With every security breach making it into the news, mainstream-media victims as well as most people in general get the impression that Crypto currencies “weren’t safe” or even “had failed” or similar. Depending on the nefarious intent behind these headlines (as in the case of established banks bashing Bitcoin as part of their agenda) this may or may not scare potential users from even thinking about using Bitcoin.
The reality is a totally different story though. It's the credit card industry that's not secure: over 40% of profits in that business have to be spent for “fraud prevention” (meaning they cannot even prevent most cases of fraud anyway and need the above amount for compensation of resulting losses). Still, this hasn’t prevented anyone from using credit cards nor similar “electronic” forms of payment — yet.
Crypto coins are a different story though. The level of security only depends on whether or not prudent steps are taken by the user individually. Unlike credit cards where trust has to be given to third parties, the very nature of peer-to-peer technology means that everyone has absolute control and is solely responsible and in charge of their own funds and security.
Improving the security of your Bitcoin holdings is always easiest through the use of Paper Wallets: simply move all portions of your savings to Cold Storage (i e into your paper wallet) and only keep smaller amounts needed for spending in a Desktop wallet, online wallets, or less-secure exchange portfolios and similar places.
(A paper wallet is a simple piece of paper run from your printer — preferably a “dumb” printer, i e one without Wi-Fi or similar security loopholes — containing your public address for deposits along with its private key for retrieval.)
That way, you are not only “your own bank” but (at least!!) as safe as one, too.
