Top 7 Tips to Protect Your Cryptocurrency Wallet

Many consider owning cryptocurrency a great investment and the rising numbers of people creating new cryptocurrency wallets do not surprise anymore. For example, according to Statista.com the number of Blockchain wallet users increased almost by 2.5 million only in the first quarter of 2018. Unfortunately, while some users may think it to be an easy way to increase their savings, cybercriminals find it is not difficult to make money from inexperienced cryptocurrency owners as some start collecting Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies without realizing the risks. The truth is there are lots of methods hackers can employ to steal user's digital savings and being unaware of it might make you an easy target. Therefore, in this article, we will present several tips explaining how one could avoid becoming a victim of someone looking to rob his cryptocurrency wallet.

1. Pick only reputable services for handling your cryptocurrenciesBefore purchasing any amount of cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, etc.), you will have to pick an electronic wallet provider. After choosing it, you may also need to pick a cryptocurrency exchange where you could purchase and sell the cryptocurrencies. Same as picking new software or choosing a bank you have to make sure the service provider is reputable and can be trusted. Naturally, to do so you could search for existing companies providing cryptocurrency wallets or exchanges and then do a little research on all of them to select the safest options.
2. Secure your wallet by choosing a complex passwordThinking of how to ensure password protection is vital when creating a new wallet or any other account you would not like to be hacked. This is why our computer security specialists recommend picking a complex password. The stronger it is, the lesser the chances of cybercriminals guessing the password. Of course, to make sure it is secure enough and you would not need to worry about cryptocurrency wallet password recovery at some point, it would be a good idea to use a password manager. For example, Cyclonis Password Manager has a Password Generator designed to create long random passwords, and it ensures password protection by storing them on an encrypted vault accessible only with the user's master password.
3. Back up your cryptocurrency wallet so you could always restore itWhile password protection is vital and so is making sure you will not have to worry about your cryptocurrency wallet password recovery; it is also crucial to prepare for situations when you may have to restore it. If you wonder what could possibly go wrong for you to need a backup, we can tell you there are lots of scenarios of how your wallet could vanish along with your savings. For starters, both computers and mobile phones can crash for many reasons or get stolen. Not to mention, there are tons of malicious applications that might harm the device or data located on it. Thus, the more money you have, the more reasons there are to create a backup or even better yet prepare multiple backups for various emergencies.
4. Protect the device you use to access your cryptocurrency walletEven though the user might employ the best password protection practices, it is entirely possible they may not help if the system gets infected with specific malware. What we have in mind is keyloggers or other threats alike. They are designed to hide in the system and silently record all user's keystrokes, for example, it could record your emails, chat messages, entered passwords, or any other information you might type with your keyboard. At the same time, all the information that gets stolen in the described manner could be sent to a remote server belonging to the malware's developer. Sadly, if the cybercriminals obtain your login information, they might be able to connect to your cryptocurrency wallet or other sensitive accounts or even steal them.
5. Take extra precaution by enabling the Two-Factor authenticationThe electronic wallet you choose may have Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) options. It is a step up from password protection as 2FA requires to provide a particular factor in order to log in to the account it is guarding. It is a step up from password protection as 2FA requires to provide a particular factor to log in to the account it is guarding. It could be a code sent to the account owner's mobile device or chosen email account. It is crucial to understand that if you choose a specific email account to deliver the second required factor after the password, you have to ensure that such account could be hacked as well. Again, it is advisable to choose a strong password. Besides, it would be best to create a new email dedicated to 2FA and use it minimally for other purposes.
6. Be aware of what information you share onlineOne might think the cybercriminals are not interested in what users post online, but sadly, it is not true. Users share various details without realizing they could turn out to be clues helping to determine what services they use and how to hack their accounts every day. Consequently, you have to be always careful if you do not want to share too much. In this case, particularly, computer security specialists advise not to reveal what electronic wallet you are using or what cryptocurrency exchanges you choose to buy or sell your digital money.
7. Create a few cryptocurrency wallets and split your money among themLastly, we would suggest keeping your cryptocurrencies in a few separate wallets. Assuming something might go wrong and you could lose one of the created wallets, you would at least still have the other ones. As a result, the damage would be lesser compared to what could happen if the user would keep all his money in a single electronic wallet that might get hacked. Naturally, if you do not want to worry about cryptocurrency wallet password recovery options in the future, we would advise following the tips we already suggested for all wallets.

This all might seem like a lot, but as we like to say, it is better to be safe than sorry. A lot of hackers that make money by stealing others' cryptocurrencies and it doesn't really matter how much money the user has, so if you do not want to lose your investments in vain, you should do all you can to secure them.