How to Secure Different Types of Crypto Wallets?

The year 2018 has seen its fair share of cyber attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the Business insider Australia — “Hackers stole a whopping amount of $1 billion from cryptocurrency exchanges in 2018.”

According to a report by Cisco’s Talos cybersecurity team, Coinhoarder, a Ukrainian hacker group, stole more than $50 million in cryptocurrency from the users of Blockchain.info, one of the most popular providers of digital currency wallets.

Does that mean your investments stored in different crypto wallets are no longer safe?

Not exactly.

Though there are elements that could not be controlled, by following simple commonly applicable security steps/methods, you can make sure that the thieves find it hard to steal from you.

But before we dive into different types of crypto wallets and how to secure them, let us quickly go through what a crypto wallet really is and how it works?

How do Crypto Wallets work?

Do you know crypto wallets doesn’t store coins like a physical wallet?

Yes, you read it right!

Instead, they just store your public and private keys. They are the software that interacts with various Blockchains and helps users in sending/receiving money, monitor balance, and other operations.

A sender of the cryptocurrency signs off ownership of the coins to receiver’s wallet’s address. To be able to spend those coins and unlock the funds, the private key stored in the receiver’s wallet must match the public key the cryptocurrency is assigned to. If the keys match, the balance in the receiver’s wallet increase, and the sender’s decrease accordingly. There is no actual exchange of currency.

There are different types of wallets — Paper wallets, Hardware wallets, Desktop/Mobile wallets, and Online wallets. These wallets differ in terms of security and in the method of storing the private keys.

Hardware wallets, Desktop/Mobile wallets, and Online wallets. These wallets differ in terms of security and in the method of storing the private keys.

Paper Wallets

Paper wallets are suitable if you want security at the cost of convenience and ease of access to funds. Paper wallets are more similar to physical wallet since a user needs to have access to the physical paper and restore the private keys to spend the crypto coins.

A paper with the QR code is stored in a safe or deposit box, and there is a long process for restoring the private key which involves making a new wallet for each transaction. Due to this process, your private keys are more secure, but it is more difficult and tedious to send transactions,not a good option if you do it regularly.

Tips to improve the security of your paper wallet

· Highly encrypted passphrase: In order to restore the private key from the paper wallet, you need a passphrase. So, go for a wallet that highly encrypts your private key for absolute security.

· Store your passphrase securely: Securing your paper wallet is not enough! You need to store your passphrase securely as well and share it with as less number of people as possible.

· Create a copy of your paper wallet: It is important to make a copy of your paper wallet just in case if things go wrong.

Hardware wallets

Hardware wallets are getting popular for storing your private key and public key on small easy-to-carry devices.These devices have their own operating systems, so you don’t need to worry about viruses entering your device from other infected systems.

Tips to improve the security of your hardware wallet

· Secure your hardware wallet’s pin: These devices require you to enter a pin to access your private key. You need to make sure that your hardware device, the pin, and the recovery seed (used for recovering private keys if the device is lost) are stored safely.

· Have a secondary hardware wallet: This will help you in 2 ways. First, you can use your second device as the backup hardware wallet in case your primary device is damaged or lost.Second, if you have suspicions that your first device is compromised then you can restore your private key on your second device using recovery phrase to safely move the assets to a new device.

· Keep your firmware updated: It is wise to update your device’s firmware to keep cyber-attacks at bay. Your device manufacturer alsofixes bugs with these firmware updates.

Desktop and Mobile Wallets

Desktop wallets usually deal with those cryptocurrencies that are not supported by hardware wallets. As the name suggests the private key is stored in a hard drive of a desktop system. Similarly, mobile wallets are the apps supported by your mobile operating system that also store private keys.

Since these wallets are always connected to the internet, they might be more vulnerable to hacks. But they make a good choice if you want to store a small amount of funds that you need to access and send frequently.

Tips to improve the security of your desktop wallet

· The source of the download: The website or app from where you have downloaded the wallet plays a vital role. Hacker can easily direct you to their page and make you download their version of the wallet.

· Check the SHA1, SHA-256 or MD5 hash: Once you have downloaded the wallet you want, always check its hash with the hash provider. If the hashes don’t match, delete the file.

· Run your virus scanner on the downloaded file: Always scan for viruses on the downloaded wallet file or app before installing it. If you have a good antivirus, it will surely warn you of anything in the file that will harm your system.

Online wallets

When it comes to convenience, online wallets are the best option for any crypto investor. These wallets run on the cloud and you can access them from any computing device around the globe. Since these wallets store your private key online, they are the most vulnerable to intrusions.

Tips to improve the security of your online wallet

· Choose a wallet with good security measures: Good online wallets offer encryption of the private key. This adds an extra layer of security to your crypto funds.

· SSL security mark: When using your web wallet, always look for the SSL security mark in the address window of the browser. There will be a lock indicated next to the URL, this means that your browsing information is encrypted.

· Use a secured Wi-fi: Make sure that the device or the Wi-fi you are using to access your wallet is trustable and secured. Risky Wi-fi networks or compromised devices can put your wallet at risk.

Conclusion

Your choice of wallet depends on the trade-off: Security V/s Ease of Access.If you’re opting for an online or desktop wallet then it’s better to keep a small amount of funds. On the other hand, you can choose a paper or hardware wallet if you want to store a large amount of funds in a more secure environment.

To mitigate the fear of online thefts, Platon Finance has partnered with Symantec to ensure that its user’s investments stay safe and secured. Symantec secures the Platon Finance ecosystem in 3 ways. Symantec Endpoint Protection offers security to the end-users who access Platon Finance’s servers.

With two factor authentication offered by the Symantec VIP Manager, users are safe from any unauthorized access to their investments. Symantec Control Compliance Suite helps in securing the servers themselves by checking for any vulnerabilities.

Below are project related important links -

Website — https://www.platonfinance.com

Pitchdeck — https://platonfinance.com/assets/docs/pitchdeck/PF-pitch-deck-EN.pdf