Hello together,

I have made up my mind on how to set up a really secure environment for the Bitcoin client, such that the private keys (wallet.dat) are always safe, under all conceivable scenarios of attack.

As a result, I make three concrete best-practice proposals on how to setup such systems. They all have in common that they are based on 100% open source Linux systems, and the boot medium is a Live CD (preferably), or a USB stick having no contact to another potentially insecure operating system running on the same computer.

The full concept is put together in a 23 pages PDF file that explains all the details and shows illustrations by screenshots and block diagrams.

I hope that many people here in this forum find the time to read it - hopefully it will help making the Bitcoin users more aware of potential threads, and the Bitcoin world a little safer.

The download can be found here:
http://www.woofiles.com/dl-253068-gCx93FSj-BitcoinSafeUsagev02.zip (Update: Link does not seem to work)
http://www.filedropper.com/bitcoinsafeusagev02 (Update: This Link should work)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59238311/Bitcoin-Safe-Usage-v02 (Update: This Link should work)
--> updated version 0.3:
http://www.filedropper.com/bitcoinsafeusagev03 (zip file with PDF and PGP signature)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59249642/Bitcoin-Safe-Usage-v03 (PDF only)
--> Updated version 0.4:
PDF: http://www.scribd.com/doc/59318844/Bitcoin-Safe-Usage-v04
ZIP (PDF&SIG): http://www.filedropper.com/bitcoinsafeusagev04_1

Abstract/Overview:
A Practical (and Paranoid) Guide: Setting up a Secure System for the Bitcoin Client
- keep your private keys (wallet.dat) secure and do not loose them -

Version 0.2 (July 2011) by Michael_S (forum.bitcoin.org), OpenPGP KeyID=0xCC7E7C99, Bitcoin donations to 14ajM1BHY7E8GJ4DGGvtFFGmE15hSSSRJR

This Guide shows how to set up a practically 100% secure computer system for the Bitcoin client.
Three concrete examples with a detailed step-by-step guide make the topic very tangible. At the core of each of these three examples is a 100% open source GNU Linux system that is booted from a Live CD or a USB stick.