Gone are the days when you used to be careless about your online security. As the time is passing, the security is becoming more and more important. The hacking attacks are on rise and hackers are robbing millions out of wallets. The best examples are the bitfinex hack and other large crypto exchange hacks.
Your data is precious and you must protect your personal data or else, the loss can not only be in the financial form but also in other forms. With the growing number of people developing easy to use hacking tools for others, it's getting easier to grab your personal data.
Taken from pixabay.com
And if you're in the crypto world, your security is more important than you think. One of the recent posts of fyrstikken pointed out how a person feels insecure just because his Steem wallet shows "huge account value". Gangsters can take an idea of how rich you are, based on that account value, and kidnap your loved ones and ask for the money. Here are some tips that you can use to protect yourself online.
# 1 - Use strong passwords & different password for each site/account:
Randomly generated passwords are usually difficult to guess and that's what I like about them. But here's a drawback, you will find it difficult to remember your password too, so in case you forget your password, it will become difficult to recover your accounts, especially if the site you're working on doesn't support the recovery of accounts.
But it's not an excuse to not use randomly generated passwords, just store the keys in some safe places and you'll be fine. If you don't want to use random passwords, just remember to use a different password for each site or else if one site is hacked, you'll be completely insecure.
# 2 - Don't save passwords in a browser:
When you save your passwords in a browser such as Chrome, it is stored on your computer that can be hacked. You might end up running risky application by mistake and if the password is stored in your browser, that app can easily send it to the server and therefore, you'll be fucked up.
It's another thing that if you kept a laptop dedicated to accounts use and want to save the passwords there, but I'd still recommend not to store them in browsers. But if it's a laptop that you keep with yourself when going outside, then it's a big no-no and if you're still keeping your passwords saved in such laptop, I'd call you a headless chicken. Just imagine that if your laptop gets robbed, your all accounts will be at risk.
# 3 - Never write your home address in public:
No matter what, you should never share your home address in public, especially not on the blockchain, and that includes Steem blockchain. In case of Steem blockchain, it is more important that you never share your address in public, especially if you have large holdings in Steem wallet or in other words if your account value is high.
Writing your address on the Steem blockchain means you're putting yourself at risk. When I say "address", it doesn't necessarily mean exact address of your home. It also means that never write the name of the area you live in, especially if your photo is publicly visible. Terrorists can find you using your photo and given area name. Though it is unlikely, prevention is better than cure.