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5 Tips to Secure Your Cryptocurrency Holdings
TL;DR
TL;DR: Protect your cryptocurrency by keeping your seed phrase offline, verifying social media profiles, avoiding public WiFi for transactions, being cautious of fake livestream giveaways, and watching out for AI deepfakes. Prison Professors partners with Binance to educate justice-impacted individuals on crypto security.
Key Takeaways
- Keep your seed phrase offline to safeguard against digital theft.
- Be vigilant against spoofed influencer social media accounts by verifying profile authenticity.
- Avoid accessing your crypto wallet or making transactions over public WiFi.
- Be cautious of livestream videos promising crypto giveaways. Check the channel’s legitimacy and promotion style.
- Be vigilant against AI-generated deepfake scams by paying attention to inconsistencies in video and audio.
As cryptocurrencies increasingly enter the mainstream, concerns about their security have become more pressing. Every year, cybercriminals steal staggering amounts of digital assets. Staying vigilant is key to protecting your cryptocurrency investments in this dynamic environment. This article will outline the top five security best practices to help you shield your digital assets from various threats.
How Can I Secure My Cryptocurrency Holdings?
To secure your crypto holdings, you must always be vigilant as to what scammers can do and be proactive with your protective measures. Below are some steps you can take to secure your digital assets.
1. Secure Your Seed Phrase
Your seed phrase (also known as recovery phrase) is the gateway to your wallet and cryptocurrency holdings. It’s a sequence of 12 to 24 words that serves as your wallet master key in case you lose access to your wallet or need to migrate to a new device. Below are some tips on how to secure your seed phrase.
Store your seed phrase offline
The moment you get your seed phrase, avoid saving it in local folders or cloud storage. Storing the phrase online may expose it to potential hacks. The safest approach is to store them offline.
One way to do this is by investing in a hardware wallet that can generate your seed phrase and store it offline. Another option is to back up your seed phrase physically inside a vault or safe. You could use a paper backup, but it’s safer to use a metal plate with the seed phrase engraved.
Split your seed phrase
If you want to enhance the security of your seed phrase further, you may split it into multiple parts and store them in different secure locations. Keep copies of your seed phrase in various physical places, such as bank vaults, safety deposit boxes, or trusted individuals. Ideally, no one but you should have access to all parts of your seed phrase.
2. Beware of Social Media Account Spoofing
Social media platforms have become breeding grounds for cryptocurrency scams, with scammers creating fake accounts that closely mimic well-known exchanges or celebrities. Below is a reminder from the real Vitalik Buterin, warning users about the thousands of fake profiles out there pretending to be him.
These malicious parties try to dupe and scam users by mimicking or spoofing well-known accounts. Here are some steps to protect yourself from social media account spoofing.
- Check for verification signs: Look for blue check marks or verification symbols on profiles. However, be aware that these can be faked or bought.
- Check the handle: The handles are usually a giveaway for fake profiles. Savvy scammers will try to keep the names as similar to the original ones as possible. For example, “@Vita1ikButerin” instead of “@VitalikButerin”.
- Scroll: Scroll through the profile and try to see some historical posts. This should give you an idea about the profile’s authenticity.
3. Avoid public WiFi
Public WiFi networks are notorious for lacking security and susceptibility to cyberattacks. Accessing your cryptocurrency wallet or conducting transactions while connected to public WiFi can put your assets at risk.
Public WiFi networks are vulnerable to a range of cyber threats, including:
- Evil twin attacks: Hackers set up malicious hotspots with trustworthy names (e.g., “Guest WiFi Hotel”) to intercept your data when you connect.
- Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks: Malicious actors can intercept data transmitted between a WiFi router and a user’s device, potentially accessing sensitive information like login credentials.
- Password cracking attacks: Scammers use software to attempt numerous username and password combinations to unlock a router’s management interface.
Avoid using public WiFi networks when accessing cryptocurrency accounts or executing transactions. For more information, please check Why Public WiFi Is Insecure.
4. Watch out for fraudulent livestream videos
Scammers have turned to platforms like YouTube and Twitch to spread cryptocurrency fraud. Typically, scammers use stolen video content to run fake livestreams that promote fake giveaways. In some cases, they will use hacked YouTube accounts with millions of followers and try to convince users to join their giveaways by sending some cryptocurrency to specific addresses.
For example, you could come across a video of Elon Musk, Cathie Wood, and Jack Dorsey discussing crypto and blockchain technology. However, scammers may use a legit video to promote their fake or stolen channel and a fraudulent giveaway.
Make sure you do your due diligence before engaging with any live video, especially those related to cryptocurrency giveaways. In the vast majority of cases, the giveaways will ask you to send money first before receiving anything back. But you will lose your money if you do that.
Verify the legitimacy of the channel by considering factors such as the number of videos, the presence of verification badges, and the channel’s creation date. But be careful and make sure to check multiple data points because hacked accounts may seem legit at first and even have millions of subscribers.
In addition, you can check the official social media accounts of the people involved in the video. If the promotion is legit, you should be able to find some information from multiple reliable sources.
5. Beware of AI Deepfake Scams
Deepfake technology uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create fake videos that look real. It combines existing images and videos to make it seem like people are doing or saying things they never did. As you can imagine, scammers have started using deepfake to create highly intricate scams.
Hackers use deepfake to pose as someone else or pretend to be experts. Hackers often trick their victims with fake contests or investment opportunities, rushing them with deadlines.
So, what can you do to protect yourself from these deepfake scams?
- Pay attention to the face: At the end of the day, deepfake stitches together numerous images to create the content. Pay attention to blinking patterns and lip-syncs.
- Inconsistent audio: Robotic-sounding voices or unusual fluctuations may indicate a deepfake. Make sure you are closely listening for any inconsistencies in audio quality.
- Questions: When interacting with a suspected deepfake, make sure you ask many questions that only the real person will know. Make sure you have some background information to continually cross-reference for validation.
Closing Thoughts
Protecting your cryptocurrency assets is your responsibility. In this article, we have detailed five best practices to keep your coins safe:
- Secure your seed phrase.
- Beware of social media account spoofing.
- Avoid public WiFi.
- Be wary of fake livestream videos.
- Beware of deepfakes.
As time progresses, scammers become more sophisticated, devising intricate schemes. At the end of the day, knowledge and vigilance are your strongest allies. Stay informed, stay secure, and protect your digital wealth.
Further Reading
- 5 Ways to Improve Your Binance Account Security
- How to Spot Scams in Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
- Pyramid and Ponzi Schemes
- Common Scams on Mobile Devices
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Critical Thinking Questions
- How can storing your seed phrase offline help protect your cryptocurrency from potential cyber threats? Discuss alternative methods and their pros and cons.
- What strategies can you use to identify and avoid fake social media accounts that impersonate well-known figures in the cryptocurrency world? Provide examples of verification techniques.
- Why is it risky to access your cryptocurrency wallet or perform transactions over public WiFi? Explain the types of attacks that could occur and how to mitigate these risks.
- How can you verify the authenticity of a livestream video or channel promoting cryptocurrency giveaways? Describe the steps you would take to ensure you are not falling for a scam.
- What are the warning signs of AI-generated deepfake scams, and how can you protect yourself from being deceived by them? Provide examples of inconsistencies you might look for in deepfake videos
Advocacy Initiative:
We encourage participants to begin memorializing the ways they are using time in prison to prepare for success upon release. I encourage participants to create a personal profile by:
- Writing a simple biography
- Writing a daily journal to show all that you’re learning
- Writing book reports that memorialize the books you read
- Writing a release plan to show the ways you’re preparing for success upon release
These strategies helped me immensely once I got out. By using my time wisely inside, I was able to raise capital, build businesses, and succeed in ways that few people would think are possible for someone who served multiple decades in prison. Anyone can do the same—if they prepare first.
If you’d like to follow in the same footsteps, I encourage you to begin building your personal profile. Get started by sending an email message to our team at:
Prison Professors Talent
[email protected]
32565 Golden Lantern, B-1026
Dana Point, CA 92629
Our interns will accept your email invite. You may then send the interns a message such as:
Dear Interns,
My name is xxx, and I am in prison. I would like to begin showing the strategies I am using to prepare for success upon release. Please send me a Release Plan Workbook, and any other books that will help me prepare for the job market. After receiving those workbooks, I will begin building my profile to show others how I am using my time inside to prepare for success outside.
Sincerely,
Glossary
- Account (noun): An arrangement by which an organization or individual holds funds or accesses services, often involving transactions and record-keeping.
- Authenticate (verb): To verify the identity or validity of something or someone, often through specific credentials or documentation.
- Backup (noun): A copy of data stored separately from the original to ensure its availability in case of loss or damage.
- Cybercriminal (noun): A person who commits illegal activities using computers and the internet, often targeting digital information and assets.
- Deepfake (noun): A synthetic media created using artificial intelligence to make it appear as though someone is doing or saying something they did not.
- Due Diligence (noun): The necessary level of care and attention required to investigate and verify information before making decisions or taking actions.
- Evil Twin Attack (noun): A type of cyberattack where a malicious WiFi network mimics a legitimate one to trick users into connecting and exposing their data.
- Hardware Wallet (noun): A physical device used to securely store cryptocurrency offline, protecting it from online threats.
- Legitimacy (noun): The quality of being genuine, lawful, or acceptable according to established rules or standards.
- Livestream (noun): A real-time broadcast of events or activities over the internet, often interactive and accessible to a wide audience.
- Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attack (noun): A cyberattack where an unauthorized party intercepts and possibly alters communication between two parties without their knowledge.
- Proactive (adjective): Acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes, rather than reacting to them after they occur.
- Recovery Phrase (noun): A sequence of words used to regain access to a cryptocurrency wallet if the primary access method fails.
- Scammer (noun): A person who engages in fraudulent schemes or deceptive practices to gain something of value, often money or personal information.
- Seed Phrase (noun): A series of words generated by a cryptocurrency wallet that allows the user to recover their wallet if needed; also known as a recovery phrase.
- Spoofing (noun): The act of disguising communication or creating false identities to deceive users, often to gain access to sensitive information.
- Susceptibility (noun): The likelihood of being influenced or harmed by a particular factor or threat.
- Verification (noun): The process of confirming the accuracy, truth, or authenticity of something, often involving checking credentials or information.
- Vigilant (adjective): Being alert and watchful, especially for potential danger or difficulties.
- Vulnerability (noun): The quality of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally