Today we are going to talk about how you can protect your Crypto & NFT to avoid being scammed. Losing your holdings might be a disastrous thing to happen and all holders and crypto gamers should be extra careful with their wallets and their computer security.
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Let’s begin by saying that hacking/scamming has become sophisticated these days, the hacker will do whatever he can to get remote access to your computer, therefore your private keys and all sensitive data.
Advanced hacking exploits have come into the surface such as Modlishka which is capable of even grabbing your second-factor authentication key using the phishing method. Other exploits can be found in Linux versions such as Kali Linux.
If we know one thing for sure, the internet is like the wild west and hackers/scammers have a thing for your Cryptos and NFTs. Be extra careful with what you do, be safe out there, please.
Let’s start by giving some basic tips, or else, no-brainer facts that can protect your accounts and holdings.
- Holding assets in exchanges is risky. They get frequently hacked so unless you are an active trader, this is not suggested. If you use exchanges, don’t store all your assets in one account.
- Use every security method available, regardless of the website. Enable 2FA, email Verification, SMS verification and so on. Better be safe than sorry.
- Make sure you check and verify the SSL (https:// left of the domain) and the domain itself. Hackers are tricky using domains almost similar to the original. For example, a hacker could create a phishing website of
Binance and instead of binance.com, the link can be bίnance.com (The ί – similar toi , is a Greek letter, watch closely). Always double check the link. - Bookmark your frequently used website and access them from there.
- Do not connect from computers you do not own, they might be hacked.
- Be careful when browsing, never reveal your private key to anyone, don’t click ads, don’t click whatever you see.
- Don’t download untrusted applications or cracked software.
Your email password should be unique.
Yeah! That’s right! We all have a Gmail, and we register in multiple websites every day with it, some of them might not be as legit as they seem, resulting in giving access to the website owner (hacker) the password you have typed. What would happen if you have the same password for your email? That’s right, you give access to all other websites because the hacker can easily reset all the passwords and steal your stuff.
If you have used the same password in various websites and your Gmail password is out there, get a new Gmail, make sure you do a proper backup with your phone number, secondary passwords and use it only in trusted websites. Your trading exchanges for example.
Never use the same password in multiple websites.
Even if your Gmail password is unique, this doesn’t mean that you can use the same one for all the websites you are registered. With the same philosophy as above, the hacker can try and find where your email is registered and access them.
For important websites such as exchanges, games that need website sign-up etc, use a unique password and store it offline. In a piece of paper for example, or a password protected
Create strong passwords that are not easy to guess.
It’s way better to set a password like “42%#ToTheMOO@Nman” rather than “George1992”. If you use your personal details you might get a victim of social engineering or if your password is too weak, it can be brute forced. Especially, it becomes easier to brute force when you give up a lot of information on social media such as date birth, pet name, favorite sports team and stuff like that. The hacker will use all the info available to brute force your password.
We know that using complex passwords is a bit of crazy cause you won’t remember them, maybe a solution like LastPass could do the work and save it for you. LastPass saves your passwords on the cloud and it’s accessed by a single password, better not share this one.
Too much info? Take a break and visit our Blockchain Games List. It opens in a new tab.
There are no Bitcoin, Ethereum or Enjin generators.
Anyone claiming that you can generate (or mining with 200% performance) cryptocurrencies by downloading an application or anything similar is a scammer.
Never send coins upfront, never mention where you store your holdings, always do your research before acting, ask in our telegram, ask those who you trust.
The same philosophy applies to those who say “send me 1 ETH to send you back 5”. Free is dead, you won’t get 5 back, nor your 1 ETH.
Protecting your private key with a hardware wallet.
A solid solution to protect your holdings and in-game assets in a hardware wallet like Ledger. Hardware wallets are great because your private keys are never exposed to your computer, the device itself is immune to viruses and before sending any transaction, you must physically confirm it from the device. Hardware wallets support a variety of cryptocurrencies and tokens making it ideal to store your funds and blockchain assets in it.
A Ledger Nano S costs only 59€ with free shipping. A small amount to pay for your holdings protection.
If you decide to get a hardware wallet, buy it from the official source, there have been incidents reported that scammers sell Ledgers pre-configured where they own the private key. Make sure you do a factory reset to the device before entering your private key.
We do well understand that not everyone can afford a ledger and if you don’t keep reading what other ways are available to protect your blockchain assets.
Protecting your private key in a USB drive or paper.
Save your private key offline. OFFLINE is important because if a hacker gets access to your computer, he won’t be able to find the private key as long as it’s not stored in it, or to a USB drive connected.
If you decide to store your private keys in your USB drive, make sure you encrypt it using
Never put all your eggs in the same basket, use another USB drive (again, encrypted) and store it to a friends house, hide it in the ground, or even tell your grandma to keep this for you. Always backup your backup.Take a backup of your encrypted USB Drive and the password you used and save it somewhere outside your home (at friends for example). Always backup your backup.
If you don’t want to use a USB Drive, write your private key in a piece of paper and lock it in a box, again, make sure you have hidden this with cautious in more than one place.
Remember: If you share your private key (or seed key) you will lose everything. As simple as it sounds. Private Key = P R I V A T E. Anyone who asks for Private Key is a scammer.
Protection using Metamask.
As blockchain gamers, we all have Metamask or Tronlink installed. These extensions save locally your private key and they require a master password to open. Once you leave your computer, make sure you close the browser, never leave your PC open with Metamask unlocked. Remember to frequently change your password and never disclosure it to anyone. If a hacker has access to your computer, he probably has access to your Metamask password, using an anti-keylogger app is recommended. Zemana offers a free demo of their anti-keylogger product.
Make sure wallet extensions are installed
Protecting your computer is highly important.
In most cases, people lose their assets because of poor computer security or just because they download untrusted applications packed with backdoors and RATs.
Once upon a time, DarkComet was a popular RAT that ISIS used to track down their critics in Syria. Having a RAT in your computer means that the hacker has complete access to everything, they see the screen just like you do, they have a keylogger and see everything you type, including passwords, private conversations and all sensitive data that someone could you against you in order to blackmail you.
Exercising basic safety measures and surfing the web with cautions should be enough to keep your computer safe. While this is enough for most cases out there, the bottom line is that if they want to get you, they probably will. Even the most advanced antivirus out there is not capable of stopping FUD (Fully Undetectable) viruses and Zero Day Exploits. As you understand, everything has to do with the way you use your computer (and mobile devices).
Here are some tips to keep your computer safe.
Install antivirus software: Avast Free edition is a good way to go, it offers a good level of protection for the basic users without having to spend a dime. You might want to check this independent list of tested antiviruses.
Install anti-malware software: Malwarebytes is a good free solution, it might lack some features but in overall its a good anti-malware software.
Install an all-around protection software with a firewall: Comodo will surprise you, it offers a complete protection solution with firewall included and it comes with a free version. Moreover, protection has an isolation feature where it runs non-trusted applications isolated.
Use an Adblocker extension to save yourself from injected malware in ads. A good solution is Varanida, a crypto ad-blocker which rewards you with VAD tokens whenever an ad is blocked.
Do not install cracked software as they have a good chance containing a virus, if you can’t afford it, find an alternative free version. Cracks are bad, you gonna give access to your computer to a random hacker!
Do not install software you do not trust or is not signed by the developer.
Always keep your Windows machine up to date, the fewer programs running, the fewer ports open, the fewer vulnerabilities your computer has. As a result, is harder for a hacker to penetrate your system.
Don’t click whatever you see in websites, be extra cautious with tricky ads, if something is too good to be true, then it’s a scam.
Protect your smartphone at all costs.
Use only trusted mobile wallets such as Enjin Smart Wallet which is packed with NSA-Grade Security and anti-keylogger keyboard.
Do not install applications from outside Google Play, that’s highly important!
GooglePlay is safe in general, but there are applications packed with a virus that google hasn’t yet detected. Do not download new apps with less than 2-3k downloads and no reviews. We know this sounds a bit of paranoid, but it’s the
If a hacker has access to your smartphone, when you connect to your home wifi, he can take access to all the devices connected in the network. Say bye bye to your holdings. The same applies if he has access to a home network computer, all other devices can be compromised.
We hope you enjoyed our article on how to Protect Your Blockchain Assets, our tips will help you protect your NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Make sure you join our crypto gaming community on telegram and we will answer any questions you might have.
Stay safe guys, great days are coming! If you enjoyed the article, share it 🙂 Sharing is caring!
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