As 2018 comes to a close, MyCrypto and our friends at Etherscan, Infura, KeepKey, Ledger, MetaMask , Parity, ShapeShift, Status, The Bitcoin Podcast and Trezor want to help you be more secure. Each day we will give you a single security “action item.” Take action on each security tip you’ll see this month. Today, it’s easy: simply commit to spending a little bit of time every day securing yourself, your accounts, and most importantly your crypto during this winter.
Enable 2-Factor Authentication on every account that allows it.
This tip brought
to you by Status!
Protect yourself from sim-swaps!
Pat yourself on the back. You are now a bit safer and (hopefully) made it a bit more clear to your phone company that security is something they should also be aware of.
This tip brought
to you by Trezor!
Get yourself a password manager. Your security is worth the small yearly cost. If crypto-winter has you down and you’re saving every cent, LastPass and KeePass have free versions.
This tip brought
to you by MetaMask!
This tip brought
to you by The Bitcoin Podcast!
Take a look at the Blockchain Graveyard to better understand how dangerous the crypto-space still is. It’s important to have proper security.
These cryptocurrency institutions have suffered intrusions resulting in stolen financials, or shutdown of the product. Several closed down afterward. Many of these attacks could have been prevented:
Bookmark your crypto websites and other important websites!
This tip brought
to you by ShapeShift!
Think about where you’ve put your cold storage and recovery passphrase. Whether it’s a paper or hardware wallet, it’s important to put these physical items in two, physically separate, secure locations. Maybe find a new spot around the house, open a safety deposit box, and/or invest in a fireproof document bag (less than $20 on Amazon).
This tip brought
to you by KeepKey!
We prefer uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger over the old favorite, Adblock Plus (because the company was sold & is even less transparent than it used to be).
Brave also blocks ads by default and is getting better every day. Available for your computer & on mobile.
These help you stay safe from malicious advertisements, especially the tricky phishing websites that so often appear at the top of Google results.
Hackers use personal information that is freely available on the web to target you for attacks like sim-swapping, phishing, social engineering, or recovering your account via 'security' questions. Google yourself and...
Go to https://myaccount.google.com/security
Install MetaMask or EtherAddressLookup or Cryptonite by MetaCert.
These extensions will automagically warn you if you are attempting to visit a known phishing website, like fake MyCryptos, fake Binances, fake ShapeShifts, etc. You should still always double check the URL, but it never hurts to have another layer of protection!
This tip brought
to you by Infura!
Get a VPN!
A VPN is a great tool for browsing more securely and can remove prying eyes from the equation. VPNs can help you do things such as:
Learn more about VPNs with a few recommendations.
Audit your auth’d apps & turn on 2FA:
This tip brought
to you by Parity!
Facebook has tons of privacy and security settings. Here's one tip to get you started, but check out everything in the Privacy and Security tabs:
Back up anything & everything that you don’t want to lose. Transfer it to a USB or an external hard drive that isn’t connected to the internet.
Cold storage is important for everything: your backup codes, now that you’ve removed phone and email recovery, 2FA QR Codes, and, of course, your crypto! Make sure that these things aren’t stored on your computer, phone, or cloud storage. They should be OFFLINE!
This tip brought
to you by Ledger!
Encrypt your Computer / Laptop! This gives you another layer of protection, especially if your computer is ever lost or stolen.
This tip brought
to you by Etherscan!
Download the MyCrypto Desktop App and put your safety & security first.
It’ll help you avoid dangerous phishing attacks and malicious browser extensions. You no longer have to triple-check that you are on the correct URL or worry about a malicious chrome extension!
Today is the final day of #MyCryptoWinter. If you participated in any way, shape, or form, we appreciate you. If you shared any of these tips on Twitter, with a friend, or applied them yourself to become more secure, you’ve done well.
We’d again like to extend a huge thanks to our friends at Etherscan, Infura, KeepKey, Ledger, MetaMask , Parity, ShapeShift, Status, The Bitcoin Podcast and Trezor for participating and helping spread these tips and providing swag to the prize pool.
Speaking of prizes, we haven’t forgotten. We’ll finish collecting all the entries, announce the winners, and ship prizes out when the MyCrypto staff are back from the holiday break. Stay tuned, and happy #MyCryptoWinter!