How To Keep Your KGO Safe?

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Keeping your KGO safe is a full-time job, but it really is quite easy to do. In this article you will learn to get the right reflexes and understand why having your own personal wallet and activating two-factor identification (2FA) to help protect your accounts may be a great idea.

Not Your (Private) Keys, Not Your KGO

If your KGO is stored in a wallet where you don’t own the private keys, like a wallet on an exchange, is it really yours? Many would answer it is not. This idea is famously illustrated by one of the cryptocurrency world’s most popular mantras: “Not your keys, not your coins.” 

When you buy KGO on centralized exchanges, they provide a wallet to receive and hold your tokens. Some people use these wallets to store their coins, but there are many disadvantages of using wallets offered by trading sites. In addition to the fact that you would lose some control over your KGO because anything you will want to do with it will be mediated by a third party, the most serious drawback is related to security risks:

• The exchange could get hacked.

• The exchange could close down.

• Many exchanges are unregulated.

To avoid those risks, you need your own wallet. And if you decide to keep your KGO on an exchange, be sure to take advantage of all the security features that exchange offers.

Personal Wallets and Which One to Use

To safely store your private key and protect your KGO tokens, you may want to consider one out of these three wallets:

• Trust Wallet:  Probably the best cryptocurrency wallet to store your favorite BEP2, BEP-20 and ERC-20 tokens.

• MetaMask:  Available as a browser extension and as a mobile app, the wallet equips you with everything you need to manage your digital assets.

• Binance Chain Wallet:  Also available as a browser extension and a mobile app, the wallet is a great option for Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum.

The three wallets are commonly referred to as “hot wallets” or “hard storage”, as they are always connected to the internet, just like those held on centralized exchange. In the world of wallets, they are considered to have lower security than cold wallets, which are not connected to the web and thus entirely removed from the internet ecosystem, but they are still a safe way to store your crypto. Hot wallets are more convenient, and well, they are free.

If you still feel like you could use some more security, you will be happy to learn that these three wallets can also be connected to hardware wallets like a Ledger or a Trevor device, which can be used as cold wallets as they keep private keys in an offline environment. These wallets are not cheap, and they will make transaction processes more burdensome as you will need them plugged in for signing all your transactions. However, once successfully connected to your hot wallet, they will make your KGO virtually impossible to steal.

Secure Your Logins with Two-Factor Identification (2FA)

There are endless methods of hacking and circumventing password authentication, so strengthening the login security of your accounts (wallets, exchanges) should be regarded as a top priority. Two-factor authentication or 2FA (also known as multi-factor authentication, or 2-step verification) is one of the most effective defenses available when it comes to account protection. The purpose of 2FA is to strengthen login security by requiring a second piece of information, that is, a second factor beyond your password.

That second piece of information can either be a temporary code delivered by a device in your possession, such as a 2FA app or a text message on your phone, or it can also be something on your body, such as a fingerprint. 2FA apps, for example, are great options as they provide strong encryption and do not require cellular reception or Wi-Fi, unlike SMS authentication, which also happens to be vulnerable to spoofing.

Two great 2FA apps to secure your wallet or exchange logins are:

• Authy (Twilio):  An easy to use, feature-rich and open source app which supports multi-device sync.

• Google Authenticator:  A widely adopted standard across major websites.

(And if you need some help in setting-up 2FA to strengthen the login security of your accounts, make sure you check this tutorial.)