Steemit Crypto Academy season 5- Blockchain Wallets, Task 09
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How do you store / protect your keys? What are the different forms of private key (examples / screenshot)? Download and install TronLink Wallet (Android / iOS / Extension)? How is the key saved (Hint: write it down in a notepad, show it with examples)? With what key shape are you comfortable handling your TronLink wallet? Include screenshots and hide / blur sensitive information.
How do you store / protect your keys?
When we use some type of wallet we also need to use our keys or passwords to be able to move the funds that we have in them. But every time we use our keys we expose ourselves to different types of risks, which is why it is very important to know how to protect our keys.
- Physical storage:
In my view, physical storage is the safest way to protect our private keys. For this, it is enough to write our keys / or private keys on paper and keep this paper in a safe place. For greater security we can simply write our keys without placing any type of title or reference, so, even if this paper fell into the wrong hands, they would not really know what those keys or private keys belong to.
- Cold storage:
Another very good practice is to save a copy of our keys on a pendrive or any other device that is not permanently connected to the internet or to the pc. In this way we avoid being victims of online attacks or hacks. We can also place a key on the device and in turn, we can also place a key on the file where we keep our keys, in this way we will increase the security level.
- Cloud storage :
Although cloud storage includes the risk of some theft or hacking, there is no doubt that it is the best option to protect our keys in case of a catastrophe or if we lose all our keys physically and even if it happens some damage to the device where we have our keys stored. We just have to ensure that the file where we keep our keys has its respective security key and in turn install a double factor protection system in the cloud.
What are the different forms of private key (examples / screenshot)?
- private key.
This type of password is what almost any wallet provides us with so that we can manage our funds. These keys are generally very long, mostly 20 characters upwards and are combined with uppercase and lowercase letters. This type of key is the equivalent of our password to pay with the bank card, with this key we can send funds and withdraw funds, the only difference is that bank passwords generally do not have more than 6 to 8 characters and are they can memorize. Learning our private key by heart is not an impossible task but it is very very difficult for anyone due to the number of characters that these keys have.
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- Mnemonic phrase.
This is another type of private key, this type of key is used most of all to recover our wallet in case of loss. It also serves to reestablish our wallet or open it on another device. As we can see, this type of key works as the only way we have to demonstrate that a wallet really belongs to us, for this reason it must be protected and it must be private. These keys are formed by a set of words that go from 12 and can even reach 24 words. These words must be remembered in the correct order, therefore, it is not enough to remember the 12 words, but we must also remember the exact order that each word in the list had.
- Keystore file.
The keystore file is generated when we make a backup of our keys on our device. This backup is stored on our computer in the form of a file and is used to restore our wallet.
How is the key saved (Hint: write it down in a notepad, show it with examples)?
Without a doubt, the first thing we must do to save our password is to manually write it down in a notebook. From there we can implement other measures such as saving a copy on a pendrive or other offline device and this copy in turn backed by a password.