Crypto Security: Prevent Theft of Your Coins and NFTs
Swings in cryptocurrency prices aren't the only way to lose money. Take precautions to stop your coins and NFTs from being stolen.
It's more crucial than ever to preserve your remaining assets with cryptocurrency prices in free decline, crypto corporations laying off thousands of employees, and currencies that are deemed "stable" losing all of their worth.
People are losing money in other ways besides the current crypto crisis. Scams that provide criminals access to your accounts and holdings are becoming more prevalent. Seth Green recently had many NFTs worth over $300,000 stolen in May after the actor linked his cryptocurrency wallet to a phony website posing as a legitimate NFT project.
Creating and utilizing secure passwords are only a couple of the precautions you should take to protect your cryptocurrency like you would your other online accounts. However, cryptocurrency accounts have particular traits like seed phrases that call for further protection. Additionally, the current legislative structure required for recovering your stolen crypto assets does not exist in the cryptocurrency market.
In this article, we'll go over several methods you can prevent your cryptocurrencies and NFTs from being stolen and explain why it's essential to take the time to do it well. Understand the newest information on bitcoin's dramatic price fluctuations and the five questions that every investor should ask about cryptocurrencies to learn more about cryptocurrencies.
Always adhere to these two fundamental password safety guidelines
Using secure passwords is one of the simplest methods to protect your digital possessions. Your passwords should ideally be at least eight characters long and contain a mixture of random capital letters, digits, and special characters. However, you should do so if you can because, in principle, a larger password makes it more difficult to decipher.
Consider utilizing a password manager, which makes it easy and secure to store and use your passwords from a single location, if you're concerned about remembering all of your lengthy, intricate, and unique passwords. For further protection, we advised using a password manager with encrypted storage and two-factor authentication.
Additionally, never reuse your passwords after creating an account. Your other accounts will be in danger if one of them is hacked.
Your most valuable cryptocurrency should be stored in a hardware wallet
The entry point to your crypto assets is your wallet. While "cold" wallets are hardware items that function offline, "hot" wallets, such as software or mobile apps, operate online. The private keys that show you are the owner of your crypto assets and enable you to purchase, sell and trade on blockchains are stored in crypto wallets, not the actual coins or tokens themselves.
Every time you buy cryptocurrencies or NFTs, they need to be kept someplace. Because they're free and simple to use, most individuals retain their assets in a digital wallet or marketplace like Coinbase or MetaMask. However, for your most important possessions, you might want to think about using a physical wallet.
You can store cryptocurrencies and NFTs on a physical disk that you can connect to a computer to access via a hardware, or cold, wallet. When holding digital assets that are particularly valuable, hardware wallets are the preferable choice since they are typically harder to hack into.
Keep your cryptocurrency wallet's seed phrase offline and secure
Most crypto wallets employ a seed phrase and a password for further protection. This seed phrase is generated each time you set up a new wallet and used it as a master password. When you forget your password, you may restore your account by using a seed phrase, which is a group of 12 or 24 words, to sign in to your account on other devices.
Although this seed phrase adds protection, it also carries a danger because anybody who discovers it might possibly take all the cryptocurrency assets listed in your wallet. Although you might be tempted to save your seed word someplace online, it's important to write it down so that it can't be accessed by anybody.
Once you've written down your seed phrase, keep it somewhere tricky for others to access, such as a safe or lockbox. A portable system shielded from fire and floods may safely store your 12 or 24 words using specialized seed phrases hardware tools like Cryptosteel and Crypt Keeper.
Log into your wallet right away and create a new seed phrase if your seed phrase is either lost or stolen but you still remember your password.
Be on the lookout for scams in Discord's direct messages
One of the unofficial hangouts for the crypto and NFT groups is Discord. Many cryptocurrency fans go there to talk about recent and forthcoming NFT projects, cryptocurrency values, current affairs, and even their personal lives. Discord is used by supporters of NFT initiatives to create communities, but it's also where thieves and hackers go to breach accounts.
This is how it goes: You can receive a direct message from a hacker who poses as a member of a project that you follow and find interesting. The DM appears legitimate, generally makes the claim that you may mint an NFT that is hard to get for a reasonable price, and offers a link to click. However, your wallet gets emptied of all of your NFTs and cryptocurrency when you click the link, connect your wallet, and try to buy the NFT. Furthermore, there is no genuine way to get it all back.
When trying to mint or buy a freshly generated NFT, the most crucial piece of research you can do to prevent falling for a phony NFT website is to use trusted channels to identify the right website. Use a variety of web resources, like Google, Twitter, and Opensea, to confirm that you have the proper URL for the project, even if you obtain a link from what appears to be a reliable source.
Disabling DMs on Discord is an even easier way to avoid falling for a scam. Open the Discord app on your mobile device, press your profile image in the lower right corner, select Privacy & Safety, and turn off Allow Direct Messages From Server Members.
Avoid falling into Twitter support fraud
Similar to Discord, Twitter is a haven for hackers trying to trick unwary victims into handing up their valuables.
Every time the terms "stolen account," "lost password," or even "MetaMask" are mentioned on Twitter, a hacker army may reply, offering to assist in recovering lost property or regaining access to accounts. Afterward, hackers could DM you for your seed phrase to steal your crypto or NFTs.
Go directly to Twitter's official customer service page if you need assistance. Even if an account is validated, never ever give out your seed phrase to anybody since even verified accounts can occasionally be accessed by hackers. Never ever share your screen, either.
