Security Tips

We’ve all been guilty of falling in to lazy habits of using the same email address and easy-to-remember password for everything online. Whilst this is convenient, it’s actually pretty bad security! All it takes is someone to crack that one password and they can log in to all of your accounts!

Our tip is to, at the very least, have a separate email address with a secure provider like ProtonMail and a unique password set up for your Bitcoin-related activity e.g. your exchange account. Keep any personal info out of the email address as well such as your name or date of birth too.

Two factor authentication (2FA) is a good way to secure your online accounts regardless of whether you’re using Bitcoin exchanges or not. 2FA provides a second layer of security when you log in to your exchange or transact with Bitcoin. 

Usually this comes in the form of a second app on your mobile like Google Authenticator which gives you a new code every 30 seconds or so. When you sync this up, it will be unique to your own device so it prevents anyone else logging in if they don’t have access to the device that has your authenticator on.

nfortunately, data leaks have been happening everywhere online which has involved people’s home addresses being exposed. One thing to think about is getting a PO box or mailing address set-up to keep your home address safe from any unwanted attention.

There are many providers of these that only charge a fee when it comes to forwarding on your deliveries or you can just pick up the delivery from their location. If you’re going to buy a hardware wallet or something else crypto related that requires delivery, it might be worth setting up a mailing address for added security.

We mentioned cold storage earlier, well you can add some liquid nitrogen to the mix and make that uber safe deep freeze storage! If you wanted to go one step further than pen and paper, there are companies that provide metal plates for you to store your private keys on. 

The idea behind this is if you really don’t want to touch your Bitcoin for many years after you have bought and you want something that is fire resistant, bullet proof and can survive pretty much any weather conditions, then you can use Titanium! Check out CryptoTag if you are interested in this.

If you are worried about keeping your Bitcoin private keys at home then there are companies out there that provide safety deposit boxes in a highly secure site or vault. It’s always worth visiting first and researching around if you are going to go for this route.

You can even take this one step further and go for multiple deposit boxes across multiple sites and keep separate parts of your private keys in different locations in the unlikely event one site gets broken in to. 

Some tough love here but a very important one to keep you safe is to not brag or openly declare how much Bitcoin (or even crypto) you have whether it’s online or in public places. The fact is, you never know who might be listening in and all it takes is for someone with nefarious intent to hear and you might suffer a “$5 wrench attack” (although with inflation that might be a $15 wrench attack these days).

We’re all excited about being in this space but be very careful about divulging information related to your Bitcoin stash and to whom.