In the ever-changing world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, it is necessary that every individual be aware of the potential threats they can face while involved in something as new and in its experimental phase such as cryptocurrency.
It is therefore important to know about all things that one must do to ensure the safeguarding of your digital assets.
The purpose of this article is to help the readers better understand the potential red flags when dealing with cryptocurrency technology, give useful advice on how to better protect themselves in the digital world, and moreover raise awareness about the existence and prevalence of such scams in the crypto world.
Importance of safeguarding your cryptocurrency
The importance of taking proper security measures in an environment like the cryptocurrency market where the loss cannot be reversed or insured can never be overstated.
Making sure that you adhere to the proper standards and security measures can ensure that you can contribute to the overall stability and well-being of the cryptocurrency market while avoiding any potential loss to your digital assets through mismanagement or negligence.
In the following section, we will look at some of the potential security threats that one must be aware of while dealing with cryptocurrency spaces.
What are the common security threats in the Cryptocurrency space?
Here is a list of common cryptocurrency security threats that one must be aware of while holding cryptocurrencies as assets:
Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks
A man-in-the-middle abbreviated as an MITM attack is a kind of attack in which the attacker intercepts a conversation or a message of importance by standing between the sender and the receiver.
The information that they intercept could be a passkey, seed phrase, or even the address of the wallets
Phishing attacks
Phishing attacks are a common threat in most of the network-related spaces. It is a kind of attack in which the attacker tries to fool the victim into thinking that the website or service they set up as a proxy is in fact the legit one by masquerading it with similar design and functionalities imitating the real website
Phishing attacks can be deadly to the user if not caught out earlier on as the user could potentially reveal every detail about their assets and give complete access to their device or wallets to the attacker.
Cryptojacking
Cryptojacking is a trojan-like attack in which attackers use the victim’s computer to mine cryptocurrencies illegally.
Cryptojacking can consume a lot of processing power from the victim and is mostly done through hidden executable files injected into their system.
These are a few of the common cryptocurrency scams that exist in the digital sphere.
How can you safeguard your cryptocurrency?
The following are some of the ways by which an average person dealing with cryptocurrency can ensure the safety of their cryptocurrency assets.
Using better passwords: An advice that can be given in general when dealing with any form of digital content is to use strong, reliable, and uncommon passwords.The same applies when dealing with cryptocurrencies and wallet passkeys. The password must preferably contain numbers, symbols, and unique phrases.
Enabling two-factor Authentication: The user must make sure to enable two-factor authentication in whichever app they trade through or store their cryptocurrency tokens on.
Two-factor authentication makes sure to add an extra layer of security to your account and can be useful when dealing with a partially compromised account.
Securing your seed phrase: The seed phrase is of utmost importance when considering that this might be your only last option to recover your account at any point in time if ever lost.
Diversifying your crypto wallet: The general advice given here is to make sure that you do not keep all your crypto assets in a single place to avoid the chance of losing all of your portfolio all at once.Try to make use of multiple wallets or even multiple exchanges to transact to keep the impact of loss to a minimal level.
Keeping your personal information private: An investor must try to keep any personal information regarding himself private to avoid falling into social engineering scams and risking revealing any details that the scammer could use to get access to your wallets.
Safeguarding keys or seeds through backup: The seed phrase or any details regarding the seed phrase must be backed up either online or offline in case the user forgets about it in the future and has to recover it.
Opt for reliable Exchanges: When choosing to deal trade with cryptocurrencies always try to choose an Exchange or a wallet service provider that has been recognized to be trustworthy and reliable.
Maintain Updated software: Making sure that the software that you use is upgraded on time will help you avoid the possibility of any form of bugs or glitches disrupting your trading experience or putting your data into the wrong hands.
Also, Read: The Rise Of Crypto Scams: How To Spot And Avoid Them?
Concluding Thoughts
All the things mentioned above in the article are to be taken as vital information that could help you avoid falling for any kind of traps in the future and running the risk of losing your assets to cybercriminals.
Practicing adherence to these rules will not only help in protecting your assets but also help in maintaining proper web etiquette.
