Compared to traditional currencies, cryptocurrency has unique security benefits, such as decentralization and operating on a peer-to-peer network that distributes data across nodes, but it equally presents risks, meaning cybercriminals can steal your funds. Bitcoin is growing at such a fast pace that it’s understandable why malicious actors might be interested – even small incursions can have huge payouts. Though cryptocurrency does come with some security risks, you can protect yourself from being hacked.
Not surprisingly, hacking incidents can affect the price of cryptocurrency, which tends to go down on the days of the attack, to say nothing of the fact that volatility and trading volume for these digital assets increases. You can find out exactly what is the price of Bitcoin and other tokens on online exchanges; there’s a difference between platforms of a few cents or more. Before 2030, few cyber-attacks happened, which could be attributed to a lack of proper knowledge about cryptocurrency and less attention to thorough investigations.
Scammers, thieves, and fraudsters will continue to look for ways to take money that doesn’t belong to them, so here are some tips to remember to protect yourself:
Use A Hardware Wallet
Hardware wallets are nowadays regarded as the most secure way to manage crypto key storage and sign transactions, operating under a fail-safe, mutually verifying architecture. As the name suggests, a hardware wallet is a piece of physical technology, often resembling a USB drive, that stores your keys in a specialized computer chip and signs transactions offline so you can interact with the blockchain without having to worry about your funds. Even if you lose your wallet, the security of your Bitcoin remains intact, provided no one has access to your PIN or seed phrase.
Require Authorization Of Transactions Through Multiple Keys
Multi-signature adds another layer of security to your digital assets, meaning you enjoy a version of multi-factor authentication, which is especially important if the funds belong to multiple parties in a decentralized autonomous organization. A certain number of addresses must sign the transaction using their public keys; the blockchain aggregates these transactions into one signature. If a threat actor somehow gets hold of one key, you can still recover your funds. The wallet can be used by two or more keyholders.
Be Skeptical Of New Token Projects
Just about anyone can create a cryptocurrency project. You write the code to create a blockchain that supports a native token, modify or expand upon an existing blockchain’s source code, or take advantage of the creation features of a blockchain. This is why you shouldn’t be easily persuaded or convinced by new token projects, especially if they’re launched by unknown/unproven individuals. More often than not, emotions contribute to our decisions, while logic merely factors in 10%, and only good research will provide a correct result.
Set Up Alerts For Login Attempts
It’s possible malicious actors can hack and steal your cryptocurrency in various ways, from stealing/guessing your password to sending phishing emails. If your account is hacked, you must discontinue use and create a new one. You can improve the security of your Bitcoin account by getting an alert when someone attempts to log in from a device or location that’s unusual for you. This way, you can immediately identify any unauthorized activity. Notification settings can include push notifications, in-app notifications, and email alerts. You have the power to control the flow of information and avoid being overwhelmed.
Don’t Store Your Password In The Browser
Browser-stored passwords save you from re-entering your login details: the browser automatically completes the sign-in form on the website with your password. The question now is, how safe is it? Well, everyone with access to your browser can see your password in clear text, though Windows can be set to ask for authentication. If there’s any chance that someone can get access to your device, the cybercriminal can open the browser and look at your login details. In case you didn’t already know, there’s an entire class of malware dedicated to credential theft.
A password manager beats a browser because it uses 256-bit AES encryption to make your data unreadable to anyone without the master password. Still, you should check the service you’re using, which has a zero-knowledge security model; that is, none of the staff can actually see your master password, so nobody can decrypt the information, even if they had access to it. While having a password manager is important, the gold standard for cybersecurity is two-factor authentication, so ensure the password manager integrates with a third-party app like Google Authenticator.
Don’t Keep All Your Eggs In One Basket
Don’t put all your effort into one endeavor. It’s a good idea to use several wallets for various transactions to minimize the traceability of your financial history on the blockchain. You protect your digital assets from being compromised all at once. Plus, this helps keep finances organized and easily manageable. There’s no limit on how many Bitcoin wallets you can have, so you can use one to store your long-term holdings and another one for day-to-day spending. Have wallets for designated purposes, such as trading, savings, and daily expenses.
Wrapping It Up
The security features inherent to the blockchain make it resilient against attacks, but they don’t make it immune. Since the inception of Bitcoin, several hacks have occurred, bringing into question the security of the technology, with incidents ranging from application vulnerabilities to cloud infrastructure/server breaches. Cybersecurity standards are best practices. You can never again count on out-of-the-box solutions like firewalls and antivirus software because threat actors are getting more sophisticated, not to mention that their tactics are becoming invulnerable to traditional defenses.
All in all, cybercriminals may use fake apps, crypto wallets, emails, basically anything to convince you to hand over your funds, so be wary, but don’t live with anxiety. Plan and prepare for any possible scenario, learn to trust your instincts instead of fighting them, and constantly think about what could happen. New strains of malicious code appear all the time, so regularly update your antivirus.
