Topic: Secure your private keys (Read 423 times)

Some information are classified, some are delicate and some are sensitive. It is good that when giving out an important information which  ought to be a general knowledge, you should be accurate about it.
When I was a newbie and Jr member, I created so many topics but not on wallets, backups or encryption. I know too well that misinformation here would be disastrous to people.
Op, consider creating topics on what you are knowledgeable about.

This is indeed a great achievement, at least I am able to learn something to add to what I have already, my aim is to participate in and give my best to the forum and also to learn, at this point I noticed I have alot to learn and I am sure I am in the right place to learn.

Do not use desktop wallets, even if you store your seed there are other things that aren't safe while using your PC online, if it's a must to use desktop wallet then don't use same PC to browse online, I'm talking from experience there are spywares and Trojans that can easily steal your keys or make you lose your coins

My best option is Hardware wallet and offline Notebook, i always writing my private key on Exercise book or Notebook,       
We know that Hardware wallet is very secure for our wallet and Fund, so it is the best option for secure our private key and Fund but we know that need money for buying hardware wallet and it is not possible for all so Notebook is best option for all.   

Thefts and scammers nowadays are upgrading their ways. They're not only trying to hack our private keys directly, but also deceive us by putting some traps. One example, those criminals even showing up their rotten seed phrase or private key to try to manipulate us. They pretend to have an issue with their wallet that they can't access, pretending to have some thousand bucks in it and offering their seed phrase so people would help them.  Apparently, it's their effort to scam people. Seems like they attract people to access that wallet then probably when the process happened, there's an effort to access the helpers' wallet, and BOOM! their assets will be gone. I hope we all here can protect ourselves and be safe.

That's only if you don't back up your seeds or didn't saved them. We're buying hardware wallets to secure ourself and I don't think that someone who knows how to buy a hardware wallet won't save and back up his seeds after the purchase.
It's a common thing to save and back up seeds if you own a hardware wallets. We do that with desktop wallets so I think a person who buys it won't forget to do so.

I won't concern you (a lot); I understand that you didn't really want to create this from the way you've written it. I just want to reply to this:

The keys are numbers. You can represent them in alphanumeric characters, bits, even colors! They aren't meant to be memorized and they can't be hacked. The correct formulation would be to get compromised.

But why? Why would a bounty hunter want to create a guide here since their incentive is outside the forum? Also, why does the majority of the bounty hunters prefer not to pay a little more attention to their knowledge than to their pockets?

I've personally seen a decent uptick in "bounty hunter" accounts trying(and failing miserably) to create these so called "guides" since the past few days. Some dude that can do some sort of chainalysis should probably check the accounts out.

You have made an account 42 days earlier on the forum and have 37 posts in total and all 36 posts are bounty related and now you have made an explanatory guide for backup of private keys but with some wrong information which is not good for you also.If you have backed up your keys on mail then it's not good decision because if you are using end to end encrypted proton mail also you can face some issues in future which is why storing your seed phrases on offline modes where only you have access is recommended and no theft or any natural or man made damage can destroy it.As said by other members first do in depth digging of what you are going to say or post because any technical flaw could lead you to fund loss.So it's better for you and other's who are gonna read it.

You really shouldn't start topics like this when you clearly aren't familiar enough with the technology or have the verbal skills to write something comprehensive. There isn't a lack of topics like this either for you to create a new one. First educate yourself then try to "educate" others!

@OP if you still store your private key on mails at least you should encrypt your private keys so that it won't be seen as a private key but an encrypted message but make sure you encrypt it with an app that doesn't need Internet or can be done offline. Best advice is the comments below yours and it should be fine and all the explanation are all you need to keep your 12/24 word safe or mnemonic phrase or seed phrase.

Password protects your private key because if hackers can not break your password, they will not be able to access your private key. However, if they get info of your private key or mnemonic seed, password is unnecessary.

It only makes senses if you store those wallets in different devices and use different passwords for each of them. If you store all of them in one device, and use same password for all, you will lose all if hacker successfully brute-force that password.

It's not enough. Backup of private key should be store offline, in secret places and in methods that are water-proof, fire-proof, etc. You must check your backup regularly to make sure it's still usable. If a backup is damaged, you must replace it by a new one ASAP.

I share some resources.

• Newbies - Read before posting
• [General] Bitcoin Wallets - Which, what, why?
• [Guide] Secure air-gapped crypto wallet storage method
• How to Install Tails OS on USB flash drive for Wallet Purpose
• [GUIDE] How to Create a Strong/Secure Password
• 2FA HW security keys, Yubikey & such.
• Crypto Security: Passwords and Authentication - Livestream aantonop
• [GUIDES] on Bitcointalk. Index thread (Find more topics in Bitcoin section)

In fact, no. Using a hardware wallet or any other type of wallets won't make any difference in this case. if you have all your coins stored on the same device and you lose or break it, all your coins will be lost if you didn't back up your seeds. So, you still need to split up your coins into multiple  devices

Is it the idea of scattering your tokens and coins in different wallets so that when the other got hacked, you will still have the others on set and safely kept?
Well, if that's your worry. Just buy a hardware wallet because it's going to ask a direct confirmation from the hardware itself before you'll be able to withdraw your funds.

@OP, please read more than your write. If you can't explain a thing properly then please study more about the concept you want to share. You should learn first about private keys and their use. There are many threads about secure your wallet. No new information in your thread, rather you have created a controversial thread.

Another friendly suggestion, please learn to use the search button in case you want to create any new thread. So you can avoid duplicate & unnecessary threads.

Sure, but that's why I mentioned in my previous post that hardware wallets offer a good compromise between security and convenience. Airgapped devices offer very little convenience, but a more advanced security level. You have to use USB drives or QR codes to move signed/unsigned transactions between the two setups. It's not something a newbie knows how to do, but it also takes very little time to learn for those interested in this type of technology.

Hardware and software failures can happen with hardware devices as well. Your screen can brake, the buttons can stop working, an unlucky firmware upgrade can brick your wallet, etc.

Using airgapped wallet gives the ultimate security but it will become more complicated if we want to make transactions more often or wants to save other cryptos than bitcoin especially the tokens.

Personally I bricked lot of harddrives due to physical damage and few of them lost due to the short circuit and other electronic failures but with hardwae wallets we can reduce the physical damage or atleast me.

The loss of a private key doesn't result in the loss of ALL funds in that wallet. Only the coins in its associated public key. But nowadays you don't have to worry about individual private keys. Like other users mentioned, you only need the 12/24 word recovery phrase. Losing that would cause you to lose everything.

The password won't help you if someone gets hold of your recovery phrase. The password encrypts your wallet file on your device. But the seed overrides all that. A passphrase is an additional security layer that can enhance the safety of your portfolio. Even if your seed were to be stolen, the hacker would also need the passphrase (seed extension) to access any funds protected by it. 

I wouldn't go as far as saying that they are compulsory or a must-have device, but they are useful and offer a good combination of security and ease of use. The private keys stay offline and are only used during the transaction signing process. However, you can get even better security if you reformat a secondary pc or laptop, install Linux on it, physically remove network cards and antennas, and use it with an open-source wallet such as Electrum or Bitcoin Core. That device would only be used to sign transactions while everything else can be done and checked on other online machines. Encrypt the hard drive with a good encryption software and you are all set. 

— + destroy old files if you don't want to use it in the next weeks/months.
— It is a good advice, but the most important thing is how to distribute these wallets, create them, and keep them safe. Otherwise, distributing wallets will increase your risk of losing one.
— Generating private keys in a secure environment (including offline environments) is just as essential as keeping them because at any point these keys are connected to the network, the risk of your wallet being compromised increases.

Sharing your token implies don't keep all your funds in the same wallet right?

Yeah its a good advice but when someone's portfolio reaches few thousand follars then hardware wallets are compulsory to have which has encrypted private keys so better security.

Ouch... That's really painful to read... Really...
@OP: i'm not going to point out what's wrong with your post (albeit, i guess over 50% of the sentences are plain wrong, or make no sense at all), but instead i'm going to give you some advice: start by learning before making posts like these.

There is no shame in asking us some questions, like "is it a good idea to save my private key/seed phrase in an e-mail". To which we would have answered: I've seen loads of people getting robbed simply because they saved their key in an e-mail, dropbox,... basically any online service.

But you seem to be confused about the basic principles aswell, really, start by asking questions, there's no shame in not understanding stuff like this, so there is no shame in reading up on it, and asking us questions about the topics you don't get (after DYOR)... We'll probably jump right in and set you on the right track if you ask questions, but if you make "helpful" posts giving bad advice, people will jump in to scrutinize what you've said, and next to giving bad advice, you will not have learnt a lot.

I wrote mine in a notebook. it's a great technology to save things that you think you might forget and can be easily hidden to the prying eyes. you don't even have to worry about it being hacked. and if you are worried about it being destroyed or lost make multiple copies and store them in a safe place  . saving my seed phrase on an email is one of the worst things a person can do to secure their wallet.

I'm also a bit confused ^{[like @Charles-Tim]} with some of the things you've mentioned earlier, but I still wouldn't label the above line as a "proper" backup. By doing that, you'll be putting a big portion of it at a higher risk. In other words, you're just adding another problem to an existing one.

What you are referring to is the addresses that has been derived from the public keys using "one-way cryptographic hash" function. This will then create an address that will serve as a "recipient" when someone sends you some bitcoin.

This is extremely a bad advice, especially as most newbies here make the same mistake of storing their seed phrases online. It must be stored offline, not online, such as in e-mails or cloud storage. A pen and paper should be your best bet when storing seed phrases.

I believe it would be better to seek clarification here first before starting a thread that could spread misinformation.

Using seed phrase would be better for this, almost all wallets now are HD wallets.

Guide for what? I think you need to correct this.

I do not get this too, which message? This needs correction.

Yes, if lost, it can lead to loss of funds, but Bitcoin is not stored on wallet

Tokens into different wallet? Yes a good idea though. You can make use of cold wallet like hardware wallet and be safe. You can make use of Multisig and be safe. But still better if you think not leaving your funds on a single wallet.

Email that can be hacked, anything online is not safe. Offline backup is the best.

First of all, modern wallets are HD wallets and one can just save the seed (12 or 24 words, usually) much easier.
Second, a properly saved seed or private key should be done offline. Clearly not in e-mails, Dropbox and such. You people don't understand that if you save something in e-mail or cloud you put it on other company's HDD, where they can access it. If an employee will see that, he can easily steal your coins without any trace at all.

So please edit and fix your "advises".

Private keys are a type of security code that serves as a guide. The keys are represented by a series of alphanumeric characters, making them difficult to memorize and hack. Private keys are used in cryptocurrency to secure wallets, avoid being hacked by hackers, and ensure that our valuables are safe.
Private keys are extremely crucial, as any loss of the key results in the loss of any funds or tokens in cryptocurrency wallets. As a result, you must ensure that your private keys are safe and secure in order to protect your assets. Here are some general guidelines for storing and protecting your private keys.
— Use a very strong password for your wallets
— Have backups for your wallets as well for your assets by sharing your tokens into different wallets to avoid losing all at once as the case may be
— Save your private keys offline


Therefore private keys are very important let's do well to secure our assets by keeping our private keys safe, to avoid lose of access.