Are you safe?
I hope the post title drew you in for 1 of 2 reasons.
- you believe that - and I'm about to convince you otherwise.
- you do not believe it - and you're going to pepper the comment section with tips for those who need them.
My husband (yes, yes yes - he was right. I was wrong. And now that is forever emblazoned in the blockchain!) got into cryptocurrency recently.
When he began to set up his new computer, he wanted to make sure it was as close to 100% crypto-safe as it could be. I told him this was very wise, as we all know how one small mistake can make all the difference. However, as I watched him follow an online, step-by-step guide to keep himself "hack-proof", I started to giggle.
It was just so extensive, and unnecessary! (or so I thought).
By the time he asked his 19th question, I found myself getting impatient and rushed him along. "I know you're anxious and trying to make sure everything is exactly right, but no one is going to hack your little wallet."
oof.
so condescending, so impatient, so unhelpful, so prideful!
And you know what they say. Pride comes before the fall. lol I have to laugh, because I cried enough and now it's time to use my very painful lesson to help others. Cuz that's what I do!
On April 29, I got the sweet notification that ETH was at ATH of $2800. I was sitting at a table, eating pizza with my kids, and I cheered. They knew I had some ETH, so they also cheered.
As I got into the car, I started scrolling through my other notifications and saw one from Trust Wallet, saying that I had sent my ETH. This was not a sweet notification - as I had NOT sent my ETH.
I thought it was a mistake. I thought it was a joke. But deep down, my heart froze because Trust wallet is not in the habit of sending jokes to my phone.
I came into crypto in November 2016 knowing absolutely nothing. I was earning steem on my posts, and it was fake money to me. Just some silly tokens that were sitting somewhere in a wallet that I had no idea how to access. Over time, I learned more and more, increased my security, became HYPER vigilant, protected everything (much like my husband) and then as they say:
"what goes up, must come down."
We can become so desensitized to the things we open, we download, we click, we save, we run. There are so many permissions and keys, and passwords and storage spots. Over time, we become complacent. It's natural and it's DANGEROUS.
My security decreased over time. I'd get warnings of compromised passwords and think - meh. That's fine. That password is only to that little site I barely go to.
Except - is it fine?
Do you create your passwords like I USED TO do? Using similar phrases, numbers, easily recognizable patterns - thinking that no one will ever get the chance to figure it out? Don't do that. Do not ever do that.
Create your passwords as if you ASSUME someone will discover them, and leave no breadcrumb trail.
I'm going to share just a few things (and it would be awesome if others shared even more in the comment section - help is always appreciated!) that I've needed to re-learn along the way, over the next week or so. I hope that it helps you all, and saves you the absolute devastating heartache of seeing all your hard-earned crypto stolen away by a common thief.
You can feel free to search the internet for a "to-do list" of ways to secure your computer. I'm not going to send you anyplace. I WANTED to send you to the site that my husband used, but he paid for that, and its only accessible by password. Oh hold on, let me just give you that... joke.
For those who are thinking, "Sure sure, Dreem! I hear you and I'll get RIGHT on that. I've been meaning to crack down on my security. I'll do it..... later."
That's fine. I get that. It's a lot to do. It's a hassle, and you WILL eventually get to it. That is - unless the hacker beats you to it.
I can almost guarantee that you're probably thinking what I thought. "I have time." So, if I can just encourage you right now - start with something small if you don't want to do the whole thing right now.
- Update your passwords?
- Make them harder to guess?
- Create a new email address that is ONLY used for crypto?
- Make THAT password for the new email ridiculously hack-proof.
- Don't make anything easy, and I promise you - your wallet is never too small for a common thief to relieve you of ANY AMOUNT of your hard-earned crypto.
Just start somewhere, and begin safe-guarding your stash!
It's yours. You worked so hard for it. Protect it.
Do you need a little more motivation?
It's been 13 days since I got hacked, and I have been scouring the internet, getting tips, talking to devs, running scans, asking for help, hitting brick walls... ugh. I'm tired. I've just about let it all go. But before I go today, here was one important site that gave me a proper shake.
Someone shared it with me, told me to put my most commonly used email in here to see if I had a data breach associated with the email address.
I had 6 data breaches with the email that I used for crypto. I have no idea if that is a lot or a little compared to everyone else in the world. But from now on, I will be shooting for ZERO breaches.