If you are new to crypto, it is important to not that there are a few "first steps" to take to safeguard your crypto assets.
All crypto assets are stored on the blockchain, where they will always remain, however it is your access to the wallets which you are storing your funds in that will be your responsibility to keep them safe.
To ensure that any assets you are storing on a web-based wallet are safe, there are a few steps you can, and should take to help that you never lose access to your wallet.
If you are not sure what a wallet is, refer to this FAQ article.
Here’s a handy beginners' guide to safeguarding your assets:
1. Username and Password:
Choosing a strong password will assist you in keeping your funds safe, it’s also important to ensure that you use a trusted and safe email client, where your password reset and authentication emails can be accessed. You can use safe password generators such as 1Password or Lastpass. Be sure to not re-use passwords on different accounts and change them often.
2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication:
Two-factor authentication has become a standard layer of protection that every account should have. This is done by verification codes being sent to your email, phone, or third-party apps such as Authy or Google Authenticator.
3. Safeguard Recovery Seed phrases:
Seed phrases are great in the sense that if you lose access to your wallet you can use them to get back into your account. The downside is that anyone who has your seed phrase can access your account, therefore it’s very important that you safeguard your seed phrase in a backup wallet.
4. Usage of Cryptographic keys:
It’s best to limit keys to specific purposes, such as digital signature, key wrapping, authentication, random number generation, or encryption. Using one key for a number of purposes can expose you to risks.
5. Opting for an exchange that uses secure technology:
Centralex implements MPC wallet technology. With this Multi-Party computation, no sensitive data is stored on Centralex servers. Users’ private keys are broken up into pieces, called “shards”, encrypted and distributed across numerous parties. This feature reduces the attack surface considerably, as there is no single point of vulnerability.
6. Wallet storage:
Using backup wallet technology not only keeps prying eyes off of your information but also ensures that you will not lose access to your funds. There are different types of wallets that you can read more about by clicking on the linked article at the top of this page.
7. Use trusted VPN’s and security software:
It is important to safeguard yourself against cyberattacks, always ensure you are using a VPN and Antivirus with extra layers of security such as Firewalls, ransomware protection, remote access protection, wifi-inspectors, etc.
These are the first steps in ensuring that your assets stay safe, but there are many more! Did we miss anything? Let us know by sending an email to [email protected]!
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our friendly customer service department!