Topic: Electrum Wallet Bitcoin Security Precautions - page 2. (Read 799 times)

Honestly the security it will still depends in you how you protect your money..for me electrum wallet in my pc is safe.. i already experience of trojan attacks and other viruses in the past few years and my wallet are still good never had any problem because i always using the best anti virus updated with cryptocurrency support like kaspersky.. Some of listed precaution by you i think those are also correct and i think it can help for people also to protect their wallet..
For me base on my experience kaspersky antivirus is enough but the license is really expensive but you are in  safe mode.

This is just common sense for staying safe on the internet really... it isn't a bitcoin specific thing. Getting malware that hacks your email and leads to identity theft can be just as bad as losing bitcoins, if not worse as it probably has longer lasting effects.



The printing places we have here also have the ability to use Bluetooth to connect and transfer a document... this *should* be safer than connecting via USB. They also allow you to send the document to THEIR email and they'll print it from their account so you don't have to log in. Not exactly an ideal solution for sensitive documents, but you could just use alternative methods (like Bluetooth or USB).

Having said that, if you make sure that you have disabled the USB "auto-run" capabilities of your OS, then transferring files via USB can be relatively safe.



The problem with a lot of the video streaming sites is that they fall into the same category as porn and file hosting sites... lots of "fake" links, popups, ".exe" downloads to "make things work" etc... you need to be vigilant.



A hardware wallet (Trezor, Ledger etc) is a good investment if you have a significant amount of BTC (or Altcoin) holdings... A hardware wallet will end up costing somewhere in the region of USD$100 (including shipping)[1] at the moment, which is currently around the 0.025-0.03 BTC price point. If you have 0.1 BTC, you're spending 33% of your holdings to secure it... but if you have 1 BTC, you're only spending 3.3% of your holding to secure it, 10BTC = 0.33%... you get the idea.

So it is up to the individual to decide if the cost is worth the added security for their situation. You can just as easily secure your coins in a possibly cheaper way (with other tradeoffs like convenience and ease of use) by using Paper wallets or an air-gapped computer setup (if you have an old laptop laying around and don't need to purchase a 2nd computer)



Hardware wallets manufacturers generally provide their own wallet software, but you're not always limited to using it... You'll find some are also compatible with other popular wallets such as Electrum. It is up to you really how you'd like to use it.

Your BTC aren't "in" the hardware wallet, your private keys are. That is the thing with hardware wallets... your private keys only exist within the hardware wallet itself, and are never exposed to the internet, even if you connect your hardware wallet to an infected PC.

The way it works is that you create an "unsigned" transaction... and send it to the hardware wallet... it will ask you to confirm that you definitely want to do this, and you click yes, it then signs the transaction with your private keys and returns the "signed" transaction to the software wallet on the PC. Short of physically breaking open the device and using expensive electronic probing equipment to physically inspect the secure elements in the chip, you cannot read the private keys from a hardware wallet.


If your Trezor gets lost/stolen, unless the person who has your Trezor knows both your PIN and Passphrase, they cannot access your wallet. Even if they have your computer as well. Whenever you go to use the Trezor you need to enter PIN and Passphrase. The PIN entry system is setup in such a way as to render keyloggers useless (it randomises the number layout and you click boxes rather than typing numbers). Ledger Nano S has similar (but slightly different) methods, but is still protected by PIN and Passphrase.

Additionally, after 3 bad pins, most hardware wallets will factory reset themselves, wiping the seed/private keys stored inside.



Firstly, if that 2nd computer is connected to the internet, it can still be susceptible to hacking... Vulnerabilities have previously been found in various OS level systems/settings/features that can be exploitable without the need for malware etc to be downloaded... There is always a chance that there are still "undiscovered" ones.

So, no a 2nd computer isn't going to help unless it is "air-gapped"... and hardware wallets generally make the need for "air-gapped" computers unnecessary...




[1] - Ledger Nano S = €58.00 + shipping, Trezor €89 + shipping, Digital Bitbox = €54 + shipping... they all like to use DHL/Fedex etc which is about €25 if you're outside of Europe/Manufacturers home country

To those of you who use electrum and keep bitcoin there and also use the computer as your daily computer, what precautions should you be taking?  I guess this could be said for those with other similar wallets as well.



I have heard of cases where bitcoin wallet been hacked because someone downloaded malware etc.  But what kind of malware is this usually?  A torrent, porn?  Clicking on someones signature or links here on bitcointalk?  How do electrum wallets generally get hacked?



And by the way as many of you know, most posters here have lot of links on their profiles etc.  Are these links potentially dangerous or not?  Many seem to be icos or other things but could you get a virus from clicking on someones links in their profile?  Thus it could be you click on it and they could hack your bitcoin wallet no matter what it is?



For me i think some precautions would be


1.  Do not download torrents or anything like that


2.  Do not click on links you are not sure of whether online or email


3.  What if you do not have a printer and need to print something in an outside computer.  Thus you save the document on a usb and bring that to a copy printing place to use the computer to open the document up and print it.  However i heard that usb in public computers could cause a virus?  Does that mean never use a usb from your own computer on a public computer?  Then if you don't have a printer, then what is the best way to print documents on a public computer?  Now if you send everything to your email, you still have to log into email from a public computer.  So how could you print something then? 


4.  Is streaming from sites generally fine?  Like streaming tv shows or sports from sites like adthe etc like those okay?  I noticed sometimes they ask you to download flash player otherwise it would not work etc.


5.  I heard everyone says get a trezor.  So if you have a trezor, then no matter what happens to your computer, then you cannot get your bitcoin wallet hacked?  The other thing is if u get a trezor, do you still need electrum?  Because with trezor, aren't all your btc in trezor?  So what would be the purpose of trezor?  Now the other thing is what if your trezor got lost or stolen?  Could someone with your trezor take your bitcoin?  Or they need access to the computer you use with trezor?  So if someone has your trezor and computer, then they have access to your bitcoin?


6.  I assume most people with a lot of money in their bitcoin wallet or other wallets keep a computer separately for bitcoin and bank transactions?  Thus thats all it does and nothing else?  Thus not even web browsing or youtube etc?



Any other precautions or tips?  Or how about what could you do on a computer that people think is probably not safe but it would never infect your computer etc?