Crypto Academy Season 5 Beginners' course - Task 9: Blockchain Wallet-- Types, Uses, Installation, etc.by @kingmyke

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TASK QUESTIONS

How do you store/secure your keys?

What are the different forms of Private Key(Examples/Screenshot)?

Download & Install TronLink Wallet(Android/iOS/Extension)?

How do you store the key(Hint- write it down on a notepad, demonstrate it with examples)?

Which form of the key are you comfortable with to handle your TronLink Wallet?

Include Screenshots & hide/blur the sensitive information.

HOW DO YOU STORE AND SECURE YOUR KEYS?

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In this context, keys are simply another name for passwords or passcodes. So the question is how do you store them so they can be safe and secure? Now for applications such as centralized applications like Twitter and Instagram, I can save them on my Gmail account. The good thing about saving them on my Gmail account is that I do not need to have them stored in my head so that when I want to access these app, Gmail automatically fills the password spaces for me so I can easily go on with my business.

However, passwords and keys in Steemit as well as the entire cryptocurrency space are extremely important. Given the fact that Gmail accounts are extremely susceptible to hackers, you should never save your keys to your Gmail account.

So what do I do to protect my keys?
I write them on a piece of paper. I believe that manually protecting your keys is the best way to go about it. Given the fact that hackers can get to anything electronic, the best option is going manual So what I do is that I write out my keys in different papers and keep them with me. I have a copy with me in a book of mine. I have another kept locked up in a box where I keep important things.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF PRIVATE KEYS? (EXAMPLES/SCREENSHOTS)

A private key is a secret number that protects a user's account, authenticate ownership and grants access to a person's cryptocurrency wallet or vault. It is a 256-bit number but its is represented in a simpler, hexadecimal form.

Now private key comprises of the following:
private key
key store file
mnemonic key

Now let us discuss them separately.

PRIVATE KEY

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A private key is a large randomly-generated set of alphanumerical digits or codes that are generated when you create an account. The generation of the private key is an automatic process that follows account creation.

The length, complexity and distribution of the letters and numbers comprising the private key will determine the level of ease, or difficulty with which hackers can be able to get, or guess your private key. This means that the longer the key and the greater the mixture of letters and numbers, the more difficult it will be for hackers to access your private key and steal your assets.

A feature of the private key is that it can be asymmetric or symmetric. It is asymmetric when the private key is used for purposes of digital key signature, used in generating a public and private key and encryption. It is symmetric when the private key is used for encryption, decryption, generating a new private key and for management purposes.

KEYSTORE FILE

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It is also called your UTC file and it is simply an encrypted version of your private key. Your keystone file is generated from your private key together with a password that you use to encrypt it. It is used to sign transactions as well as to protect your decentralized applications (dApps).

MNEMONIC KEY

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It is also called seed phrases. It is a set of words, ranging from 12 to 25 words, depending on the blockchain that you are involved in. These set of words or phrases are extremely important because with them, a person can gain access to your account. If the person has bad intentions for you, the person can steal all your cryptocurrency assets.

This therefore means that the mnemonic key serves the same purpose as the private key (that is, it safeguards your assets).

Note that these words, or phrases, were generated once an account is created and that the set of words as well as their arrangement is extremely unique per account. That means that no two accounts can have the same set of words as well as the same arrangement of words to grant access to an asset collection (someone's collection of cryptocurrency).

Since these set of words are extremely important, I advice that they be kept offline and written down and kept somewhere secure.

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL TRONLINK (ANDROID, IoS, EXTENSION)?

The steps below will be so for those who use an android phone because I am Android phone user.

STEP 1:

Go to PlayStore, search "TronLink" and then click, "install"

STEP 2:

After installing, open the app and click on "Create Account"

STEP 3:

After reading the "user agreement", click on "Accept"

STEP 4:

You will set a name for your account. Here I chose kingmyke as my username. Then click on "NEXT STEP".

STEP 5:

Set a password according to the rules. It must contain 8 characters containing a combination of uppercase letters, lower case letters and numbers.

STEP 6:

Confirm your password. Then click on "CONFIRM"

STEP 7:

Your 12 recovery words will be given to you. You must keep these words safe by backing them up. You can choose to write them down and keep it in a safe place.
For security reasons, the TronLink app did not allow me to take screenshot of this page for you guys to see what it is like.

After this, you click "backed up".

STEP 8:

Here, you will then be asked to arrange the phrases in order in which they were given to you. This ensures that you have correctly gotten those recovery phrases.

STEP 9:

After this, you have successfully created your TronLink wallet and a page like the one below will be displayed to you.

HOW DO YOU STORE THE KEY (HINT - WRITE IT DOWN ON A NOTEPAD, DEMONSTRATE IT WITH EXAMPLES)

Like we have said earlier, there are 3 forms: private key, mnemonic key and keystore file.

The private key, as we have said earlier, is a set of alphanumerical letters and are, therefore, complex in nature. When saving the private key, I chose to write them out very carefully in a book. I follow the same pattern for all my passwords. I like to save them offline because saving anything online opens it up to any form of online theft.

For example, below is a picture of my mnemonic keys. I wrote it down in a book to keep it safe.

WHICH FORM OF THE KEY ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH TO HANDLE YOUR TRONLINK WALLET? INCLUDE SCREENSHOTS AND HIDE/BLUR SENSITIVE INFORMATION

Personally, I am most comfortable using the mnemonic keys to handle my TronLink wallet. This is because of the following reasons:

1. It is extremely easy to memorize as compared to the private key and keystore file.

2. You can write it somewhere with ease and you can also write it down when it required for your log in purposes.

Here is an example of a mnemonic key

CONCLUSION

In this post, I learnt about the different types of private keys. I also learnt about how to download my TronLink app and get it running to start Tron-related transactions.
It was really fun and I appreciate professor @sapwood for this lecture. It was nice.

NOTE: ALL SCREENSHOTS WERE GOTTEN FROM TRONLINK WALLET APP.