@davidhay - Interesting series you got here with crypto and chronic :D
I like the contrast this casual format brings to your other, more serious videos/content.
I agree with your statements regarding the HW-Wallets. As far as I can judge it's borderline impossible to manipulate the HW-Wallet itself, for an attacker to get access to private keys/funds, without the user noticing said manipulation.
Most of the "hacks" turn out to be based on confusing the user, who is tricked into making a mistake.
Another example was the Nano Ledger issue, which again, was not a hack of the HW-Wallet itself, but caused by malicious JavaScript code on the users' machine. I don't own a ledger but as far as I understood, the JavaScript code injected the attackers' address when new addresses to receive deposits were generated. Although this is unfortunate, the private keys that are stored on the device were/are safe.
To me, it seems that there are a lot of much weaker links in the chain, so why should an attacker bother to tamper with the HW itself?
Personally, I still prefer to buy a new wallet, by ordering it from the vendor or an official reseller. The original packaging won't allow anyone to open it and close it again without leaving damage / broken seals and ordering it from the vendor directly minimizes the parties that touch it in between.
I guess this is as safe as it can get...
BTW: With all the recent uncertainties about the rebranding/split of MyEtherwallet into MyEtherWallet and MyCrypto, having a hardware wallet to store your private keys is a huge advantage.
No matter what happens to the platform(s) you use, your keys and funds stay safe.
Great insight, hardware hacks are rare. When the market was going up last year it was incredible to see how quickly FOMO set in and people put so much money into things they didn't attempt to understand.
Thanks! Yeah, FOMO was real. Bitcoin wasn't entirely new to me but I haven't had a closer look until December. When it (Bitcoin but also the buzzword Blockchain) was picked up by mainstream media and a lot of people around me, I decided that it was about time to look into it and join the adventure. I got in mid-December when everything was pretty hyped already, but things just got crazier and the marked went nuts until mid of Jan. So much information, misinformation, manipulation, hype, scam, FUD, FOMO, it was crazy. I kind of felt relieved when things cooled down a little, although things almost got a bit too cool when the market cap was falling below 300B for a short time. Since things started to move a bit slower, I took the opportunity to look into the thing that made me join crypto in the first place - the technology.