How to build a secure computer for storing digital crypto assets

[johnarb]

Your steps are full of flaws:

- Any Linux OS. There are many distros that are really weak, they are not oriented to give you a secured environment. Unless you use a Red Hat distro that is really prepared to serve secure environments you gain nothing by using Linux.
- Extensions that report you to the IRS? Why would you use them?
- Vpns, really? People think that they can really hide their IP, . All that authorities have to do is to request your details to your VPN provider, they will give you away immediately.
- Chrome extensions, that one made me laugh
- Weak passwords, the final nail in the coffin.

It is actually a list of how not to do it.

If you want to secure your wallet you don't need any of what you have recommended. You have to secure your .dat files and for that all you need is an encrypted drive, for example an encrypted S3 bucket on Amazon. Cheap and secure.
Even banks use Amazon buckets and Dynamo DBs.

Don't follow lists that you see on the web, it is obvious that you copied the steps from somewhere else, from the way to write I can tell that security is not your forte.

Hey stupid fuckface, I've been doing linux for over 10 years and never been hacked

I don't know a single linux user that has been hacked, you being an idiot will probably be hacked many times

If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you

For the uninitiated, there are some keywords on this thread

1. dedicated -
Ubuntu Linux is a mature software, keep it updated, it is secure. Bitcoin core is a mature OSS. Update it as needed. It is secure. Google chrome is a good software, keep it updated. Metamask is a good software, keep it updated through Google auto-update

dedicated means not installing any stupid software on the linux OS computer. Don't watch pr0n or install torrent software on this computer. If you must watch pr0n, do it on the Firefox browser (after logging out of your fake google acount) and use incognito

2. VPN is optional but HIGHLY recommended

It is to hide your crypto activities from your ISP and its employees who are aware of where you live

It is also an obfuscation tool of your location to the endpoints you connect to, such as other bitcoin nodes, but most importantly, it is to tell Metamask back end infrastructure, the PoS network validators, the Infuria servers, the smart contract platforms that will refuse your connection if you are in the US or other crypto unfriendly nations that you are in South Korea

 

[johnarb]

this is hilarious.

but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.

none of the four steps address that.

Fair points

This is not a tax thread, I have a TAX CPA that helps me file my taxes. I recommend that you do this

death -

On the last section, I will discuss encrypted backups and recovery. This will be the key for you to tell a loved one(s) of your backups and recovery procedures and to give them an accounting of your crypto assets

If you die suddenly, they will have plenty of time to figure it out

If you do not have a loved one, you have contributed to the bitcoin value by decreasing the supply. We thank you

 

[NoahA]

You might lose your bitcoins in a fire or flood or earthquake

And you won't be able to transfer or interact with the Bitcoin blockchain (network)

Worse.. those paper wallets don't have a way to get back change. I heard lots of people lost bitcoin in the early years because if they didn't spend the whole UTXO, the change was gone! Maybe it went to the miner... not sure how they had the transaction set up.

But yes, paper wallets are 100% obsolete.

 

[NoahA]

Excellent thread John... but if I may, can I suggest another option? I just want people to be aware of the options in case what you describe is quite daunting (because it was for me). This includes using a hardware wallet, but even a cheap one like the Jade from Blockstream will do.

Like you, I say get another computer, an older one is fine, and but I also don't think a Windows machine isn't a problem since the keys will never touch the computer. And even if you have to use the current computer you have, then its ok. You can just turn on Bitcoin Core and let it sync up when you need it, and keep the huge data files on an external SSD drive, which are very cheap these days.

Absolutely you want to run a VPN, and I think even running your node over the Tor network is a good idea. Like John, I run Bitcoin core over a VPN, but on a Windows machine.

I'm too scared to use Metamask, and luckily have no need for it since I don't do all the stuff that he does. What I do use is Sparrow Wallet. This wallet allows you to plug right into your Bitcoin Core node, and it also interfaces with your hardware wallet.

You can also run in fully air-gapped mode. So the keys on your HWW will never touch the computer, and all transactions will be signed via QR Code or sent over an SD card, like the Coldcard uses.

Now here is the clever thing. For securing your seed, you of course want something like a metal backup, and there are many good options. If you don't want to write out the words, or stamp them, you can even use something like this. The words are converted to numbers, and these numbers are stamped via an interesting method. Then this piece of metal can almost be easily concealed.

https://hiddenphrase.com/

And for the ultimate way to secure your seed phrase, you can even go with this method. Its called Border wallet. Your seed is used to create this grid, and then you get to decide how to create a new seed. It can be as easy as a line or a shape, but because the seed used to create this template is different than the seed you will ultimately store your bitcoin on, its another layer of security. You keep the seed used to create the template hidden, but if its found, there will be no losses unless someone also knows that you used Border Wallet and knows how you picked your new seed.

https://www.borderwallets.com/

The nice thing about using Sparrow Wallet is that it makes multi-sig setups so easy. You can put a little bit of bitcoin on one seed, but this seed can be used as part of a multi-sig setup where the bulk of your funds are kept. Nobody will know, and if forced to give up your seed, you can give it to them and lose only a small portion of your stash.

Anyway, sorry to take away from your thread John. I just wanted people to know that the bitcoin space is very mature now and there are many, many different options. There are also services like Unchained or River or Casa that will help with buying and storing bitcoin and also hosting one of your seeds in a multi-sig setup so that if you lose one seed, they can help you as long as you have one of the two since they hold the third.

 

[destriero]

Worse.. those paper wallets don't have a way to get back change. I heard lots of people lost bitcoin in the early years because if they didn't spend the whole UTXO, the change was gone! Maybe it went to the miner... not sure how they had the transaction set up.

But yes, paper wallets are 100% obsolete.

100%

 

[johnarb]

Worse.. those paper wallets don't have a way to get back change. I heard lots of people lost bitcoin in the early years because if they didn't spend the whole UTXO, the change was gone! Maybe it went to the miner... not sure how they had the transaction set up.

But yes, paper wallets are 100% obsolete.

That was a problem with a customized wallet software

paper wallets are simply (publickey) private key backups. They need to be imported to a Bitcoin wallet

I've imported a private key to Electrum and still use that wallet every now and then. On Electrum, it is the only address. You can receive bitcoins to the public address, when you spend it, the change address is the same address

I've imported a private key to a Bitcoin-core wallet and all other addresses are still there and when I spend from other addresses, a new change wallet address is created to receive the change

But if I spend from the imported private key address, the change address is still the same address

The reason it behaves like this is because it's not part of the HD-tree. On Electrum, it cannot create change addresses and since it's done during setup of a new Electrum wallet, it is the only address

On bitcoin-core, it is only a single address out of many and it behaves as is designed

 

[johnarb]

Anyway, sorry to take away from your thread John. I just wanted people to know that the bitcoin space is very mature now and there are many, many different options. There are also services like Unchained or River or Casa that will help with buying and storing bitcoin and also hosting one of your seeds in a multi-sig setup so that if you lose one seed, they can help you as long as you have one of the two since they hold the third.

No worries, I think it's great that the thread is expanding for other options, but Windows is a cesspool of vulnerabilities

 

[Drawdown Addict]

Hey stupid fuckface, I've been doing linux for over 10 years and never been hacked

I don't know a single linux user that has been hacked, you being an idiot will probably be hacked many times

If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you

For the uninitiated, there are some keywords on this thread

1. dedicated -
Ubuntu Linux is a mature software, keep it updated, it is secure. Bitcoin core is a mature OSS. Update it as needed. It is secure. Google chrome is a good software, keep it updated. Metamask is a good software, keep it updated through Google auto-update

dedicated means not installing any stupid software on the linux OS computer. Don't watch pr0n or install torrent software on this computer. If you must watch pr0n, do it on the Firefox browser (after logging out of your fake google acount) and use incognito

2. VPN is optional but HIGHLY recommended

It is to hide your crypto activities from your ISP and its employees who are aware of where you live

It is also an obfuscation tool of your location to the endpoints you connect to, such as other bitcoin nodes, but most importantly, it is to tell Metamask back end infrastructure, the PoS network validators, the Infuria servers, the smart contract platforms that will refuse your connection if you are in the US or other crypto unfriendly nations that you are in South Korea

You are entertaining. . Don't recommend any security tips, being an Ubuntu user does not qualify you to do that. Someone could follow your shit steps and be in trouble.

Warning : Do not follow this wanker's list.

 

[johnarb]

You are entertaining. ..

I'm glad you think so

Ubuntu is not my OS of choice for my laptop, but I use it on servers (and on a very old throwaway laptop test machine), good and reliable and easy to fix when it breaks

Personally, I compile bitcoin-core from github source, but might be too much (and FDE is a must, to prevent an evil-maid attack)

All I'm trying to do for the thread is to get people to acquire a dedicated storage of their (private keys) crypto digital assets

Keep it pristine. Maintain it as such. Because in the future, that safe storage will contain wealth of high value

Windows and Mac are not secure enough for storing bitcoins

 

[engineering]

All this emphasis on perfect security of the user's pc is one of the reasons is Bitcoin is doomed.

It will be the Netscape Navigator of cryptos in the long run.

Instantaneous irrevocable transactions are probably great if you're buying heroin in a back alley, but regular people don't need that.
Regular people want a phone number to call where they can say "Hey my computer got hacked and someone is trying to transfer my life savings to Nigeria"

BTW, I've been using Linux as my home OS for over 20 years.
If you don't know of a single Linux system that has been hacked, you're probably underinformed. Search "Heartbleed". There have been lots of major vulnerabilities in a typical Linux system, just not the total disaster area that Windows is. But all you need is one single vulnerability, when you're dealing with Bitcoin and it can all be gone.

And using a VPN to hide the country you live in so that you can execute transactions with someone that specifically doesn't want to transact with you is a terrible idea. What are you going to tell them if there is a problem? Are you going to give them fraudulent user information?

Using Google for any of this also seems like a terrible idea. Google seems to live to spy on people and conduct censorship. If I was to get involved in any of this, I'd pay for a real email service with terms of service that do not allow them to screw me over at a moment's notice. I'd stay away from software by spy-happy companies.