Wallet Security

Summary

1. Subject(s): Wallet Security - Fundamentals to keep your assets safe and secure
2. Topic or Unit of Study: Web 3 - Cryptocurrency & NFTS
3. Objective: To give you the information to help keep your assets safe and secure from theft by malicious hacks, attacks and scammers.
4. Time Allotment: 1 Hour

Things To Know

As the crypto space grows and web 3 gains momentum there is an increased amount of malicious attacks, scams, and even rug pulls taking place within the space. According to CNBC at https://linkyfied.com/CNBC-Scam-Stats we have seen an increase of 516% in these types of cyber crimes from 2020 to $3.2 Billion. And 72% of these stolen funds were taken from DeFi protocols, and losses from scams climbed to 82% totaling 7.8 Billion worth of cryptocurrency.

With these numbers continuing to climb we all need to do our part to remain safe and help others to implement practices to best safeguard those assets. Safety on the Web 3 space starts with you and we are here to help.

So how do we protect ourselves?

Good Practices

1. Never click unknown links, open emails you don't know who they are from, or click links in emails you're not familiar with.
2. Do your own research on links, projects, and cryptocurrencies. You can search Google about projects, links (URLS), company names and so on.
3. Avoid Phishing ScamsPhishing scams via malicious ads, NFTS, FOMO, and emails are rampant in the cryptocurrency or web 3 world. Be careful while making crypto and NFT transactions to avoid any suspicious and unknown links.
4. Keep several wallets
5. We recommend and keep more than 10 individual wallets. Never keep all of your assets in a single wallet.
6. Never keep more than 1 wallet when possible on the same provider such as Metamask, Coinbase etc.
7. Use Cold Wallets -  A cold wallet is a wallet that is not regularly connected to the internet. House the biggest and the majority of your assets, especially for your long term holds.
8. Have a burner/public Wallet
9. A wallet you freely share with the public. This wallet is to keep people from doing random airdrops that could be malicious to one of your primary wallets that could lead you to a loss of assets.
10. Use a secured Internet Connection
11. Create and use a VPN
12. A VPN is a Virtual Private Network - A VPN changes your IP address and location, keeping your browsing activity safe and private from threat actors.
13. Never use a public internet connection and or networks for transactions.
14. Always use a 2-Factor Authenticator (2FA) when applicable. This is a timely changing code and the most popular app in this field is Google Authenticator. This second layer of security will require a code for every login to your wallet or account. It ensures that without physical access to your device (or hacking it) it will be impossible to log in.
15. When using a web wallet, you should ensure that there is an SSL security mark in the address window of your browser. This stands for a secure site seal and ensures that your browsing is encrypted.The website should begin with HTTPS rather than HTTP, and you should notice a lock sign next to the URL.
16. Secure your personal device(s)
17. Make sure your personal device(s) are up to date with the latest virus definitions to defend against newly discovered vulnerabilities. Use a strong anti-virus and firewall to improve your device’s security to avoid hackers from taking advantage of the weakness by writing code to target any vulnerability.
18. Turn off your auto-updates for both applications and the device operating system (OS). Make sure you stay up to date, however, in case a security breach is discovered – you better allow some time before updating.