Over 10K different cryptocurrencies are available today. We love cryptocurrency because it is peer-to-peer, public, and with no central server. Yet, the same things we love about the blockchain, also create security risks.
Regardless of whether you are a day trader from the U.S. or Canada, an institutional investor from France or Germany, or if you are starting your crypto project in Australia, you need to know how to improve its cybersecurity.
We have prepared this definitive list of cybersecurity essentials to help you protect your financial interests.
- Do not share your private key with anyone. Completing a crypto transaction requires a public and private key. These are long strings of letters and symbols. The public key is like an account number, whereas the private key is like a PIN. The private key is essential because it grants access to the funds in the account.
- Be aware of scam coins. Hackers use phishing and scams to steal your private key. They create a new and attractive cryptocurrency hoping to steal your private key. Learn more about the development team behind a new crypto coin.
- Protect your private key. Store your private key in a credible digital wallet and have a backup (recovery seed). A paper wallet is the most secure choice, followed by a flash drive, hard drive, apps, and websites.
- Rely on experts. Consult trustworthy experts, such as Hacken, to protect your investment from emerging threats. Experts will analyze your project and offer accurate and relevant recommendations on how to improve its cybersecurity.
- Do not trust unverified social media channels. Hundreds of scammers are spreading phishing messages on Discord, Telegram, and Twitter. Get your news about the crypto industry from verified channels.
- Double-check screenshots. Screenshots are easy to edit. Scammers usually add their fake wallet addresses. Try to find the original post yourself.
- Use a password manager. Using the same password for all websites is a disaster. Use a password manager to create strong passwords and store them. Download hPass by Hacken to receive the safest multifunctional storage for your seed phrases, private keys, and passwords.
- Add two-factor verification. Add two-factor verification to your social media accounts, banking apps, and electronic wallets. This is one of the best ways to improve cybersecurity.
Useful and safe tools you can use yourself to improve cybersecurity
- Use the Virustotal website for the analysis of suspicious files and URLs to detect types of malware and automatically share them with the security community.
- AnyRun offers malware hunting with live access to the heart of an incident. You can sort public submissions by tags (phishing, exploit, ransomware) and country.
- Federal Virtual Training Environment is a series of free courses on cyber risk management, cyber essentials, cloud computing security, and cryptocurrency sponsored by the U.S. government. This is a great and reputable source for self-learning.
- Review any crypto transaction on Blockexplorer. You can see the transaction hash (a unique transaction code), sender public key, receiver public key, and transaction amount.
- Learn underlying crypto concepts by solving cryptopals crypto challenges based on weaknesses in real-world systems and modern cryptographic constructions.
- Check cryptocurrecny rankings by security at CER.live. This website offers security rankings for DeFis, cryptoexchanges, tokens, wallets, blockchains, and platforms.
- Discover basic rules of cybersecurity and practical recommendations by signing up for a free course at Hacken.ai. Upon completion, write down the seed phrase on a piece of paper and in the hPass password manager.
Equip your crypto project with powerful knowledge and be amazed how these recommendations will improve its cybersecurity.