By Heleen.
Managing crypto and digital security
Throughout the day, you consciously and unconsciously leave information via your digital devices such as your phone, laptop or tablet. When ordering groceries, food, a reservation at that nice restaurant, the gym: almost everywhere you leave an email address and password, but sometimes address details and your phone number. With all these companies, your data will end up in a database and you assume that it will be handled properly. But is it? And how long should a company you order something from once keep your data? And accounts at websites you no longer use, how long do they remain active?
Passwords
Welcome01, qwerty,123456, feyenoord. Does this look familiar to you somewhere? These are some of the most commonly used passwords in the Netherlands. Maybe you use them yourself, or have another easy password you use for multiple accounts. These common passwords, of course, hackers know, and these passwords will be the first ones they will test to get into your account.
Data breach, phishing, hacks and malware
In the Netherlands it has been mandatory since 2016 to report a data breach, the authority persoonsgegevens (AP) publishes an (anonymous) overview of this every year. This overview includes not only data breaches but also reports of phishing, hacks and malware. In 2020, the AP received more than 23 thousand reports of data breaches and the number of reports of phishing, hacks and malware increased by more than 30%.
Data breach
But what do these 3 things (digital data trail, easy passwords and data breaches) have to do with each other? Together, they make a particularly dangerous cocktail when it comes to misusing your data. If your email address and a reused password become part of a data breach, a lot of your private data could be out in the streets in one fell swoop, it could be used for identity fraud or your accounts could be taken over by people with malicious intent. Indeed, all sorts of debts can be incurred in your name without your knowledge!
Security
“But what does this have to do with managing crypto?”, you may ask. Whether you have your crypto with an exchange or in-house, it is important to realize the vulnerability of digital systems. You have a house with good and secure locks to protect you from burglary and theft, your bike has a sturdy lock (the well-known rule is that your lock should be more expensive than your bike), but your digital data: how well are they actually secured?
Have I been pwned?
Fortunately, there is also good news. Much of your digital security is in your own hands, and you can also check yourself to see if your email address has been involved in data breaches. The website haveibeenpwnd.com helps you with this. You enter your email address and the site will search the reported data leaks to see if your data was leaked anywhere. This website is a project of Troy Hunt. He is an Australian web security consultant who enjoys teaching the general public about online security. There is also a feature in the chrome browser to check for leaked passwords. If you let Chrome save your passwords, you can see under settings not only whether you are using weak passwords but also whether those passwords have been involved in a data breach.
It’s also smart to choose to use a separate program (a password manager) to manage strong, long and unique passwords so you don’t forget them, such as 1password or lastpass, for example.
2FA
Now you can see why using unique and strong passwords is important, and this is especially true when managing your crypto. But, you can secure many of your logins even better by turning on second authentication, abbreviated to 2FA. This is a code generated by an app on your phone (Google authenticator and Authy are commonly used) that renews every minute. So you can only log in with 1) the correct email address, 2) your strong password and 3) the proper 2FA code. This makes a big difference in the security of your accounts, so using 2FA is one of the key pieces of advice from the data breach report from the Personal Data Authority. It is a relatively simple act that can prevent an awful lot of suffering.
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