The crypto business is like magic internet money, and its security needs to be taken seriously. There are people out there who have a full-time job trying to steal people’s cryptocurrency. All it takes is one single mistake, and all your crypto is gone. Scammers and online theft incidents like these are some of the cons of being a crypto investor; you are in charge of your security and must be vigilant.
The first tip is to activate Two-factor Authentication on the application or exchange you are using to store or trade your cryptocurrency. Most popular email providers also allow you to do Two-factor Authentication. By activating it, means that nobody will be able to hack into your account without your two-factor authentication available. Passwords regularly get leaked in data hacks. One thing that usually prevents hackers from succeeding is two-factor authentication; it is an important step for your cryptocurrency.
Although not so many people are aware of it, you can also use a hardware device for your two-factor authentication. Some crypto wallet applications and exchanges offer affordable hardware devices that individuals can use for Two-factor authentication.
Another tip is, having a good password; they say that the best passwords are the ones that have a combination of symbols, alphabets, and numbers. Hackers can hack passwords like your name, date of birth, 0000, 1234567, 246810, password, etc. easily. For example, a password like EtH£rEuM2$2 is very complicated; it would take a long time before a hacker could crack it. Your passwords must be good but not too complicated for you to forget. It is advisable for you never to reuse passwords for important sites like your Binance account, Coinbase, etc. Important sites should all have different unique and strong passwords.
Your phone is another area to keep in mind; many people use their phone as a two-factor authentication device, but it is safer to receive two-factor authentication messages on a security device like a Google Authenticator rather than receiving them as text messages on your phone. A sim-swap attack happens regularly in the United States; this is when a hacker calls phone companies until they find an ignorant service representative and port your phone to the hacker. There have been several high-profile cases of people losing cryptocurrencies worth millions of dollars because their phone company ported their phone over to hackers.
If possible, set a pin on your phone number; this can prevent your sim from being ported easily. You can also get a sim lock from your phone company because phones are one of the areas of crypto security that people tend to ignore.
Crypto security is severely overlooked; most people fall prey to certain scams because they are not properly educated. Most people do not do sufficient research before entering the crypto space. They end up falling for scams and making risky decisions, making decisions so costly that they eventually lose all of their crypto investment.
The crypto business may be a risky investment, you lose some days, and you win some days, but that does not mean that one has to lose money to scams.
