I have heard a lot of people getting their accounts compromised in cryptocurrency, so I wanted to take the time to write up some basic security protection for you so that you can be safer while using and trading cryptocurrencies. Losing even .5 btc can be devastating to some people, especially when that could potentially be worth six figures one day. You took the time to invest in cryptocurrency, your FIRST order of business should be investing in keeping yourself secure!!! If I missed anything, feel free to chime in. We are a community to help one another.
RULE NUMBER ONE!!! (most important you'll ever heed to)
NEVER click on something if you don't know what it is. If you are not sure, DON'T CLICK IT! Even then, you're still susceptible, but this will likely save you from a world of hurt.
A great way to stay safe in crypto is to have a dedicated device to trade/stake/etc with. I have devices that I do not even go on facebook with. I use them ONLY for cryptocurrency. I will login to my exchanges and wallets and that is it! No facebook, no news, no YT, no midget porn, no nada.
Have a dedicated email address only for exchanges. No mailing lists for any website, no use for any other website. If I was a hacker, first place I would target is a crypto website to get leads for email addresses. Your email address is a central point for attack. Gaining access to your email is the first step to gain access to your exchange accounts.
NEVER use SMS two factor authentication. It is relatively easy to clone your sim card and access your email accounts that way. I like to use Google Authenticator. Always write down your secret keys and store them VERY safely. Safety deposit box, safe, VERACRYPT encrypted files, etc.
Use google authenticator for every important site you use, ESPECIALLY YOUR GMAIL AND EXCHANGES. I even use them for slack. One can never be too sure. Slack is a great place to find targets, so again, use a different email address other than your exchange email addresses.
Never discuss your bag sizes in public! No one cares how many Strat you have Todd! Jk, but in all seriousness, unless your security is A1, you're only taking a risk by sharing that information.
Never use public wifi to transmit any sensitive data or log in to exchanges! You can use a VPN to help such cases, but I just use my phones hotspot with very strong passwords.
Use VERY STRONG PASSWORDS. There are great encrypted password generators in the chrome store you can use to backup and create passwords. Refrain from saving your passwords in your Google password storage inside chrome. If you've already done so, you can go in and delete them from your Google Chrome advanced settings, and start fresh with new passwords.
Never use the same password twice! Make all of your passwords different for every website and store them safely! Don't make one point of failure all your points of failure. I know guys who used the same password for every site, and lost every site and all their bitcoin.
You can limit risk to losing all your money by not increasing your withdraw limits.
You can whitelist withdraw IP addresses, but just know if they have access to your 2FA codes, they can turn this off too, but it can buy you some time.
Be careful for fishing attempts! Use your favorites bar to login to bittrex. Type it in yourself, goto the page, and set it to your Bookmarks and only use that. Just in case. (BLTTREX SCAM)
HTTPS EVERYWHERE is an addon in chrome store, automatically using the https version of the website. If its not HTTPS, then its not secure! Any person can place themselves between you and the website and steal all the information embedded into the interaction between your computer and the website.
Encrypt all wallets and store seed phrases securely.
If you dont hold the keys, its not your money! Cold storage for all coins not being traded is the safest practice in crypto. I recommend the Ledger Nano S or a similar product, but there are many other great ways to store crypto.
Again, if you don't know what it is, don't click it!!
Stay safe CRYPTO FAM!!!