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Account Security

Your forum account is reputational collateral worth years of work. Losing it to a credential stuffing attack, weak password, or hijacked email costs more than most users realize. The fixes are quick + free.

The basics

Unique strong password. Generated by a password manager, never reused on any other site. 20+ characters, mixed case + numbers + symbols. Bitcointalk has been compromised in the past — assume any password you ever used on it could be in a breach dump.

Different email for the forum. Not your main email. Not the email tied to your exchange accounts. A dedicated address used only for the forum, with its own strong password + 2FA.

Two-factor authentication on the email account. The forum's email is the recovery path. If an attacker compromises the email, they compromise the forum account. 2FA via authenticator app (Authy, Aegis, 1Password) — NOT SMS.

Forum-level 2FA

Bitcointalk does support 2FA via a hash-based system. Enable it via:

  • Profile → Account-related settings → Two-factor authentication

This adds a per-login challenge. Combined with strong unique password, it makes credential-stuffing attacks ineffective.

Sessions + devices

  • Log out when finishing on shared devices
  • Periodically review active sessions (when supported)
  • Don't stay logged in on devices you don't fully control

What to do if compromised

  1. Reset password immediately from a clean device
  2. Force-end other sessions if the option exists
  3. Reset email password + check for forwarding rules added by attacker
  4. Check for impostor PMs sent in your name
  5. Post in Meta to disclose so others know your recent posts may be the attacker
  6. Re-verify with theymos / mods if needed to recover full access

Account recovery in practice

The forum has minimal automated recovery — there's no "forgot password" rabbit hole that gives back full access. Recovery options:

  • If you have email access: standard password reset
  • If you've lost email: contact theymos / staff with evidence of account ownership (your post history, prior PGP signatures, etc.)
  • If neither: the account may be permanently inaccessible

This is why prevention matters more than recovery.

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