Crypto users can’t do much about protocol attacks, but they can definitely take steps to secure their wallets and protect themselves from scammers.
Crypto holders must always be on their toes, as scammers are continuously looking for opportunities to trick users into giving up the all-important private keys that can unlock their digital assets.
These dangers were highlighted once again in a recent report by the Web3 security firm Beosin. In June, it reported that $656 million worth of crypto was stolen through scams, hacks and rug pulls in the first half of the year. The majority, $471.43 million, was lost in 108 confirmed protocol attacks. More worrying for individual users though is that $108 million was stolen through a variety of “phishing” scams.
Crypto users can’t do much about protocol attacks, but they can definitely take steps to secure their wallets and protect themselves from scammers. Bad actors use phishing to direct crypto holders to fake websites, applications and other forms of malware, and there’s no telling when and where they might strike. The good news is you can protect yourself using the following essential crypto wallet security tools.
FairSide
First off, it’s important to understand that no matter what security tools you use, you can never be totally sure you won’t fall victim to a scam. So it makes sense to have an insurance policy if you are holding significant digital assets, and that’s exactly where FairSide stands out with its comprehensive wallet protection.
The startup’s decentralized crypto insurance is available to any user who’s looking to protect themselves against wallet theft, covering almost every kind of digital asset in virtually any wallet. Should anyone with a policy fall victim to a phishing attack, they can immediately make a claim. Once the theft has been verified, users can expect to receive a payout within 72 hours.
Fairside is committed to offering full coverage, regardless of what tokens users hold. It partners with multiple reliable insurance industry firms to offer its coverage, and uses professional security researchers to properly investigate and vet every claim. It charges an annual fee of just 1.95% of all covered assets, up to a maximum of 100 ETH per policy. In addition, Fairside also offers bespoke coverage solutions for investors that need to protect higher amounts.
Umbra
Many ingenious scammers will use blockchain explorer tools to identify high-value crypto wallets they wish to target, and so it makes sense to try and mask the value of the assets you hold. Umbra enables users to do this through anonymous transactions.
It has created a smart contract and a set of standards that allow users to create “stealth” wallet addresses on the Ethereum network. Using a stealth address, it’s possible to send any ERC20 token to a wallet controlled by the receiver, without revealing its identity. To anyone who’s studying the blockchain, the transaction will look like a simple transfer to an unused address. However, off-chain, the sender can generate a new, encrypted address using a public key. Tp date, Umbra claims to have processed more than 85,000 anonymous transactions since launching in June 2021.
Fire
It’s all too easy to make a mistake when engaging in a complicated DeFi transaction, and so it pays to understand exactly what will happen when you engage with a smart contract. This is what Fire aims to do, and it’s really an essential tool for users who are in the habit of making multiple transactions each day.
Fire is a Chrome browser extension that allows you to preview what assets will enter and exit your wallet before they sign any transaction. Essentially, it simulates each transaction before you go through with it, showing you exactly how much will leave, and what will be deposited into your wallet. This way, you can confirm you aren’t making any mistakes.
Blowfish
Crypto is all about self-custody, and there’s no comeback if someone is able to access your wallet and authorize transactions. Because of this, crypto security begins with your choice of digital wallet. But how do you know which wallet you should choose? How can you trust its safety features and security?
Blowfish is the answer. It’s a risk-assessment tool for every Web3 wallet. It relies on built-in machine learning algorithms to comprehensively scan any crypto wallet and detect all of the possibilities for fraudulent transactions that may exist when interacting with Web3 protocols. Developers can also use Blowfish to assess their own wallets before making them available to users. It’s compatible with any wallet on Ethereum, Polygon and Solana.
Carapace
The risk of phishing attacks is one thing, but self-custody also means that you need to ensure you can always access your cryptocurrency holdings. If you lose access to your smartphone or laptop and cannot find the seed phrase required to access your wallet to another device, you’re basically screwed.
But not if you use Carapace, which is a decentralized social recovery protocol that provides fallback options. It works by creating an abstraction between users and its smart contracts. Users can define rules to shape specific use cases, such as wallet recovery in the event the seed is lost, crypto inheritance and more.
Pocket Universe
Because there have been so many scams affecting crypto users in the past, security researchers have created databases that list all known malicious URLs and smart contracts. Pocket Universe leverages these to ensure that you’ll never transact with a known scammer.
It’s a free, Chrome-based browser extension that provides peace of mind for every transaction you make. If you’re about to sign off on a transaction to a suspicious wallet address, or visit a risky URL, it will pop-up with a red alert warning you of the danger. Pocket Universe claims it can protect against almost any kind of phishing scam, as well as honeypot NFTs, counterfeit tokens and malicious seaport transactions.
urToken
You can never have too many lines of defense, and urToken provides a way for security-conscious crypto holders to safeguard their ERC20 and BEP20 tokens by converting them to something that’s more secure.
The way it works is it wraps your tokens and converts them into digital assets based on stricter security standards that will resist any malicious approvals in your wallet. In this way, it offers protection against Transferform exploits in smart contracts that are used to drain user’s wallets of their funds.
Security Is YOUR Problem
The risks of buying, holding and transacting with crypto are ever-present and the decentralized nature of the industry means that the onus is on you, and only you, to secure your assets. The smartest crypto users will be aware of the never-ending risk and use multiple available tools to ensure they don’t become the next victim.
If you’re invested in crypto and possess more than you can afford to use, be sure to protect yourself with the best available crypto wallet security tools.
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