(Photo Credit : NeONBRAND)
I was recently made aware that someone had hacked into my account and was taking rewards. I'm still wrapping my head around how this could have happened or why it's happening. If one #steemian reads this article and it helps them either prevent being hacked or gets them through the hacked status, then it's worth the effort.
I will readily admit that I am not even "minnow" status. I've been writing articles and interacting with other people on here for about a month now. I've made my fair share of newbie mistakes and this "hacking" has woken me up. If I truly care about this platform (and my participation in it), I need to educate myself and be more knowledgable about all facets of Steemit, including the crypto investment junk that seems alien to me.
Below is a list of rookie mistakes I have made and what I'm doing to correct them.
MISTAKE #1
I haven't paid much attention to the Wallet section of my account because the fractions have been so tiny that they haven't warranted a second glance. This is precisely what the hackers want us to do. If they hack early, their rewards could grow over time without anyone batting an eyelash. If it hadn't been for 
(Photo Credit : Zingali)
(Remedy : Pay attention to the finer details and get more involved in keeping track of my "account value". Redeem the rewards frequently)
MISTAKE #2
When I got approved to write on here, I was so excited that I blasted through the process. It took them 6 weeks before they got back to me, so when they gave me the go-ahead, I ran through that door fast. Luckily, I managed to copy/paste my ridiculously long password to another document offline. Had I not found that, I might have had to cancel the account.
(Remedy : Keep a copy of all passwords, keys and login details for your cryptocurrency accounts. Not just steemit, but your investment stuff too. I have short-term memory loss so this is more of a reminder for me than anything else. I could have been in deep trouble, had I not backed up my stuff)
MISTAKE #3
I never bothered to take the time to understand the Steemit terminology. Everything is still fuzzy, but terms like "Steem", "SBD", "Steem Power (SP)" and "Transfers" are important. Ignoring this section of my account has put me at a disadvantage and a basic lack of knowledge.
(Photo Credit : Zingali)
(Remedy : Research all of these topics from other, more knowledgable steemians and visit Reddit for the latest info.)
MISTAKE #4
Until recently, my attitude has always been to just focus on the writing and interact with other steemians that challenge me or make me think deeply about a topic or concept. If I want to help other minnows and prevent them from experiencing this, I need to focus on learning more technical aspects of this thing. It's not enough to do the positive thing that make this place great. I have to understand how the game is played before I can truly be of help to others. What good would it be to show up for a soccer match, if we're playing baseball?
(Photo Credit : Sho Hatakeyama)
(Remedy : Visit all whale and witness accounts, in search for verifiable information, while completely ignoring the disingenuous tripe that they peddle. I have to suck it up and learn the way they are screwing minnows, so that I can help spread the word and fight this garbage. It's absolutely insane just how "beta" this site is. We've got poachers from the Island Of Yap on here trying to rip us off and zero system in place to thwart them from doing so. The greedy bastards will continue to do this and since the powers that be don't seem to be too interested in creating a fair playing field, I'll have to take matters into my own hands.)
MISTAKE #5
Muting all of the cryptocurrency bullshit that invades my personal feed. I've never understood why these guys feel it necessary to post the updated Steem stock price every hour, on the hour. They are preaching to the choir, in my opinion. We're already here, shouldn't they be trying to promote to people not already on Steem?
(Photo Credit : Mark Skeet)
(Remedy : Actually force myself to read the occasional spam, in order to put them on my "Hell No" list and know who is shady and who is legit. I'm sure there are a few people out there speaking intelligently on the crypto news, but there are so many scam artists trying to steal from others that their messages get lost. I have to do a better job of seeking out the informed crypto reporters on here and keep weeding out the jerks. However, I'm still going to mute the blatant con/scam/spammers, but not before I read thoroughly and put them through my litmus test.)
I feel strongly that Steemit could be a great place to write cool content and getting an incentive (ie. rewards) is an added bonus. It's in my DNA to do all that I can to fight the bastards that are stealing resources and slowly draining this platform. I have and will do more to expose the plagiarists and con artists on here.
Have you been hacked on Steemit?
How did you handle it?
Tell me about it in the comments!
Let's get a dialogue going on ways to combat this stuff.
(Note : This will be an ongoing series, as I uncover more information about how this happened and learn more tips to fight the hackathon).
