A Crypto Security Checklist for Every User

Many experts agree that after almost two decades of Web 2.0 it’s time to move on, and now we find ourselves at the beginning of Web 3.0.

Web 3.0 promises a collective future in which any participation or contribution is rewarding - an encouragement for participants to act in the interest of the system. Compared to Web 3.0, Web 2.0 has two models: the system is owned by the state (China) or corporations (USA).

While these models have their advantages, they end up having a single point of failure or control and do not motivate participants to contribute to development.

In short, Where web 2.0 is more like a monarchy or an oligarchy, web 3.0 is a democracy.

Security in Web 3.0

The thing about the transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 is that we are used to having our security taken care of by the services we use, but it's not the case in Web 3.0. Now, we have to take care of it ourselves.

Over time, control over your private key becomes the main concern of personal information security.

The more your money, information, and identity is controlled by you and not the bank, Google, or government – the more important it is to keep it private and unavailable to others.

We can't expect information security expertise from billions of Web 3.0 users, so security tools will be balancing between being easy-to-use, custodial, and really secure. We'll see a spectrum of solutions: from centralized, fully managed, and guaranteed by "Coinbases" and "Binances" of this world; to completely decentralized, in CLI format under Kali Linux. Most will be somewhere in between.

It's unlikely that only one wallet will get a monopoly, but hundreds of wallets will operate based on a single standard, such as, for example, WalletConnect today. Social recovery methods will become increasingly popular: when the user's key is not stored in one centralized repository but is divided into several pieces. One of those parts is not enough to access the wallet, but for example 5 out of 7 will be enough. In this case, there is no single seed phrase you can lose along with access to thousands of your BTCs and ETHs. But you are not 100% relying on some service that can run away with your money at any time.

The more popular crypto gets, the more scam and fraud is out there.

Here are the must-haves for everyone in this market:

1. E-mail At least use a separate email for crypto only. This will spare you some of the spam and phishing. Better: have a secure e-mail address that encrypts data.

   
   

2. Wallet

   Have at least two wallets. One is for your daily transactions, but not for the long-term storage of crypto. The second one is for storing your funds. Better: get a cold wallet, for example, Ledger.

   
   

3. Seed phrase Never store your seed phrase in a digital form like a screenshot or text on a device or in the cloud. Pen and paper will do.

   
   

4. Websites Always pay attention to the domain of the website you are using. Is it the real one or does it just look like it?

   
   

5. 2FA Turn on 2FA everywhere when it's available. Use an authentication app for code generation as emails can get hacked.

   
   

Already got these covered?

In that case, here are some additional tips:

• Avoid public Wi-Fi When you use open public Wi-Fi connection, people can intercept your traffic using special apps and tools. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they can steal your crypto, but still that is not the kind of attention you would want.

  
  

• Use a VPN service VPN can protect you from the man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack. MITM attack is where a hacker places themselves between you and a website you’re accessing. This way, they can see if you are using crypto, which later may lead them to scamming you. For example, by showing you fake sites or convincing you to install a fake wallet.

And most importantly: Create strong passwords.

No matter what type of wallet you use, most require you to set up a password or PIN. A password is your first line of defense, and creating it should not be taken lightly.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Your password should be at least eight characters long.
• Use a combination of letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and symbols.
• Avoid passwords that are already used for other platforms or services.
• Do not use your personal information to create a password.
• Never share your password with anyone, not even with friends or family.
• Instead of typing your password, you can use a password manager.