<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/2c64873a-8f25-4eeb-bbe7-b486664ede24/Woman_454_-_classic_hd.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/2c64873a-8f25-4eeb-bbe7-b486664ede24/Woman_454_-_classic_hd.png" width="40px" /> Now that you own an NFT or some Crypto, you need to keep it safe. Our series of tips and resources for protecting your Blockchain assets, will help you stay 80% safer than most people in this space.
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Let ****me start by saying, welcome into the realm of Crypto/NFTs. While this space can be fun and amazing, it can also be scary at times. Although most people in this space are honest and supportive, there will always be the ones who are malevolent in nature and want to do you more harm than good. Examples can be : Befriending you to only scam you afterwards, Pretending to be someone they are not, making you believe that you won something, and many other ways to try to scam you out of your bag. In this article I will show you some tips & tricks that you can follow, that are already being used by people who are advanced in the Crypto/NFT space, to help you stay safer, and making it so much harder for the bad wolves to scam or to steal from you.
While many of you already have an email account, I'm pretty sure that it's not an encrypted one. Most people are using either Gmail or Hotmail, and while they are relatively safe to use for your day-to-day lives, it's definitely not recommended to be used for anything financial.
Image credit : Proton Technologies
Technically you can use your 'normal' Email if it has the proper 2FA security in place. However, this is not recommended. The main reason I don't recommend using your normal Email for anything financial is that encrypted Email's are far more superior due to the lack of backend access from the provider, and any data harvesting there might be by any third party access. Another couple reasons are, that it is so much easier to hack a normal Email compared to an encrypted Email, and because many people will use that same email across multiple platforms. For example, you will use the same Email for your online shopping, your bank account, signing up or creating logins online for new accounts, and the list goes on. Now imagine your Email gets hacked, that same hacker has access to all your platforms now. Most of you don't only use the same Email across multiple platforms, but also use the same passwords across the same platforms, making it so much easier for these bad actors to take what is rightfully yours. Alright let's take a step back, we will get to the passwords in a minute, but before we do let's take a look at what ProtonMail is, and how you can set up your ProtonMail account.
You might wonder, what in the world is ProtonMail and why does it sound like something that has been made in a science lab ?! Well, you are actually not that far off ! ProtonMail is one of the most secure, encrypted Email provider in the world. Their advisory board and team consists of scientists, engineers, and developers. The creators worked at CERN (a particle accelerator), hence the name ProtonMail.
First of all, never use the word "can't" simply replace it with the phrase "how can I." Second of all, don't worry we got you! ProtonMail has a FREE plan that is extremely secure! As your assets increase and your wealth starts to grow, you can always look into upgrading your plan.
Make sure you change the email you used for all your crypto/NFT accounts to your new ProtonMail.
<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/451b9317-b0f1-4834-a15a-1faaa00b4806/Woman_454_-_classic_hd.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/451b9317-b0f1-4834-a15a-1faaa00b4806/Woman_454_-_classic_hd.png" width="40px" /> Hooray !! Now that you have set up your encrypted email, you are a step closer to keeping your assets safe from the bad guys. Next we are going to be talking about passwords, so stick around and find out why it's important to have strong passwords.
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Whether it's for your Email, Facebook, Twitter, or for a secret speak-easy, it is always fun to create a new password that no one else can guess but you. Over the next few minutes I will be showing you how to maximize your safety by creating good and strong passwords.
Start by creating a password that is anywhere between 15-20 letters/ numbers/special characters long, the more diversity your password has, and the longer it is, the harder it is to crack. Avoid using things from your personal life, like your birthdate, pet names, names of your children, and any other personal information that hackers can easily find on your social media.
Make sure you NEVER use the same password twice! Create a new password for every new account you create, whether it's for your Metamask, your bank accounts, or any other platform.
