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Friday 29th Oct, 2021
Entering the world of crypto can seem irresistible with big price rallies, huge gains, property, flash cars hotly celebrated. But it can also can be a daunting experience given the negative press that is also associated with this area of finance.
Understandably so, as aside from the individual scam stories reported on there’s also been a handful of large scale exchange hacks that have had particularly eye watering results for the victims involved.
Just look at the figures quoted in what are considered to be the largest-ever cryptocurrency hacks:
Many people are now beginning their investment journies with cryptocurrencies rather than traditional asset classes, so what must you do to ensure you keep your crypto as safe as possible?
Money is seemly pouring into crypto right now, but these hacks are happening every few months and the platforms involved are mostly unregulated so customers have no guarantee of getting their money back. So what to do? Is it possible to ride the crypto train and get off safely at the next stop?
As the saying goes, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true”. But of course, as this article discusses there are other strategies you can use instead of relying on skepticism alone.
Sometimes referred to as multi-factor authentication or dual-factor authentication, this is a stronger method of protecting your online accounts.
A lot of websites have 2FA built into their log in / authentication flows, but not all make it a mandatory step. Using 2FA to login to a website does take a little longer than using only a conventional username and password combination because it relies on not only the password. It also means you have to provide a second factor - a security token or biometric like a finger print or facial scan.
This second factor obviously adds an additional layer of security, but the clever part is that even if your password is hacked, the password alone is not enough to login with.
For example, if your password was stolen a hacker would still need to pass the second security check. And for this they would also need your mobile phone if you opt to receive the security token by voice call or an authentication app.
Most second factors rely on receiving a code to your mobile phone which you must then type into a page. How you receive this code matters too.
Sometimes they will be sent via SMS, a voice call or email. Of these 3, SMS is the least secure since they can be intercepted. If you are able to choose one, a voice call is a good option because it’s also one of the fastest.
If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of an airdrop (What’s an airdrop?) it can be an exciting thing. Who doesn’t like free stuff?
But, as we quoted above - “if it’s too good to be true” - remember that one? Well, we understand that new phishing attempts are being targeted at crypto investors via airdrops.
How the attempt works is that you receive fictitious coins into your wallet, with the aim of getting you to visit a spoof website to interact with the airdropped coins.
The hack relies on you inadvertently giving away access to your coins, where they can be transferred away for good.
Vigilance is key to not falling for this kind of scam, so be wary of any tokens airdropped from a source you haven’t heard of and do not interact with them.
Standing up and shouting all about your crypto investments and how well you’re doing is a sure fire way to bring unwanted attention to yourself from hackers and scammers.
Yes. You see it on social media websites all of the time and a quick Twitter search will yield a ton of tweets from people claiming to have made it big time, or just purchased a new house or car.
But the thing is these are claims and you don’t know the real story behind the post. This isn’t true for everyone but you must remember that what people sometimes say on social media is for effect, and the goal is to increase their follower count.
Online security is actually better than it has ever been, and hackers know this. So much so in fact that many hacks nowadays involve some kind of social engineering.
The weakest link in a security chain is unfortunately you. Security details such as passwords, codes, DOBs, security questions all stop at you and keeping them safe if your job.
Social engineering is a method of obtaining these details hints about you without you knowing and using them to impersonate you. Remember those Facebook posts asking lists of questions about you, your first pet, your star sign etc. Well, that’s free clues you give away when you post those answers.
The best advice here is to keep a low profile on the internet, and consider what information you give away for free on a public forum.
Following the above theme cold storage is an offline wallet for storing your crypto currency coins. As the description suggests this type of wallet is not connected to the internet, and therefore it is protected from hacking attempts and other vulnerabilities that a system typically connected to the internet would be susceptible to.
What does cold storage look like in practice?
The simplest way to starting using cold storage is with a paper wallet. Literally, this is a piece of paper that has a public and private key written on it. The paper documents will have a scannable QR code printed on it so that it can be used to make a transaction.
In a previous article of ours we explained another type of cold storage; a hardware wallet called Nano Ledger S.
A hardware wallet generates and secures your private keys offline, and looks like a USB storage device. It can be used to store multiple crypto coins in one place.
Of course, there is a danger with cold storage in so much as because these are physical items they could be lost or destroyed leaving the owner unable to access the address of their funds.
Psst.. If you found this tool useful please consider donating some coin.
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