While there are many benefits to the use of cryptocurrency, there is also much skepticism from the general public. Much of this concern centers around legal protection associated with transactions. Se

B e n D i c k s o n B itcoin is on an oth er rollercoaster rid e. O ver th e p ast few m on th s, th e cryp tocu rren c s valu e sp iked from $ 3,0 0 0 to over $ 13,0 0 0 ; at th is w ritin g, it stan d s n ear $ 10 ,0 0 0 . S u ch circu m stan ces en cou rage p eop le to bu y bitcoin s in th e h op e of com in g ou t ah ead . B u t B itcoin s risin g p rice also d raw s m aliciou s h ackers w h o see an op p ortu n ity to steal th e fu n d s of u n w ary u sers w h o d on t kn ow th e basics of B itcoin secu rity. If you re n ew to B itcoin , th ese tip s w ill h elp you p rotect you r d igital fortu n e. P R O T E C T Y O U R O N L IN E W A L L E T T h e easiest w ay to get started w ith B itcoin an d oth er p op u lar cryp tocu rren cies is to sign u p w ith an on lin e w allet su ch as C oin base or B in an ce. O n lin e w allets h id e m an y of B itcoin s tech n ical ch allen ges, su ch as h an d lin g p rivate keys an d ad d resses, so th e re an attractive op tion for p eop le w h o are less tech -savvy or n ew to B itcoin . S ign in g u p for m ost on lin e w allets takes n o m ore th an a few m in u tes, an d accessin g you r accou n t requ ires on ly a brow ser, u sern am e, an d p assw ord . O n lin e w allets, h ow ever, are n ot th e safest p lace to store you r cryp tocu rren cies. A n yon e w ith you r H o w t o K e e p Y o u r B i t c o i n S a f e Ben D ickson is a softw are engineer w ho w rites about disruptive tech trends, including art cial intelligence, V R and A R, the IoT, and blockchain. Ben also runs the blog Tech Talks. C O M M E N T A R Y em ail an d p assw ord can access an d steal you r coin s, an d bad actors can accom p lish th is w ith som eth in g as sim p le as a p h ish in g em ail. A lso, u n like w ith trad ition al p aym en t system s, recoverin g lost bitcoin s is virtu ally im p ossible. H ere are a few best p ractices th at can im p rove you r w alle s secu rity. E n a b le tw o -fa cto r a u th e n tica tio n $2 F A $: M ost on lin e w allets su p p ort som e form of tw o- factor or m u lti-factor au th en tication . E n ablin g 2F A lin ks you r accou n t to a p h on e, m obile ap p , or p h ysical d on gle. If a m aliciou s h acker obtain s you r u sern am e an d p assw ord , th e ll still n eed to h ave th at extra factor to access you r accou n t. D o n t u se y o u r p h o n e n u m b e r fo r 2 F A : M ost sites su p p ort several form s of tw o-factor au th en tication , bu t n ot all 2F A m eth od s are equ ally secu re. If you rely on S M S p asscod es to secu re you r accou n t, crafty h ackers w ill be able to h ijack you r p h on e n u m ber an d in tercep t you r 2F A p asscod e. If you re associatin g a p h on e n u m ber w ith you r accou n t, it w ou ld be best to u se a sep arate, secret S IM card . U se a se p a ra te e m a il fo r y o u r B itco in w a lle t: M ost of u s h ave a p rim ary accou n t for ou r d aily com m u n ication bu t w e u se th e sam e em ail ad d ress for ou r F acebook, T w itter, an d P ayP al accou n ts. W e sh are it w ith frien d s, fam ily m em bers, an d cow orkers. T h ey m igh t sh are it w ith oth er p eop le, an d even tu ally, a m aliciou s h acker m igh t obtain it. If you r on lin e w allet is tied to th is em ail, th e h acker h as on e of tw o @ b end ee9 8 3 B e n D i c k s o n im p ortan t p ieces of in form ation n eed ed to access you r w allet. U se a sep arate em ail ad d ress for you r on lin e w alle on e you d on t u se for an y oth er p u rp ose. T h is m in im izes th e ch an ce of you r accou n t bein g d iscovered by a cybercrim in al. U S E A N O F F L IN E W A L L E T E very B itcoin w allet h as on e or m ore ad d resse w h ere it stores its cryp tocu rren cy. B itcoin ad d resses are lon g, u n iqu e strin gs of alp h an u m eric ch aracters, an d each ad d ress h as a p air of p rivate an d p u blic en cryp tion keys. W h en oth er u sers w an t to sen d bitcoin s to you r ad d ress, th ey u se you r p u blic key. W h en you w an t to sp en d you r bitcoin s, you u se th e p rivate key to sign you r tran saction . T h e p rivate \000N\000H\000\\\000\003\000S \000U\000R\000Y\000H\000V\000\003\000\\\000R\000X \000\003\000K \000D\000Y\000H\000\003\000R\000Z \000Q \000H\000U\000V\000K \000L\000S \000\003\000R\000I\000\003\000W\000K \000H\000\003\000E\000L\000W\000F\000R\000L\000Q \000V\000\003\000V\000W\000R\000U\000H\000G \000\003\000L\000Q \000\003\000D\000\003\000V\000S \000H\000F\000L \00 \000F\000\003 ad d ress. T h erefore, th e key to secu rin g bitcoin s is to keep you r p rivate key in a safe p lace. \000% \000\\\000\003\000X \000V\000L\000Q \000J\000\003\000D\000Q \000\003\000R\000Q \000O\000L\000Q \000H\000\003\000Z \000D\000O\000O\000H\000W\000\017\000\003\000\\\000R\000X \00 \000U\000H\000\003\000H\003\006 \000H\000F\000W\000L\000Y\000H\000O\000\\\000\003\000O\000H\000W\000W\000L\000Q \000J\000\003\000W\000K \000H\000\003\000V\000H\000U\000Y\000L\000F \000H\000\003\000S \000U\000R\000Y\000L\000G \000H\000U\000\003 secu re you r p rivate keys for you . T h a s w h y i s so easy to u se on lin e w allets. B u t it also m akes on lin e exch an ges an attractive target for h ackers. A lth ou gh th ese com p an ies d o th eir best to p rotect u ser accou n ts, th ey get breach ed p retty often . \000$ \000Q \000\003\000D\000O\000W\000H\000U\000Q \000D\000W\000L\000Y\000H\000\003\000W\000R\000\003\000R\000Q \000O\000L\000Q \000H\000\003\000% \000L\000W\000F\000R\000L\000Q \000\003\000H\000[\000F\000K \000D\000Q \000J\000H\000V\000\003\000L\000V\000\003\000R\003\010 \000L\000Q \000H\000\003\000Z \000D\000O\000O\000H\000W\000V\000\017\000\003\000Z \000K \000L\000F\000K \000\003\000J\000L\000Y\000H\000\003 you fu ll con trol of you r p rivate keys an d w ill p rotect you again st m ass \000G \000D\000W\000D\000\003\000E\000U\000H\000D\000F\000K \000H\000V\000\003\000D\000W\000\003\000% \000L\000W\000F\000R\000L\000Q \000\003\000H\000[\000F\000K \000D\000Q \000J\000H\000V\000\021\000\003\0007 \000K \000H\000\003\000W\000U\000D\000G \000H\000\020\000R\003\006 \000\003\000L\000V\000\003\000W\000K \000H\000\\\00 \000U\000H\000\003\000P \000R\000U \000H\000\003 \000G \000L\003\007 \000F\000X \000O\000W\000\003\000W\000R\000\003\000V\000H\000W\000\003\000X \000S \000\003\000D\000Q \000G \000\003\000X \000V\000H\000\017\000\003\000D\000Q \000G \000\003\000W\000K \000H\000\\\000\003\000U\000H\000T\000X \000L\000U\000H\000\003\000P \000R\000U\000H\000\003\000W\000H\000F\000K \000Q \000L\000F\000D\000O\000\003\000N\000Q \000R\000Z \000O\000H\000G \000J\000H\000\021\000\003 \0002 \003\010 \000L\000Q \000H\000\003\000Z \000D\000O\000O\000H\000W\000V\000\003\000F\000R\000P \000H\000\003\000L\000Q \000\003\000G \000L\003\006 \000H\000U\000H\000Q \000W\000\003\000 \000D\000Y\000R\000U\000V\000\035 S o ftw a re w a lle ts: S oftw are w allets are ap p lication s you can in stall on you r com p u ter, p ortable m em ory d rive, or m obile d evice. A w allet ap p , su ch as E lectru m , stores p rivate keys on you r d evice an d u ses th em to sign B itcoin tran saction s w h en ever you w an t to m ake a p aym en t. If you w an t com p lete secu rity w ith a softw are w allet, you m u st in stall it on a com p u ter th at isn t con n ected to th e in tern et an d tran sfer sign ed tran saction s to an in tern et-con n ected com p u ter. T h e p rocess is m ore \000G \000L\003\007 \000F\000X \000O\000W\000\003\000E\000X \000W\000\003\000D\000O\000V\000R\000\003\000P \000R\000U\000H\000\003\000V\000H\000F\000X \000U\000H\000\021 B e n D i c k s o n H a rd w a re w a lle ts: H ard w are w allets are p h ysical d evices th at gen erate an d store cryp tocu rren cy key p airs. T h ey u su ally com e w ith an associated ap p th at you h ave to in stall on you r com p u ter or you r m obile d evice. W h en you w an t to sen d bitcoin s to som eon e, you h ave to con n ect th e h ard w are w allet to you r com p u ter or p air it w ith you r p h on e via B lu etooth . E very tran saction is sign ed on th e h ard w are w allet w ith th e ap p roval of th e u ser. H ard w are w allets are very secu re becau se th e p rivate keys n ever leave th e d evice; T rezor an d L ed ger are tw o p op u lar op tion s. P a p e r w a lle ts: P ap er w allets are B itcoin key p airs p rin ted as Q R cod es on p ap er. Y ou can create p ap er w allets at on e of several w ebsites, in clu d in g bitcoin p ap erw allet.com . T o receive m on ey in you r p ap er w allet, scan th e p u blic key w ith an y B itcoin w allet ap p an d sen d it to th e p ayer. T o sen d bitcoin s from you r p ap er w allet, scan you r p rivate key to sign you r tran saction . P ap er w allets are cold storage w h ich m ean s th e re good for secu rely storin g bitcoin s bu t n ot very h an d y for m akin g d ay-to-d ay p aym en ts. P ap er w allets are secu re becau se th ey h ave n o d igital com p on en t an d th ey can t be stolen or h acked rem otely. B u t you m u st d estroy th e d igital cop y of th e w allet after you p rin t it, to m ake su re n o on e else can rep licate it. \0008 \000V\000L\000Q \000J\000\003\000D\000Q \000\003\000R\003\010 \000L\000Q \000H\000\003\000Z \000D\000O\000O\000H\000W\000\003\000G \000R\000H\000V\000Q \00 \000W\000\003\000P \000H\000D\000Q \000\003\000\\\000R\000X \000U\000\003\000E\000L\000W\000F\000R\000L\000Q \000V\000\003\000D\000U\000H\000\003\000D\000E\000V\000R\000O\000X \000W\000H\000O\000\\ \000\003\000V\000H\000F\000X \000U\000H\000\021\000\003 If you leave you r p rivate keys in an u n secu red p lace, th e w ron g p erson m igh t ch an ce u p on th em . A lso, you m igh t accid en tally d estroy you r keys, w h ich w ill also resu lt in losin g you r fu n d s w ith ou t recou rse. F or in stan ce, if you lose or d estroy you r h ard w are or p ap er w allet or forget you r secu rity P IN , you r bitcoin s w ill be lost forever. \0002 \000Q \000O\000L\000Q \000H\000\003\000R\000U\000\003\000R\003\010 \000L\000Q \000H\000\003\000Z \000D\000O\000O\000H\000W\000"\000\003\0007 \000K \000H\000\003\000F\000K \000R\000L\000F\000H\000\003\000L\000V\000\003\000X \000S \000\003\000W\000R\000\003\000\\\000R\000X \000\021\000\003\000% \000X \000W\000\003\000F\000K \000R\000R\000V\000H\000\003\000Z \000L\000V \000H\000O\000\\\000\017\000\003\000D\000Q \000G \000\003 m ake su re you keep you r bitcoin s safe. B e n D i c k s o n PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I OCTOBER 2019 Copyright ofPC Magazine isthe property ofZDNet anditscontent maynotbecopied or emailed tomultiple sitesorposted toalistserv without thecopyright holder'sexpresswritten permission.

However,usersmayprint, download, oremail articles forindividual use.