Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: Bitcoin Wallet Security Discussion
by
seanneko
on 04/12/2013, 09:57:21 UTC

Well what about a paper wallet you say? This is definitely easier. I can go to Bitaddress and print something quickly, but wait! I don't even have a printer at home. So what if I use the one at work? Uhh, that's like leaving a giant fingerprint left on the printer. And once again you ask what about getting a cheap printer to print at home? Once again I'm tasked with the issue of offline computers.

Write the key down with pen and paper. The only advantage of "printing" it is convenience, and you get fancy graphics on the paper.

If you don't trust your computers, just burn a Linux live CD (eg. Ubuntu), unplug the network cable, and boot off the CD. It will not modify or damage your existing operating system unless you deliberately tell it to. Then you can generate a private key using bitaddress or whatever other method you prefer.

In theory this still isn't absolutely 100% secure as there is malware which can persist across operating system reinstalls (BIOS implants), but the chances of this are so low that it's not even worth worrying about.