Monday 9 October 2017

How to secure your Bitcoin Wallet?

A mobile bitcoin wallet is convenient to use, because it can be installed on either a tablet or smartphone. Either of these devices is more often than not in close proximity to everyday consumers and doesn’t require users to take additional items with them wherever they go.
Similar to how a desktop bitcoin wallet works, having access to an Internet connection — either through mobile data or WiFi — is a great plus when it comes to sending and receiving transactions. However, this is not a must, as most bitcoin wallets allow users to send and receive funds through NFC or Bluetooth Low Energy connection. In return, this makes mobile wallets more versatile compared to their computer counterparts, which is also part of the reason why bitcoin has received a lot of appreciation from its users.
In terms of security, the story with mobile bitcoin wallets is not all that different from a piece of software installed on your computer. The private key — which allows you to spend bitcoins from your wallet — is stored on your mobile device itself. As a security measure, this reduces the risk of the private key falling into the wrong hands.
However, there is a potential risk in doing so as well. Given the current rate at which technology — and consumer behavior — evolves, smartphones and tablets are being replaced at a rapid pace. Considering that your private key is stored on that mobile device, it is important to make a backup as soon as you install the mobile bitcoin wallet of your choice.
Depending on which type of mobile wallet you’re using, a backup feature is included in the software itself. A copy of your backup can then be exported to cloud services such as Dropbox or Google Drive, or even sent to yourself via e-mail. Any application you have installed on your mobile device with backup capabilities should be available to use.
All in all, mobile bitcoin wallets can provide the best solutions when balancing the needs of security and convenience, but it all depends on the individual user in the end. If users are careless with their device, or forget to back up their private key, there is no option to restore access to their mobile bitcoin wallet. Bitcoin allows users to take full control — and full responsibility — at every step, which includes responsibilities such as backing up their mobile wallet.

Secure online bitcoin wallets — or not

You could easily draw a parallel between online bitcoin wallet providers and financial institutions such as banks. Both services handle your personal funds, and you can check the balance, as well as send and receive funds at any time. But you are trusting a bank to keep your funds safe, and that’s not what bitcoin is about. Ever since bitcoin’s inception, trust has played an integral role in the development of this ideology.
Satoshi Nakamoto envisioned that the future development of bitcoin would eventually lead to a “trustless” society, where all interactions were done between people directly, without using any third-party service.
On top of that, you are responsible for protecting your personal mobile wallet service account. Most online bitcoin wallet platforms provide options such as two-factor authentication. And although that additional layer of security protects the user from harm — in most cases, as no system is truly perfect — it will not prevent your funds from being stolen if the online wallet service itself is hacked.

Secure paper bitcoin wallets

A bitcoin paper wallet can be best described as a document containing all the data necessary to generate private keys, effectively forming a “wallet of private keys.” But that is not its only purpose, because a paper wallet can also be used to store bitcoins safely and securely, in which case the paper itself also includes public keys and redeemable codes.
The main purpose of a redeemable code is to use it as a means of funding and “redeeming” funds associated with a certain bitcoin wallet address. However, it is important to note that paper wallets should only be used once, because a paper wallet is not a bitcoin wallet intended for daily use.
Paper wallets can serve many purposes. A bitcoin paper wallet makes for a great gift when introducing friends, family, and loved ones to bitcoin. Or you can give someone a paper wallet as a tip, to show your appreciation for something the other person has done. Redeeming a paper wallet as a gift or tip requires recipients to have a bitcoin wallet installed on their computer or mobile device, through which they can import the private key associated with that address.


How to store Bitcoin?


Bitcoin has grown considerably in popularity over the past several months, with prices almost tripling and more and more cryptocurrency followers joining the field. As this has taken place, so too have the number of publicized hacking events increased as well. With more money being invested in digital currencies now than ever before, and particularly given that many investors are new to the system and may not know how to keep their investments secure, hackers are coming up with ingenious ways of stealing funds. Some of the most prominent thefts have been those that have taken place in plain sight: a recent hack rerouted tokens bound for one wallet for another. The victims watched as their tokens were stolen away from them, with nothing they could do about it. Here are a few ways to store your Bitcoins that may be safer than others.

Desktop Wallet

A desktop wallet offers a number of advantages over an online wallet. While online wallets are easily accessed from anywhere in the world, they are also more vulnerable to potential hacking. Desktop wallets, on the other hand, are accessed only via your private computer, with personal security keys stored just on that machine. Thus, exposure of your security key online is reduced. Nonetheless, desktop wallets are still susceptible to hacks if your machine gets infected with malware designed to root out keys and steal Bitcoins.

Hardware Wallet

More secure than a desktop wallet is a hardware wallet. These wallets are bits of hardware, external devices like USB sticks which you can carry around on your person. An added benefit of a hardware wallet is the complete anonymity with which you can transact. There is no personal information linked to the hardware, so no identifying data which could be leaked. Hardware wallets are resilient to malware, and if you happen to lose the wallet you'll be able to recover the funds using a seed phrase.

Paper Wallet

A paper wallet is also a relatively safe way of storing Bitcoin, although it requires a bit more advanced understanding of how digital currencies work. Generate a paper wallet online using any number of dedicated websites, or generate the wallet offline for even greater security. Paper wallets are stored easily because they don't take up a great deal of space, and they also offer true anonymity: they are simply a Bitcoin seed written in some way on a piece of paper.

Physical Coins

Services are cropping up which allow Bitcoin investors to buy physical Bitcoins. The coin you purchase will have a tamper-proof sticker covering a predetermined amount of Bitcoin. In order to purchase the physical coin, you may need to pay a slight premium over the value of the Bitcoin that you're buying, owing to the cost of the manufacture and shipment of the coin itself.

Wednesday 4 October 2017

A school where teachers don't 'teach'!

He was all of 33 when his friends, acquaintances, colleagues and the wider circle of people around him thought he’d taken leave of his senses. And who really could blame them?
The year was 2009.
An IIT-Kharagpur engineer and IIM-Ahmedabad MBA, Arghya Banerjee lived in Chennai with his wife and four-year-old daughter, worked at Irevna -- a Standard and Poor’s equity research outsourcing company that later got acquired by Crisil -- had built a career and reputation in his chosen field and had some savings to get by.
That’s when Banerjee decided to chuck it all, return to his native town, Suri, in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, and start a school.
He had no experience in running schools, had no degrees that teachers or school administrators typically acquired, he had no one chasing him to fund his “mad” idea and he really had no one patting his back, saying he was doing something noble.


Want to know more detail check the link
http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/a-school-where-teachers-dont-teach/20171003.htm