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Protecting Your Digital Assets in the Modern Age

In the modern age, safeguarding your digital assets is crucial. Discover essential ways to keep them secure with practical, actionable tips shared in this article.


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by John Scott

As the world continues to go online, the importance of ensuring your digital assets are protected reaches the same level as securing physical assets. Digital assets can be quite eclectic, including; cryptocurrency, online accounts, intellectual property, sensitive documents and social profiles. The growing threat to cyber security, whether its hacking or phishing, now necessitates that strong security protocols be in place to restrict access and potential loss.



1.Strong and Unique Passwords

A password isn’t always enough to protect your digital property, one of the most basic things you can do to protect your digital self is have a password that’s strong and unique for every account. Too many of us don’t listen to that message — and wind up using the same password across multiple sites, which can have a domino effect of abuse if security at a just single one of those sites is compromised. A complex password would consist of mixed upper and lower case, numbers, and special characters. 


2.Two-factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an extra security layer beyond just a password. 2FA serves as a second form of identification and, as such, serves as an extra bar to entry for any unauthorized person looking to access your account or device, and thus, the sensitive information contained within. By requiring a second form of proof, something like a fingerprint or a one-time mobile code or a physical security key, for instance, 2FA raises the bar on entry. Many major services, ranging from banks, email providers, and cryptocurrency exchanges all support 2FA. A simple yet useful step to increase security is to have it turned on wherever possible.


3.Secured Private Keys

If you are a cryptocurrency or a blockchain-base-asset holder, you should make sure that private keys are secured. There is no way to recover lost or stolen keys (unlike bank accounts). So backup is critical. In any case, don’t put your private key on the internet, or anywhere nice and easily available online such as an email or cloud storage. All devices and software should be updated to have the necessary security patches. Also our approved antiviruses and malware scanners can find threats in real time before they do any damage.



4.Backups

Backups are really the unsung heroes in protecting your digital assets. Ransomware attacks, hardware crashes or an accidental deletion can erase years of data in a heartbeat. By periodically saving important file into an external hard drive or a reliable cloud service you make recovering something overhead easier. For the greatest safety, the “3-2-1” rule is often recommended: Have three copies of data, on two different storage types, with one stored offsite.


5.Never Click on Suspicious Links

Social engineering assaults, like phishing on email or a phony call to customer support, they exploit human weakness rather than technical ones. And always double-check the legitimacy of requests for sensitive information, never click on suspicious links. Knowing common scams and educating yourself and others about them can save time and money.


6.Long-term Planning

Lastly, examine estate planning for long-term planning of digital assets. A great deal of digital accounts and holdings are not available to heirs without certain documents. If you have a list of accounts, passwords and instructions to it and share it with a lawyer or family member you trust to access it after your death, this will ensure your valuable assets are distributed the way you want. For digital security, it’s also imperative to maintain up to date software, updating it as it becomes available. And a lot of cybercriminals take advantage of weaknesses in outdated operating systems, applications or firmware. 



Ultimately, in a world that is increasingly connected, proactive security is critically not a luxury but a requirement. You can take action to mitigate the risk to themselves and their digital assets with this sequence of steps to protect themselves in the longer term.



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