How can I "protect" my wallet

[dsattler]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

I hate to say this but this method is seriously flawed. Encrypt the wallet with what? There are programs which allows people to bruteforce the encrypted files. Furthermore, whenever you use the wallet, you would have to unencrypt it using the password. In the process, a keylogger or malware on your computer would have captured it already. Antivirus CAN remove viruses and malwares but ever heard of crypters? They can allow the virus to pass the AV's test with no detection. If this happens, your wallet would be ultimately hacked.

Encryption of the qt-wallet is really strong. If you choose a long enough password with random characters, there is no way to brute-force it. I recommend a length of 15 or more characters.

[ranochigo]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

I hate to say this but this method is seriously flawed. Encrypt the wallet with what? There are programs which allows people to bruteforce the encrypted files. Furthermore, whenever you use the wallet, you would have to unencrypt it using the password. In the process, a keylogger or malware on your computer would have captured it already. Antivirus CAN remove viruses and malwares but ever heard of crypters? They can allow the virus to pass the AV's test with no detection. If this happens, your wallet would be ultimately hacked.

Encryption of the qt-wallet is really strong. If you choose a long enough password with random characters, there is no way to brute-force it. I recommend a length of 15 or more characters.

Whenever you have to spend it, you would have to unencrypted it, in the process, the password can be stolen and the wallet will be hacked. It depends on how secure is the encryption method, if a vulnerability is found or the hashing method is weak, your bitcoins will get hacked.

[ronaldo40]

store your coins in wallet local
download wallet armory.

yeahh besides saving on blockchain + 2FA, just also save on local web exchanger and it is very safe, and has been reliable

[Muhammed Zakir]

store your coins in wallet local
download wallet armory.

yeahh besides saving on blockchain + 2FA, just also save on local web exchanger and it is very safe, and has been reliable

I didn't got what you meant by 'local web exchanger'. Could you please clarify? Thanks!

I dearly hope you didn't meant any exchanges.

   -MZ

[zBlood7]

If you want to use online wallet, always use strong password & 2FA
If you want to use offline wallet, use bitcoin core / armory with strong password in clean PC

Never store your bitcoin on exchange site

[dsattler]

All you need to do is encrypt it.

And have an anti virus installed to detect and remove keyloggers.

I hate to say this but this method is seriously flawed. Encrypt the wallet with what? There are programs which allows people to bruteforce the encrypted files. Furthermore, whenever you use the wallet, you would have to unencrypt it using the password. In the process, a keylogger or malware on your computer would have captured it already. Antivirus CAN remove viruses and malwares but ever heard of crypters? They can allow the virus to pass the AV's test with no detection. If this happens, your wallet would be ultimately hacked.

Encryption of the qt-wallet is really strong. If you choose a long enough password with random characters, there is no way to brute-force it. I recommend a length of 15 or more characters.

Whenever you have to spend it, you would have to unencrypted it, in the process, the password can be stolen and the wallet will be hacked. It depends on how secure is the encryption method, if a vulnerability is found or the hashing method is weak, your bitcoins will get hacked.

Keyloggers are the only weakness, the encryption method of the qt wallet is very strong:

Wallet encryption uses AES-256-CBC to encrypt only the private keys that are held in a wallet. The keys are encrypted with a master key which is entirely random. This master key is then encrypted with AES-256-CBC with a key derived from the passphrase using SHA512 and OpenSSL's EVP_BytesToKey and a dynamic number of rounds determined by the speed of the machine which does the initial encryption (and is updated based on the speed of a computer which does a subsequent passphrase change). Although the underlying code supports multiple encrypted copies of the same master key (and thus multiple passphrases) the client does not yet have a method to add additional passphrases.

Source: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet_encryption

[kpitti]

store your coins in wallet local
download wallet armory.

yeahh besides saving on blockchain + 2FA, just also save on local web exchanger and it is very safe, and has been reliable

I will not leave any significant amount on any online service and exchange is even worst. You can have 2FA enabled, but when they close bussines ....

I trust in Paper wallet printed in good quality printer and laminated.

[adworker]

I trust in Paper wallet printed in good quality printer and laminated.

I use Paper wallets as well, but the weakest paper wallet point is when you spending it. I using offline armory for this, but it is still weakest point in my opinion

[ranochigo]

store your coins in wallet local
download wallet armory.

yeahh besides saving on blockchain + 2FA, just also save on local web exchanger and it is very safe, and has been reliable

I will not leave any significant amount on any online service and exchange is even worst. You can have 2FA enabled, but when they close bussines ....

I trust in Paper wallet printed in good quality printer and laminated.

True but you could also get backups from the wallet provider(most probably) online wallets like blockchain.info allows user to export backups. It can be a hassle to scan paper wallet everytime you use it and you would have a hard time searching for it due to its size.

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

[Muhammed Zakir]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

Electronic equipments are much danger than that. Besides, you can always store paper wallet in safe place atleast where your dog can't reach.

   -MZ

[Avenged7Vold]

Use blockchain with 2FA or generate a BIP encrypted paper wallet!

Yes Aggre with him, use 2FA to protect from hacker or etc

[Banjiro]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

Well I think also like that it should be safe to store in paper wallet
because it can be lost.

[uki]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

Electronic equipments are much danger than that. Besides, you can always store paper wallet in safe place atleast where your dog can't reach.

   -MZ

whereas I agree on paper wallets and use them as the cold storage too, being the easiest and the least expensive storage method for larger amounts of BTC, it is a very interesting observation that the currency that was originally thought to be fully electronic is not safe enough in the electronic form, bringing us back to the paper money.

[Velkro]

If I put bitcoin core into an encrypted folder would that do anything for protection?

No, it would slow your bitcoin core software, and that "windows encryption" is joke.
Encrypt only your wallet data file and with proper software, like last true version of truecrypt

[Brewins]

I dont trust paper wallets. You could lose the paper, the dog could find it and bite it, it could degrade due humidity.. its pointless.
its better to remain electronic.

Electronic equipments are much danger than that. Besides, you can always store paper wallet in safe place atleast where your dog can't reach.

   -MZ

Better yet: write your key in stone.

If people from 4000 years ago could do that and preserve the stones until today, I think you can do it too.

[hardhouseinc]

Armory offline wallet, never connected to the internet or any network of any sort.
Offline transactions with Armory.  Best way Ive found so far and the program is
GREAT.  Lots of backup and offline wallet options. 

[najzenmajsen]

it really depends , how you're gonna want to use your coins. the best possible way to store coins is in my own opinion at a paper wallet. But if you need to move your coins often , get a dedicated linux machine that you only store your coins on. ( kind of like your own bank ) and make sure to not store everything at 1 place , and backup your wallets to usb etc.

[Muhammed Zakir]

Armory offline wallet, never connected to the internet or any network of any sort.
Offline transactions with Armory.  Best way Ive found so far and the program is
GREAT.  Lots of backup and offline wallet options. 

I agree with you. But for people with less storage and/or low internet speed, Electrum(offline+online wallet) is their best choice.

P.S. They can also use Armory cold storage without installing Armory online wallet by inputting their address in counterwallet. I do it!

   -MZ

[greek8TC]

Bitcoin Core is the most secure wallet, if you need better feature you can try Armory.

And usually hackers hack wallet from virus / malware