All posts here seem to claim that your coins are instantly lost after the wallet file has been stolen.
This is wrong!An attacker needs access to your private keys in order to steal your coins. Access can be achieved in these ways:
- Attacker has access to your computer (e.g. through malware) AND you unlock your wallet (with your password)
- The attacker has a copy of your wallet file AND knows the password
An malicious actor does NOT get access to your private keys by:
- having access to your computer (e.g. through malware), but your do NOT unlock your wallet
- having your wallet file WITHOUT knowing the password
The wallet file itself is encrypted (at least that's the recommended way of storing it; protected by a password).
Without the password, the only chance an attacker has.. is to bruteforce it. No password = no access to the coins.
So, if you have chosen a strong enough password which can't be bruteforced efficiently (e.g. 9+ chars, using letters/numbers/special chars), an attacker does NOT gain access to your BTC by simply owning your wallet file.