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Topic: To reassure people about the security of the BTC (Read 1387 times)

legendary
Activity: 1008
Merit: 1001
Let the chips fall where they may.
November 11, 2013, 02:00:47 AM
#9
What I mean, is that you are better using a wallet on your pc then trusting some other random dude with questionable security.

You are making an assumption: that only you control your PC. Since at least 2006 or so, this is not really the case. Back around the year 2000, Microsoft rebooted the (Windows NT portion of the) Internet (even machines set not to automatically install updates).

The average machine runs Microsoft Windows. As part of good security practice, these computers often have anti-viruses and anti-malware installed. To remain effective, they need to be updated almost every day.

Web-browsers are almost Operating Systems themselves these days (running a variety of software-as-a-service). They similarly require frequent updates but for a slightly different reason: they are complex pieces of security-critical software. As a rule, nobody takes the time to prove complex software is correct (it takes about 7x the work if the L4 Micro-kernel is any indication).

If you want to install most software as a limited user: you will find that you probably can't. If the software requires administrative rights to install, it probably has control over most of the machine. Even software run as a limited user will likely have access to all of that user's files. You can mitigate this by running software in a Virtual Machine; but apparently that is not fool-proof.

When the price of Bitcoin hits $10,000 per coin: are all employees with access to signing keys at Microsoft, Symantec, Valve, Apple, Oracle, McAfee, The Mozilla Foundation, Google, Adobe, etc going to resist the urge to push out a wallet stealer to the user-base? Because the ELUAs you never read always encourage users to reverse-engineer any updates to make sure they a benign, correct?

Even if your are using a GNU/Linux distro, the bulk of your coins should be in "cold storage."
legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1000
Bitcoin
Bitcoin the protocol is fine. It is the services and businesses that keep f'in up and getting everything stolen!
sr. member
Activity: 412
Merit: 250
What I mean, is that you are better using a wallet on your pc then trusting some other random dude with questionable security. Giving your money to some stranger is like telling a hobo to have your money and then come back a week later and give it back plus interest.

And I agree, I am kinda wrong cause banks are protected by all kinds of wonderful insurance.But the bitcoin is secure its who you keep it. Putting in a offline wallet then doing a 7 wipe run is insanely secure but actually not a bad idea. You then have a totally secure wallet. Or using a seperate machine to sign the transaction.
full member
Activity: 182
Merit: 100
well to be honest even at this point I don't think bitcoin is for everyone without prior study, it's too easy to screw up. btc itself is secure, but how it's used of course can be a problem.
newbie
Activity: 23
Merit: 0
Lots of articles claim the BTC to be hacked and insecure but is the dollar insecure for similar reasons. Someone hacked mt.gox so bitcoin is insecure?? That means the dollars insecure, because robberies happen on exchanges around the world all the time.
The difference is that regular currency exchanges that actually hold others' money will have insurance so that that money isn't actually lost. Bitcoin exchanges get hacked and no one gets their money back.

If an online wallet is hacked it's your own fault for trusting the wallet, bitcoin is not insecure, the people you trusted your money with are.
Telling people that their fears are justified about the riskiness of using bitcoin is a way to reassure them that they're right.
hero member
Activity: 658
Merit: 500
BTC can be hacked but the same way online banking can be hacked. Computer security is big problem here
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1049
┴puoʎǝq ʞool┴
Bitcoin will always fluctuate like any currency!
legendary
Activity: 1008
Merit: 1001
Let the chips fall where they may.
In the Banking system, "secure" is turned on it's head. When your bank says your money is secure, they mean that you will be compensated for any losses. Reversibility is a feature!

I personally think Bitcoin is reasonably secure, but computers are not. That means "hacks" will keep happening for my life-time.
sr. member
Activity: 412
Merit: 250
Lots of articles claim the BTC to be hacked and insecure but is the dollar insecure for similar reasons. Someone hacked mt.gox so bitcoin is insecure?? That means the dollars insecure, because robberies happen on exchanges around the world all the time. If an online wallet is hacked it's your own fault for trusting the wallet, bitcoin is not insecure, the people you trusted your money with are. So my conclusion is, if bitcoin is deemed unsecure then you are also deeming the dollar to be a high risk currency.

And, the latest news. The selfish miner hack. The problem is, it requires some amount of power to get a head start. Could you keep such a group secret, and when the rest of the network releasises your 12 block streak, the currencies value will plummet or you will very likely be ddosed by angry users of the currency.

Post here if you agree, or we can have a friendly discussion on why the currency isn't secure. If so I am open minded.
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