Topic: Buying Used Computer Equipment For CryptoCurrency Unsafe? - page 5. (Read 1043 times)

there are viruses that now can live in the BIOS. they will survive a drive format or drive replacement and reinfect any new OS installed on that system.

EDIT: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS#Security

Or he could do both if he wants even more security.

Both of your ideas are pretty good especially the hardware wallet, but both implemented can be a huge change when it comes to security.

I would say especially if you have a really huge amount of Bitcoins, but this is something i might use in the future. It's really good.

Unfortunately there's no fairly used Computer Equipment that's safe for cryptocurrency, or safe for any type of document generally. Many used Computer equipment are purposely hacked before there are sell out, this was my experience when i worked with Computer dealers years back, they do the hack, sell to their friends and then exploit their systems for selfish interest. Just to gain access to their privacy.

Advise: Buy fairly used Computer equipment, format the system by self or another dealer and then do the installation by self.

Cool . same here happen to me actually , i buy a laptop on the 3rd quarter of 2017  so that i can i use it on working on this forum ( specifically for posting )  . i find it hard to use mobile because the screen is small , my eyes were also hurt when using a mobile phone .

@op i dont see anything wrong on buying a used computer for doing crypto works because i did also done that before in which i buy a second hand laptop from an online seller that i didnt know personally  . the laptop is not reformated and it includes freebies such as the original owners hardrive and software accounts  .

If you look the list of supported coins&tokens by Trezor or Ledger, who support over 1000 coins / tokens then you are using some fairly exotic coins, and they probably have very low value.

If you are concern about used equipment, then just no buy such things and use one device only for cryptocurrency, or pay attention to device security (antivirus, firewall, antimalware), and try to using common sense when surfing / download on internet. That's quite enough to be pretty safe when it comes to security of any coin, everything else is exaggerated paranoia that does not help you in life.

Well, the best way is using a piece of paper for your private keys. Make QR codes of them for easy copying.

If you need to use an online wallet, I suggest running it on its own dedicated virtual machine. I have a Windows 64 machine and many of my wallets have their ubuntu VMs in it.

that is an unnecessary overkill my friend. you have spent a lot of money on something that you only use for cryptocurrencies and it is not that safe if it is connected to the internet so you are not really increasing your security.
if you wanted to spend money like that, then you could have simply bought a hardware wallet to store your bitcoin (and a bunch of other altcoins that are copies of bitcoin) which would have cost a lot less and provided a lot more security.

When i got in to crypto Desember 2017 i did buy a new laptop only for crypto. I use this laptop only to buy and sell crypto and i have another one that i use to pay bills and read emails and so on.

The meta data can cause many issues like the malware that modifies the clipboard data can check the address while transferring funds. Due to such issues it is not advisable to by used equipment for crypto related uses.

I'm not sure about the risk with the RAM but I'd definitely wipe the hard drive clean. That's where malware would get installed.

A piece of paper with 12 words makes a solid cold wallet. You seem to be a little mistaken in what a wallet is, contrary to what the name suggests, it doesn't store coins. If anything, its the private key that allows you to move them, but they are not stored on any computer but the blockchain itself. What people lose when they lose their wallet (priv key) are not the coins, but the ability to move them anymore...

Now, being paranoid about the moment when you do want to move the coins is logical. You should, in fact, forget windows and osx, stick to linux, perhaps a live iso if only for the time you want to move coins around. If you use something like Tails, it connects via Tor only, so even if there is some sniffer in your router, it won't be able to catch anything.

If you DO install Linux, you can use encryption in your entire drive. With a decent password, even if stolen they won't be able to obtain anything.

While no OS is perfect, something like Linux is highly unlikely to fall victim to most common attacks. The best effort you can ever do towards protection, is starting to use it to drop any fears about it. There are several distros to choose from, each catering to a different type of community. You should experiment and eventually find one where you feel confident, and start using that.

I have said it many times: It is far more difficult to secure windows than Linux, and for the most part Windows is always at risk due to its flawed design. The fact that you don't have full control of it, should give you a warning.

That's true. Nowadays, with the right amount of resources almost nothing is really impossible - Only unlikely.

If someone wants to target you really bad they will find the way to do it, with or without specific hardware attached to your machine. Now unless you are considered a valuable target for anyone then it's almost sure that it would be only a hacker trying to fish something, whatever that could be profitable.

I believe that you now have a pretty good knowledge level to know which parts you can safely buy in the majority of cases or if the conditions mentioned above don't really apply to you.

Used equipment is pretty safe if you run a good antivirus that scans everything including memory and boot sectors. You should also make sure to clear bios.
Another rule of thumb is to never sell your old hard drives. A lot can be recovered from a wiped drive even one that doesn't work.


Many keyboards also have a memory function. I have a cmstorm keyboard where you can assign a key or function to every single standard key, meaning that you can have a space function under alt if that's what you want.

To the people that say use hardware wallet and forget about anything else.  I have one.  But the thing is other coins i have... they are not compatible with the hardware wallet.  So what do you do then?


Also if you trade on your computer for example and have wallets on it because your hardware wallet doesn't support those coins, you need to keep those wallets in your computer.  So what is your option there? 


So for example say your internet modem broke and you need to replace it.  Or your internet router broke and you need to buy a new one.  Would buying a used modem be fine or not if its used?  What if the seller is very reputable?  Now what if its a router?  If you buy a used router from a reputable seller online, is that reputable?  Because what would concern me is if the modem or router, you go online with it... then that person or anyone that put something in it could track your visiting websites and also track anything you do such as crypto or trading or banking etc.  Could they put a keylogger or virus on a used modem?  What about a router?  I assume a router would be more likely but a modem isn't?  Because if you need a new modem or router, is it unsafe to buy a used one or not?  Also those of you that say well a new computer or equipment isn't safe because what you do it on can cause issues.  Well of course.  But i mean getting the actual equipment.  So has anyone heard of cases where someone bought a used modem or wireless router and their computer got hacked/keylogged or anything like that with crypto?

if its possible, use only 1 computer for crypto.(trade,withdraw, deposit) dont enter even most common sites.so noone can reach you.formatting pc dont clean pc %100

All of these concerns can be alleviated if you simply use a hardware wallet - suddenly you stop caring about potential viruses and malware. Once you have more than $500 in crypto, I think it's a necessity.

A new equipment does not give you a guarantee of safeness related to crypto. It depends on ourselves on how to protect our assets in our laptop or PC. Anything may happen on a brand new device especially once it is connected to the internet. Indeed a new device is better, as the possibility to face something related to the OP is smaller than buy a used device.

Quite an intriguing issue when you think about it. As crypto gets ever more ubiquitous why wouldn't people attempt to plant things on the gear they sell? It costs them nothing and may well come up with a result every now and then.

The answer is to forget computers all together for this particular area of usage. Beyond accessing websites there's no way I'd ever do anything crypto related on an internet accessible machine. Same goes for any equipment a level down such as memory and peripherals. Build your own walled garden and stay in there.

I think it is not to keep cryptocurrencies in computer. I think people should think about buying hardware wallet. Because I guess it is the safest way.


Factory reset can be enough. It may keep you safe without internet. When you make a connection to internet, then it all start again...


Except flashdisk, none of them has a store capaticy in it. It is all safe. But you have to understand that, computer using carries so much risks. Sometime wireless connection, chromecast, screensharing...etc. can be dangerous. So there are two ways to keeping your investment safe. One of them is hardware wallet and the second one is paper wallet. These two options are safe.

Even new hardware can be tampered with by someone at the factory or during the delivery process.  The fact is nothing is 100% safe and life isn't worth living with all this paranoia.  Just cover all your basic tracks and you should be fine most of the time.