How to keep your crypto secure
As crypto trading becomes increasingly mainstream, our Security team here at Coinbase has seen cybercriminals getting even more creative and persistent in their attempts to steal assets. While that can sound a little scary at first, the good news is that you can dramatically improve your digital security with just a few easy steps. Not only will this help protect your funds on Coinbase, it can be applied to the rest of your digital life as well!
When someone is able to log into one of your accounts to perform fraudulent activity, this is called an “account takeover”, or “ATO” for short. But how do these fraudsters get into your account in the first place? One common method is called a “SIM-swap.” In a SIM-swap attack, fraudsters will actually contact your wireless carrier pretending to be you, and persuade the customer service agent to redirect your cell service to a different device, by changing the SIM card number associated with your account (hence the name of the attack.) Once they succeed, they are able to receive all calls and SMS messages sent to your phone number — including any two-factor authentication codes sent to you via SMS. From there, fraudsters will frequently pair those SMS 2FA codes with stolen passwords to try and log into your email account, social media profiles, cloud storage accounts like Dropbox.
Staying secure doesn’t have to be hard if you follow basic security practices. Here are 10 tips to help keep you safe:
- Never share your password with anyone.
- Use a password manager so you aren’t reusing passwords.
- Never share your Bitcoin backup passphrase (recovery seed) with anyone.
- Never share your Bitcoin private key with anyone.
- Do not reuse Bitcoin addresses (most modern wallets don’t do this anymore).
- Don’t post your email address, home address or phone number on social media.
- Always keep your computer anti-virus up to date so you don’t download malware.
- Always backup your wallet and do it periodically.
- For cold storage wallets and backup wallet passphrases at home, store them in a fireproof safe.
- Use Two Factor Authentication (2FA) everywhere.
