# Gavin Andresen
# 2011-09-09 13:21:18
# https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=42465.msg516789#msg516789

I haven't seen anybody post about what would be my biggest worry if I were trying out alternative block chains. I realize this may be perceived as "Gavin is FUD'ding anything that isn't bitcoin!"  (FUD == Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt)  But I think some of you might be forgetting some basic computer security fundamentals in the excitement to be early adopters. @p{par}

When I first heard about bitcoin, my questions were: @p{par}

1) Can it possibly work (do the ideas for how it works make sense)? @p{brk}
2) Is it a scam? @p{brk}
3) If it is not a scam, could it open my computer up to viruses/trojans if I run it? @p{par}

I answered those questions by: @p{par}

1) Reading and understanding Satoshi's whitepaper.  Then thinking about it for a day or two and reading it again. @p{brk}
2) Finding out everything I could about the project.  I read every forum thread here (there were probably under a hundred threads back then) and read Satoshi's initial postings on the crypto mailing list. @p{brk}
3) Downloaded and skimmed the source code to see if it looked vulnerable to buffer overflow or other remotely exploitable attacks. @p{par}

If I were going to experiment with an alternative block-chain, I'd go through the same process again. But I'm an old conservative fuddy-duddy. @p{par}

If you want to take a risk on a brand-new alternative block-chain, I'd strongly suggest that you: @p{par}

1) Run the software in a virtual machine or on a machine that doesn't contain anything valuable. @p{brk}
2) Don't invest more money or time than you can afford to lose. @p{brk}
3) Use a different passphrase at every exchange site. @p{par}