Wallet Security Best Practices

Komard's Klass

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.
19. Change Passwords Regularly
20. There are a number of softwares available on both mobile devices and computers to aid you in keeping your passwords secure and up to date. Do your own research when looking for or using these softwares.
21. (Side Note)We use a 256 bit password for everything and all passwords are changed every 30 days.
22. Never save your password to autofill in any situation.
23. Never give out your seed phrases
24. Store all your wallet seed phrases offline.
25. Items to use - Notebook, outside your home such as a bank safety deposit box.
26. Double check Destination Addresses
27. Check and recheck addresses your sending to
28. Never send the full amount the first time. Test it with a smaller amount to ensure it's going to the correct person or place.
29. Keep your holding private
30. It's okay to show certain pieces you have collected or even cryptocurrencies you hold but the amounts should never be divulged and after showing them move them to another wallet.
31. Future Life Events
32. After Death
33. As morbid of a topic as this is it’s certainly something we all need to think about for the safety of our assets and our families.
34. Make sure to inform someone you trust (a family member) is aware of these wallets and investments.
35. Keep the necessary information accessible to those you have entrusted with this kind of information.
36. Have it put into a will to ensure the information will be passed along when and in the event of your death.

With anything you do online you need to think like a hacker, scammer or someone attempting to do a rug pull. Thinking about things in this manner will allow you to be safer because you will be able to better prepare for most situations.

Its important to know even with these practices in place you can and are still susceptible to a potential theft or scam. However it has been proven through our own personal experiences that these measures of security greatly reduce the risk of becoming a victim. It's up to us to protect ourselves and while some of the above practices may seem tedious and to be an overreaction we are of the belief that it's better safe than sorry.