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How Secure is Bitcoin?

5 points by aosmith 13y ago

officialjunk 13y ago
this is going to need a lot more context for people that aren't too familiar with bitcoin, i think.
- aosmith 13y ago
  This was the first thing that helped my 62 year old mother understand just how secure a private key is. I agree it needs more context for those who are completely unfamiliar. It does however help those one the fringes who understand bitcoin but not encryption.
krapp 13y ago
This tells me how secure the algorithm is. Great. This doesn't really answer the question "how secure is bitcoin" though, at least not the way I imagine most people would ask - which is "how secure is using bitcoin?"
- aosmith 13y ago
  A great point. Your wallet is only as secure as you make it. I would guess the vast majority thefts will be a result of other things.
  - kordless 13y ago
    Yes. For example: sweep, don't import private keys.
Aqueous 13y ago
We already know that the encryption behind BitCoin is sound. But every time encryption has been challenged in recent days it's been because of a bug in the implementation of that encryption. It is never due to some ingenious brute force algorithm that actually breaks the key. The question we really need to be asking is - have all the major vulnerabilities in the implementation of BitCoin - the ones that could actually threaten its existence - been discovered? Are we sure? I say this as someone who has been evangelizing to everyone he knows about BitCoin.
- aosmith 13y ago
  I agree with you but for those who understand the concept behind bitcoin but not encryption this graphic really helps to explain that the majority of problems are not encryption related.
kordless 13y ago
Now imagine what that system looks like from the outside. It's dark and cold, yet still has mass to implement gravity and emits neutrinos (presumably). If you want to explain dark matter, no need to go further than this.
- aosmith 13y ago
  Exactly =)
  - kordless 13y ago
    I did some digging and evidently there are many assumptions defining the search for Dyson spheres. One is that the output of the sphere would still equal the output of the star it surrounds, just at a lower frequency. The other has something to do with the ratio of Helium and Hydrogen and the makeup of 'normal' matter ratios in the universe. I don't understand it, but it sounds like it might be a checkmark against the likelihood of massive numbers of spheres. Not knowing something is not proof something else exists. Time will bear out the truth - hopefully in my lifetime.

5 points by aosmith 13y ago

officialjunk 13y ago

this is going to need a lot more context for people that aren't too familiar with bitcoin, i think.

aosmith 13y ago
This was the first thing that helped my 62 year old mother understand just how secure a private key is. I agree it needs more context for those who are completely unfamiliar. It does however help those one the fringes who understand bitcoin but not encryption.

krapp 13y ago

This tells me how secure the algorithm is. Great. This doesn't really answer the question "how secure is bitcoin" though, at least not the way I imagine most people would ask - which is "how secure is using bitcoin?"

aosmith 13y ago
A great point. Your wallet is only as secure as you make it. I would guess the vast majority thefts will be a result of other things.
- kordless 13y ago
  Yes. For example: sweep, don't import private keys.

Aqueous 13y ago

We already know that the encryption behind BitCoin is sound. But every time encryption has been challenged in recent days it's been because of a bug in the implementation of that encryption. It is never due to some ingenious brute force algorithm that actually breaks the key. The question we really need to be asking is - have all the major vulnerabilities in the implementation of BitCoin - the ones that could actually threaten its existence - been discovered? Are we sure? I say this as someone who has been evangelizing to everyone he knows about BitCoin.

aosmith 13y ago
I agree with you but for those who understand the concept behind bitcoin but not encryption this graphic really helps to explain that the majority of problems are not encryption related.

kordless 13y ago

Now imagine what that system looks like from the outside. It's dark and cold, yet still has mass to implement gravity and emits neutrinos (presumably). If you want to explain dark matter, no need to go further than this.

aosmith 13y ago
Exactly =)
- kordless 13y ago
  I did some digging and evidently there are many assumptions defining the search for Dyson spheres. One is that the output of the sphere would still equal the output of the star it surrounds, just at a lower frequency. The other has something to do with the ratio of Helium and Hydrogen and the makeup of 'normal' matter ratios in the universe. I don't understand it, but it sounds like it might be a checkmark against the likelihood of massive numbers of spheres. Not knowing something is not proof something else exists. Time will bear out the truth - hopefully in my lifetime.