7 Key Cryptocurrency Security Measures

Cryptocurrency has become a goldmine in the past few years, allowing traders, investors, and even crypto fraudsters to gain massive amounts of money.

In recent years, numerous crypto coins have invaded the cryptocurrency business, with bitcoin continuing to top.

The value of bitcoin reached an all-time peak of $69K in November 2021.

Despite this, crypto scams remain among the most common ways to lose cryptocurrency. Mid-last year, the FTC announced the most significant damage of all time due to crypto frauds.

The cryptocurrency loss was Eighty-Two million, ten times the number reported in the prior assessment. With crypto frauds at an all-time high, Crypto traders and investors need to know what they are up against now more than ever.

Below are some of the most important measures you can take to keep your cryptocurrency safe.

1 – Keep your cryptocurrency in a cold wallet

A cold wallet is a physical device for holding cryptocurrency entirely offline. These devices are usually in the shape of a USB drive.

Why, then, are cold wallets so safe? Cold wallets, unlike hot wallets, keep crypto completely offline, keeping them so much less vulnerable to hacks. If you use a cold wallet, make sure it’s encrypted. They increase the security of your encryption.

In 2019, a case study showed that cold wallets are exceptionally safe. BIT point, a Japanese exchange, claimed a Thirty-two million cryptocurrency theft from their hot wallets. Ripple, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin, and Bitcoin Cash were all stored in hot wallets. However, when they looked into their cold wallets, they discovered that the crypto they had stashed was still there.

2 – Use Multiple Wallets to store your Cryptocurrency

“Do not keep all your eggs in one bucket,” as the adage says. You can establish as many wallets as you want to diversify your investment, and there is no cap on the number of wallets you can select.

With crypto fraud increasing, having multiple wallets – one for everyday transactions and the other(s) for securing your crypto assets – will be safer. If one of your wallets gets impacted, the others will assist in preparing for the damage.

3 – Use a variety of complex passwords.

It would be best to never use the same credential for all of your accounts. As per the study conducted in the United States, over 70% of millennials have a single passcode for most profiles. If the safety of one account is compromised, the remainder of the profiles become exposed to hacking.

To protect crypto accounts, cybersecurity experts recommend employing a tried-and-true approach. Use a different and secure passcode to secure your crypto adequately for every profile. You can use a trustworthy credential organizer if you feel having several credentials is too much of a headache. Also, avoid adding your phone number as the two-factor authentication method. SIM swap attacks are common, and using your number to verify your identity might lead you severe damage. Alternatively, you can subscribe to Efani’s SAFE mobile plan and protect your phone number from being hacked.

4 – Only use secure internet.

Are you informed that one out of every three individuals experiences a cybercrime daily? With most of these attacks aimed at devices connected to an unsafe internet, what can we do now? Yes! When using unsecured connectivity, your cryptocurrency is as exposed as this.

But how do you stay safe from these attackers? When interacting with your cryptocurrency, you should always use secure network connectivity. In general, stay away from unsafe connections such as public Wi-Fi.

You might use a Virtual private network to protect your crypto further. You can quickly alter your device’s IP address and location with a Virtual private network, enabling internet browsing to be much safer.

5 – Do not share your private key with anyone.

What is the definition of a private key? It is a key used to verify that the persons trading cryptocurrency are the actual ownership of the wallets. Maintain your private key hidden to ensure your crypto is safe from crooks. “The only method to safeguard your private key is to keep it in cold storage,” says Hoffman, Netenrich’s chief IS officer. Then delete the key’s digital footprints.”

Anything from a printed sheet to a printable can be used as cold storage. Anything made of metal is vulnerable to hacker attempts.

You could use a semi-fail-safe method to retrieve your forgotten or deleted private key. It leverages your forgotten and lost key by using seed, totally random words.

6 – Avoid provider-hosted wallets.

All those wallets are provider-hosted. They offer you the option of storing your private key on the host server. It may appear to be the most convenient option for keeping your private key, but it is also the most vulnerable. When you use a hosted wallet, you lose control of your private key.

How was it so unsafe to use provider-hosted wallets? Your private keys keep on the host server in a hosted wallet. Keeping your private key on these systems exposes them to several threats. Cyber-attacks, legal entities, government takeovers, or corporate failure are potential threats. Using cold storage for any of your private keys is the key to preventing any of these problems.

7 – Avoid being a victim of phishing.

Phishing is a cybercrime that involves setting up traps to get sensitive information such as passwords or credit card numbers. Fraudulent websites, Spam mails, and seductive adverts are all examples of internet traps. Phishing attacks are among the most prevalent frauds in the cryptocurrency sector.

To avoid being phished, take the following precautions:

• Stay away from links that are unfamiliar or questionable.
• Be cautious of advertisements that appear to be too fantastic to be true.
• Never share any personal information about your cryptocurrencies with anyone.

Always double-check for validity before providing crypto info to applications, emails, or websites. While using a website, for example, carefully check for any strange domain names. Fraudsters construct fake websites with domain names nearly identical to actual ones. Their advertising is eerily similar to real websites, to make matters worse.

In 2018, the cyber organization crypto core used phishing attacks to steal almost Two Hundred million in cryptocurrency. The phishing attacks used spoof emails and domains that looked like they came from a reputable company.

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