With cryptocurrency transactions taking place on the blockchain, which is a decentralized and secure peer-to-peer network, they’re extremely difficult to steal and manipulate. Still, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take precautions when using them online. With that said, let’s look at the top five practices to stay safe in the world of digital currencies.
Spend Your Crypto on Reputable Platforms
Just like when using credit cards, you want to make sure you only spend your cryptocurrencies on reputable platforms. This will eliminate many risks that are commonly associated with online transactions. Do some research on the company you’re buying products or services from and only go through with the purchase if the vendor is trustworthy enough. Let’s say you want to use crypto to gamble online. Turning to a well-known platform such as Lucky Block ensures that your transactions are handled securely. The same goes for buying any other product or service — prioritize well-established companies and you’ll have nothing to worry about.
Recognize Common Crypto Scams
With cryptocurrencies still being a relatively new asset, people are quick to jump on any opportunity to profit from them. This opens the doors for internet wrongdoers to come up with all sorts of giveaways and investment scams. Then, all they have to do is wait for people to fall for their traps. Luckily, you can simply stay away from anything fishy and you’ll be safe. Remember that if an offer looks too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. Just continue spending your crypto as you usually do and don’t make rash decisions when you see ridiculously good offers anywhere on the web.
Use Strong and Unique Passwords
As we learned in this 2018 hack, one of Finland’s biggest data breaches, being online means your passwords are never safe. Even if you do everything on your side, your combinations could still end up in the hands of cybercriminals. If you’re spending crypto, you want to ensure that even if one of your passwords gets leaked, your tokens remain safe. The best way to do this is to use strong and unique combinations for your crypto accounts. The best passwords are at least 12 words long and don’t contain common phrases that can be found in the dictionary. Also, never use the same combinations across multiple accounts, especially the ones that are linked to your crypto wallets.
Enable 2FA on Your Accounts
With internet criminals always on the hunt for other people’s passwords, it’s important to use everything you can to protect your accounts. Enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) on your accounts that are linked to your crypto wallet provides an extra layer of security. Even if someone gets their hands on your password, they would still need confirmation from you to actually use your crypto. The best part is that implementing 2FA takes just a couple of minutes. Simply download a 2FA app on your phone and link it to your accounts by scanning a QR code provided by the platform.
Respond Quickly
No matter how much you try to stay safe, security incidents can always happen. In such events, it’s important to respond as quickly as possible. Let’s say you receive a message about an unauthorized transaction or access to your crypto account. Change your passwords immediately and close all current sessions if possible. Also, think about whether you’re using the same combination on any other accounts and if you do, change them as well. Next, contact your platform and notify it about the incident. They might be able to take extra measures to ensure your account is safe.
HT