Cryptocurrency under threat with activities of Thieves & why Steem is the safest option to Invest in.

in #security7 years ago (edited)

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Recently, many Bitcoin Hodlers have been the target of criminal gangs who abduct and force them to move their huge investments in BTC and or Ether into the personal wallets they control. This is very common with Bitcoin Hodlers and also ethereum. We all know that to move all your BTC or ETH to another wallet is just a click away as such, this makes it very lucrative for criminals than forcing victims to make bank transfers.

Interestingly, in an article By Nathaniel Popperfeb posted in New York Times on Feb 18, 2018, titled "Bitcoin Thieves Threaten Real Violence for Virtual Currencies"

The currency they were after was virtual, but the guns they carried were anything but.
In the beach resort of Phuket, Thailand, last month, the assailants pushed their victim, a young Russian man, into his apartment and kept him there, blindfolded, until he logged onto his computer and transferred about $100,000 worth of Bitcoin to an online wallet they controlled.
A few weeks before that, the head of a Bitcoin exchange in Ukraine was taken hostage and only released after the company paid a ransom of $1 million in Bitcoin.
In New York City, a man was held captive by a friend until he transferred over $1.8 million worth of Ether, a virtual currency second in value only to Bitcoin.

More so,

The rich have always feared robbery and extortion. Now, big holders of Bitcoin and its brethren have become alluring marks for criminals, especially since the prices of virtual currencies entered the stratosphere last year.
Virtual currencies can be easily transferred to an anonymous address set up by a criminal. While banks can stop or reverse large electronic transactions made under duress, there is no Bitcoin bank to halt or take back a transfer, making the chances of a successful armed holdup frighteningly enticing.
Thieves have taken advantage of this system in a startling number of recent cases, from Russia, Ukraine and Turkey to Canada, the United States and Britain.

Read up all from source here

These are just reported cases, because in most developing countries too, thieves are also looking into this easy option which makes it a global problem. More so, hackers are on the rampage as many reported cases of private key theft and coins wiped out especially from unsecured exchange like etherdelta or MEW.

Best option is Powering up Steem

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Steem wallet is one of the most secured as it has inbuilt mechanism to forestall or frustrate thieves & cyber criminals as outlined below;

  • Account recovery- In case of theft, steem offers an account recovery process unparalleled in the crypto space. You are eligible for an account recovery should anyone get hold of your private key if you created your account through the normal signup process especially if the @steem account has created it. It should be noted that the recovery works only if you still have your initial private key as such, losing the key completely will result in the loss of control of the account and funds domiciled in the account being lost forever, so be very careful and backup your key. However, if anyone gets hold of your private key and change it so as to keep you off your account, the option for recovery gives you a full month to reclaim it. The recovery is workable if you prove you are the real owner of the account with the original phone number and email you used when signing up as it will give the original account owner access back to the original private key which you should change immediately to another one including other keys withing your account like posting key etc.

  • Investing in Steem power. Once you have all your steem powered up as a huge hodler of this precious token, it takes a full week to power down 1/13th of it which means that its not lucrative for thieves because of the delays involved. More so, should a hacker gain access to your private key, then he must wait for a full week to be able to gain access to your steem which are vested in your account, and this gives you enough time to block your account and frustrate their efforts.

  • Savings account option- There is also the savings account option should you not want to power up all your steem or convert your sbd for steem to power up. You can transfer your steem or SBD to savings and if you want to make a withdrawal, you have to move them from savings into your account to make them transferable which takes 3 days withdrawal waiting period. This option can accord one enough time to lay a complaint and block the account should there be any hackers attack.

  • Exciting times ahead with SMT option. The plan launch of SMT brings even more security to the steem blockchain as SMT protocol on the steem blockchain comes with better security. For a good content creator who is not a security expert in crypto this is a very good news.. Instead of being dependent upon some outside individual making sure the tokens are safe, using SMT will enable one to create a token which is backed by strong security.

So with all these and many more, it is without fear of contradiction that I state that steem is the best place for one to secure his investments in crypto which is why we all need to always secure our sbd and steem by powering up.

Do you agree that Steem security options is far better than using BTC, Ether or most other major cryptocurrencies? Send in your comments.

Do also please kindly support with an upvote if you like this post, follow for more and resteem for others to learn from this.

Read also my previous posts.

Interesting info

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Yes, you make a great point that your crypto funds are safer in Steem Power than in btc, eth or any other coins. Security is a big reason of why I invested in Steem. I also invested because I believe Steemit can and will grow into something amazing, even though I'm already amazed by this beautiful platform.

nice comment. i so agree with you also...upped

Very informative. I'm new and trying to understand all the ins & outs of SteemIt. Your post is very helpful. Thanks!

welcome and do ensure you keep reading lots of posts here. steemit is a knowledge bank. follow for more... thanks

Pls dont Sal this secret so soon...lol

noted lol. only for you;)

@kenhudoy This is an issue i had predicted could happen ,all the kidnappers have to do is get ahold of you and a a computer and force you to send . someone needs to start an ICO to create a crypto FBI or something lol

well that is the sacrifice one makes for decentralization. But i trust in future someone will have innovative ways to tackle such once it affects the elites and powerful...

amazing post. thanks for sharing this vital tips for us. learnt a lot here. upped

welcome as always

Thanks Etilda

I think you are right. From there we are often more careful and more guarding valuables. Steemit has good quality to keep our money. @kenhuboy

Sure. Thanks for the comment

Well written article, I agree with your point that saving in steem is more secured than bitcoin and ether. It is better to invest in steem. Upped.

Sure
Thanks for the comment

Though security is a big issue.//// but it won't effect on my steem invest...
happy steeming