we own so then we disclose all our privacy and put ourselves in harms like this. I don't get why they aren't learning from the creator of what we're enjoying today.

See how rich satoshi is yet nobody knows him. I bet the story would had been different if we were in his position or have half the wealth that satoshi owns. We should prioritize privacy and we can enjoy true wealth that way. Satoshi can probably move along the road alone and nobody will do him harm.

Bitcoin is anonymity itself, crypto should be private not opened, the crypto millionaire have to stop looking for the world's validation, only then can they enjoy real wealth.

[nelson4lov]

When Kidnappers get caught up and get more crazed about Bitcoin and crypto, it would definitely become a problem here too.

Why?

It's simple. This people do kidnapping for way, way less and they do it for naira. If they just get a taste and grow an appetite for it then privacy will become a top priority for anyone that holds or indulges in crypto.

Police officers that went rugged already do this btw. Once they just know you're into crypto, they turn it into extortion. I know a guy that was paying monthly dues because they knew he trades crypto.

So yes, I agree 100%. This would be a problem in the near future especially with the amount of profit flexing that people do.

[Rruchi man]

~

Privacy and security are two topics that we largely overlook in Nigeria. The earlier we start becoming aware of the importance of and focus on the development of consciousness towards privacy and security, the better for us, because as cryptocurrency becomes more popular in Nigeria, more people will be interested in ways to get it, and if the people interested are people who are already into kidnapping, making people who have identified themselves with cryptocurrency as their targets would be easy, and the choice that they will consider taking in a way to get cryptocurrency.

We have to be careful of not only strangers but also friends and family. We have to be cautious also of the information we share online on social media.

[Bigjoe33]

I hope you are are aware of what is going on in France right now. In this year alone, David Balland, co-founder of cryptocurrency wallet firm Ledger, was abducted with his wife at their home in central France. Recently, three teens kidnap Las Vegas (US) man at gunpoint, stealing $4M in crypto. Just two days ago, crypto exchange (called Paymium) CEO’s daughter fights off brazen kidnappers in Paris. French police rescued the father of a cryptocurrency millionaire who had been kidnapped and held for ransom in a Paris suburb.

There are more of such attacks but we are still enjoy in country like Nigeria but we do not know what will happen in the future, maybe crypto might even be demanded for as ransom. It is very good we see how everything is happening right now so we can know how privacy is very important. And as for those that can not have privacy like some having a crypto business that people in his town know very well, such person may probably need a security.


http://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna204718
https://cointelegraph.com/news/florida-teens-kidnap-crypto-entrepreneur-at-gunpoint-steal-4-m-in-crypto
https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-exchange-ceo-daughter-fights-kidnappers-paris


If you want to follow the attack updates, you can read about it here --> https://github.com/jlopp/physical-bitcoin-attacks

Unlike the use of local currencies and the way our commercial banks Operates, Bitcoin can be operated secretly, investing and building wealth intentionally. And that's one thing I love about cryptocurrency, it's confidentiality. But then again, we are our own problems. Imagine what you learnt and invested in secret, built emergency funds inorder to ensure a long time hold of your Bitcoin assets, and all other things been equal, the market went high, and you made so much profit, and then, you bring in the public, you post on all social media handles, you become BTC Lord, chanting and spending money lavishly just for people to know you have arrived.

We must learn to keep things secretly, keep your investment secret, even your growth and the rise of Bitcoin secret, if people must know that Bitcoin has increased, it shouldn't be from you. We belong to a country where area criminals can't be traced, talk more community, local, state etc. Make we first keep ourselves first,  with all wisdom and dilegence.

Think privacy, think security, think safety.

[EarnOnVictor]

There are more of such attacks but we are still enjoy in country like Nigeria but we do not know what will happen in the future, maybe crypto might even be demanded for as ransom. It is very good we see how everything is happening right now so we can know how privacy is very important. And as for those that can not have privacy like some having a crypto business that people in his town know very well, such person may probably need a security.

You've raised a good point, but for me, it's beyond privacy but the ungodly plan of the evil people who are looking for ways to achieve their ulterior aim. I've heard and read enough cases where it was just a case of random robbery or kidnapping or both, and the victims or the family had to pay with crypto. All these victims I read about never disclosed they had crypto, and neither did the perpetrators know them as crypto people, but still demanded their payment in crypto, with enough beating.

This case did not exclude Nigeria as well, only that most of these victims in Nigeria are not popular, got the money from illegal sources, or the news didn't go viral. Even the Nigerian police are complicit in this, and they've unlawfully kidnapped random people and extorted them in crypto.

My point is, More privacy efforts are good, but it's beyond privacy. The belief of the evil people that crypto is decentralized, accessible and can be mixed to get away with it makes them prefer it now.

[Charles-Tim]

I've heard and read enough cases where it was just a case of random robbery or kidnapping or both, and the victims or the family had to pay with crypto. All these victims I read about never disclosed they had crypto, and neither did the perpetrators know them as crypto people, but still demanded their payment in crypto, with enough beating.

We can not know if the attackers know that their victim is into crypto or not. Sometimes, what they do may be what that disclosed it or when talking with friends publicly. It can be from anywhere that the attackers know about it. But the link that sokani provided really still makes your point very valid. The man did not know how to make crypto trading but still his daughter was kidnapped and bitcoin was demanded for the ransom. But regardless of the bad people knowing, I think I am taking my privacy to the next level, even avoiding discussing somethings with people around me. Although, this may also be connected with how rich someone his and known to people.

[Coyster]

I know say $5 wrench attacks can happen anywhere, but e come be like say e dey popular for France in the last couple of months, based on all the cases wey don happen since then, the police and law enforcement for France suppose look into this matter well well, before it gets out of hand.

That said, privacy dey very important oh, particularly for person wey no hodl too much crypto and definitely cannot pay for security details, if you fall under this category and you don't keep your mouth shut about your coins, you might just be a victim someday. But for people wey hodl so much crypto or are popular in the crypto industry, dem suppose invest for security, that is the way they can protect themselves.