In this episode, Lorraine mentions a few ways you could limit the likelihood of a bad actor gaining access to your funds, as well as how to ensure that you do not lose access to your wallets and accounts. She stresses the need for triple- and double-checking the URLs of all crypto websites and backing up all keys and codes whose loss would separate you from your crypto.
Episode Highlights
Helpful links
Google Authenticator and Authy
Hi. Welcome to Decentralized, a podcast on the crypto space where I'll be talking about the crypto landscape, the crypto infrastructure, crypto assets, and the crypto market, as well as factors that affect. My name is Lorraine Mutyaba, and I am the host of Decentralized.
If you've been following along, you should be able to sign up for an account on an exchange, you should be able to sign up for an account on a peer-to-peer marketplace, and you should know the pros and cons of having your own wallet and as well as leaving your crypto on an exchange. What I'm going to focus on in this episode is security.
I'm going to give you some recommendations that can limit the likelihood that a bad actor will gain access to your funds. This space is very new, it's very nascent, and there is no regulation. And if you are your own bank and you end up losing your funds, there is no recourse. So being able to protect your assets is very important. These recommendations are in no way exhaustive, but they are a great place to start.
Number one, do not use public Wi-Fi. Public Wi-Fi networks are not the safest Wi-Fi networks out there, not only can someone circulate malware on them, but if someone had targeted you and they wanted to monitor your traffic, they could, and if they were determined, they could monitor your keystrokes, and obtain sufficient information to access accounts on various websites.
I do not recommend that you use public Wi-Fi if you need to enter sensitive information into any website. But I understand that in some cases you will have to do that. So if you have to use public Wi-Fi, then use a VPN because that will encrypt your information. And even if someone was spying on you, they wouldn't be able to see much.
Number two, and this is something I tell everyone who buys crypto or wants to buy crypto or wants to participate in the crypto economy. If you can, and if it's possible, get a separate device for all crypto-related activities. This could be a mobile phone or a device or a laptop that is free of malware that you only use to access your accounts on different exchanges or centralized platforms, but also that you use to access your wallet if it's a browser extension or if it's on your desktop.
If you have a device that is just for crypto- related activities, you should also limit the amount of time that that device is connected to an internet connection because any device that is connected to the internet can become a target of online attacks. So if you can get a device that's just for crypto and limit the amount of time that that device or laptop is connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Number three, bookmark every website that you visit that requires you to enter your credentials and access that website from your book Bookmark Manager. Why do I say this? It's very easy to enter your credentials on a sham website. Scammers have become quite sophisticated and they are able to create landing pages that look like the real thing.
And so it's very easy to get duped into entering your information on their own website. So last year, 6,000 customers who use Coinbase, which is the largest crypto exchange in the United States had their crypto stolen when they entered their information on a fake login page. Thankfully Coinbase was able to make them whole, but that's not always going to be the case.
So double- and triple- check everything. Then if you are downloading apps from the Google Play Store or from the Apple App store, you have to again, double- check everything: the name, the, uh, the logo. How many people have downloaded the app? Is this a genuine app that is affiliated with a genuine company?
Because again, there are many fake apps out there. Indian investors have lost upwards of $128 million by using fake apps. There are scammers out there and they have become very sophisticated, so double- and triple- check everything always.
We are now on number four. I would suggest that you get multiple-factor authentication. at the very minimum get two- factor authentication. What do I mean? Authentication is what you use to prove that you are who you say you are. It's a means of identifying yourself to a website or to a service. The password to my Gmail is one factor of authentication.
I enter that password, I enter my username. I have access to my Gmail. Let's say there was a data breach and my information ended up on the dark web or in the hands of a bad actor. That bad actor would have access to my account if he can, if he has access to my password and my username. But if I have two-factor authentication, if there there's something else that I have to provide in addition to my password, this bad actor would not be able to access my account. And so that other thing is usually a passcode that is sent to you via text message or that is generated by an app or a piece of hardware. So by having two factors of a, of authentication, your account is that much more secure. Most exchanges require that users enable two-factor authentication and most of them frown upon the use of sms, uh, as a mechanism for sending those codes.
Most of them will require that you download an app. They will recommend that you download an app that generates a one-time passcode. Google Authenticator is one of the most popular apps, but there's also Authy which you could use. It depends on what is recommended by the website that you are using.
You could also get 3factor authentication in addition to the password and the passcode. You could use something else like, um, I dunno, biometrics, and you could add factors on top of factors to secure your account. While it'll make it a lot harder for you to enter your own account, if you have multiple factors of authentication, let's say you have five of them, it'll also make it a lot harder for a hacker to gain access to your account. So the more the factors of authentication, the better. But at a minimum, you should have two- factor authentication.
Lastly, back everything up. Have several copies of your seed phrases, your wallet recovery phrases, and your two -factor authentication recovery codes as well. Do not back those up on the same laptop that you use to access your email and to visit Instagram and to surf the Internet. Back them up on a USB stick.
Again, if you are using a device with a Wi-Fi connection, then you. are vulnerable to online attacks. So back everything up on a device or devices that do not have a Wi-Fi connection. A recent New York Times article revealed that over 140 billion dollars in Bitcoin is just sitting in people's wallets because they've lost access to them.
You do not want to be one of those people. So again, back everything up. Preferably in multiple locations. So that's all I had for you this week, and that brings me to the end of this Crypto basics series. I hope you have found it helpful, and until next time, take care of yourselves.