HOW TO PROTECT YOUR ACCOUNT WHILE AIRDROP HUNTING

Airdrop hunting is an integral part of the web3 experience. Almost everyone in this space has searched for airdrops at some point. Some of us have been lucky to receive an airdrop without trying. Notwithstanding, there is no denying that airdrop hunting is one of the potent ways to gather liquidity, especially for those who are coming into this space with little or no capital.

One of the challenging aspects of airdrop hunting is hacks, which are prevalent in the Web 3 space. I have heard stories of people who lost thousands of dollars worth of crypto by merely interacting with sketchy protocols. So we must stay vigilant as we carry out various tasks in the Web 3 space.

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to avoid being compromised if you engage with a lot of protocols. It is only a matter of time before you make a mistake. So your goal is to minimize the impact of such mistakes when they occur. Below I will highlight a few things you can do to stay relatively safe while airdrop farming. These tips are guaranteed to keep you safe 90% of the time.

1. Have multiple wallets on multiple devices

One of the key ways to stay safe while airdrop hunting is by creating multiple wallets on multiple devices. These wallets will be used for different kinds of transactions on testnet and mainnet for retroactive airdrop(s). This reduces the impact of a hack if one of your wallets is compromised.

It is also important not to have multiple addresses in one wallet. Create multiple wallets for different addresses and use them for specific interactions. For instance, you can create a Trust wallet, MetaMask wallet and Bitkeep wallet, each with its unique seed phrase and addresses. If you have multiple devices, then you can download these wallets on them. The goal here is to spread your risk exposure.

2. OFFLINE STORAGE

The next most important step is to store your private keys/seed phrases offline. Do not make the mistake of storing your private keys on your phone, cloud (password manager), email, etc irrespective of the security they provide. There have been cases of cloud hacks in the past where people's information were stolen and traded on the dark web. So it is best to go offline.

When you do have some money to spare, invest in a 2FA device (like Yubikey) and a hard wallet (like Ledger) for offline storage. You can take it a notch by having an offline paper wallet. There are offline address-generating software you can use to create accounts offline. You can change it to another paper wallet once you've connected the previous one online.

3. Implement Security Options.

Download security extensions to protect your account. For instance, revoke.cash helps to remove access/permissions given to third-party apps an account has interacted with in the past.

In addition, manually disconnect your wallet from the protocols you have connected your wallets to. Do this daily/weekly to preserve the integrity of your wallet. This is one of the safest ways to ensure that your wallet is safe.

For your mobile device or computer, download/purchase an antivirus and use VPN to protect your online identity. It will also help to refresh your devices periodically to remove temporary and potentially dangerous files from them.

4. Verify information/sites

It is important to verify the information you get online about any project you are following. Do not be in a rush to click on links. Except in well-coordinated attacks, most projects share updates or make announcements on all their social platforms. Hence, If you receive any information it is important to cross-check to verify its authenticity.

5. Streamline your activities

Airdrop hunting is high risk and the only sure way to reduce your exposure to malicious attacks is by limiting the number of protocols you interact with regularly. This is why research comes into play.

Find good projects and stick with them long enough to reap the benefits of being a committed member. By doing so you can increase your capacity and solve some of the community's pain points.

Also, avoid bragging about your wins on social media. This attracts hackers and increases your chances of getting hacked. These hackers are good at profiling and can simply attack someone close to you and use them to penetrate your defence.

Lastly do not make airdrop farming your sole purpose in the Web 3 space. There is a lot you can do in this space to bring value to people and your community. If you do manage to get a decent airdrop consider reinvesting in a good project and your education. This pays off in the long run.

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Posted Using LeoFinance Alpha