

How Secure is Bitcoin? - aosmith
http://alexsmith.io/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/btc-sun.jpg

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Aqueous
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.

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aosmith
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.

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krapp
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?"

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aosmith
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.

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kordless
Yes. For example: sweep, don't import private keys.

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kordless
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.

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aosmith
Exactly =)

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kordless
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.

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

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aosmith
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.

