Quote from: aiwk171 on June 15, 2011, 01:20:52 PM

Quote from: MBH on June 15, 2011, 01:15:19 PM

If you prefer to not encrypt the files to avoid remembering passwords, you won't be secure, unless you make a physical backup of the media holding your money and then put that backup in a vault (at your house or in a bank).

Actually, you could do a weekly trip to the bank and put your wallet.dat on a memory stick in a safety box. Assuming that you have that many BTCs to protect.

NO!! Encryption is not some magic thingamajawb that protects you from all evil.

Let me clarify: A _backup_ is of absolutely NO USE. So your weekly trip doesn't accomplish anything if the very same file has been on your main operating system. This is a dangerous fallacy, hence my analogy with "keys" instead of "wallets".

Again: that would be like making a copy of your safe-key every week and putting that in the vault.

It has to be a new, untainted address, in conjunction with the wallet.dat that you deposit. Actually, this is way more convenient, since you don't have to access your bank vault at all. You just deposit/sent the coins into the right addresses.

Until I read this thread, I was planning on doing the physical backup (of wallet.dat file) to usb. I don't have enough BTCs to justify "protecting", but I've learned that developing good security habits pays. Making those habits second nature is like insurance - in my experience.

Anyway, I just need clarification that I am understanding the following correctly - please advise so that I know I have not misunderstood the advice being given:

1)

Quote

backing up on physical media is of "NO USE" [ME]: I'm assuming because if the same file is on your OS then it's not "protected" whether or not you have a physical backup elsewhere.

QUESTION: is there any circumstance in which making a physical backup would be beneficial? It's certainly easy enough.

2)

Quote

Encryption does not "protect [you] from all evil" [ME]: I'm assuming because it can still be hacked and/or encryption doesn't protect from greater dangers such as your hard drive dying and the wallet cannot be retrieved, your laptop is stolen to be sold for $20 on the street.

[QUESTION]: is encryption still recommended?

3) [QUOTE/QUESTION]: So in order to (protect) your BTCs, you have to create a "new, untainted address, in conjunction with the wallet.dat that you deposit".

QUESTION: (I may sound naive, but I have to ask) do I go into my bitcoin app, then create a new never been used address, then send what I have to this new address, i.e. to myself? THEN, back up both that new address and my wallet.dat file together? And additionally, each time I want to do a backup, create a fresh address?

thanks in advance for clarification