A few weeks back, a friend of mine made a shocking revelation of how his crypto wallet was hacked and his hard earned money gone. This opened my eyes to the fact that one needs to put in extra layer of security in order to prevent bad actors from gaining access to their cryptos. It is no news that crypto is fast going mainstream and so also are attacks on crypto becoming increasingly worrisome. Here, we will look at tips you can employ in order to safeguard your crypto wallet.
Image from Pixabay
1. Do not divulge your wallet details
Many people's wallets have been compromised simply because they divulged sensitive information about their wallet - like passphrase, seed phrase, login details, passwords, keystroke, etc. These pieces of information can easily make your wallet vulnerable if it falls into the wrong hands. First thing to understand is that; no customer service representative from any wallet service will request for any of these details. As a matter of fact, any request made of any of these should send red flag to you immediately.
More so, when using any third-party app, you should not divulge sensitive information. Some of these apps can be run by bad actors and waiting to attack unsuspecting users.
2. Wallet Diversification
This simply means that you need to diversify your assets into more than one wallet. This is a precautionary move against losing your crypto if a wallet gets attacked. The best practice is to have more than one wallet where you store your crypto assets. For those that trade, you can have a separate wallet for it, then a separate wallet for hodling. Then for those that hunt for airdrops, it is alway advisable that you do not use your main wallet for it. This is because some of these airdrops will require you to connect your wallet to unknown sites et al. So try to use your disposable wallet for it.
Imagine if someone centralizes all their assets in just one wallet and that wallet gets attacked or hacked, it will become catastrophic. However, if the person has distributed their assets in other wallets, if one wallet gets attacked, it will not be as disastrous as if all get attacked. More so, if you notice any malicious activity on your wallet, the safest bet is to quickly move your funds out of that wallet. Also note this: do not use the same password (or login details) you used for one wallet on subsequent wallets. Try to get a different one for each wallet. So that if you mistakenly divulge one, you won't put the rest of your wallets at risk.
3. Beware of phishing attacks
Many online sites have been faked by bad actors and made to look like the original ones just to lure unsuspecting users and perpetrate their bad actions. Beware of clicking links via emails or other media that will redirect you to where your login details are required. Hackers have used this means to attack people's wallets, so one needs to be careful about clicking links. You need to bookmark the links that you visit often. Like the DEXs you visit often should be bookmarked, so that you can easily go to it without falling for fakes.
More so, you need to check in depth before clicking on any link, and this includes spelling errors. Sometimes ago, a fake version of one popular DEX was floated and many people fell victim of it. It was designed to look like the original one and even had the same layout and all, but with a misspelt word in the url. Without being observant to details, you may not be able to pick the error. So one needs to beware of these minor details, because it can save one's wallet.
Image from Pixabay
4. Consider Cold Wallets/ Hardware Wallets
You may not be too careful as regards wallets that are connected online. This is why it is always safest to go for hardware wallet, which makes it almost impossible for your digital assets to be stolen via proxy. There are quite a number of hardware wallets that are available which you can choose from as a matter of preference. One good thing about hardware wallets is that you need to physically possess the wallet for transactions to be initiated, which has made it the safest.
So for people that have a considerably large digital assets, you need to consider going for hardware wallet. The truth is that the responsibility to safeguard your wallet and your digital assets rests on your shoulders, so you should not make light of it.
Thanks for reading