Coincheck: A Japanese Exchange May Have Been Hacked. Security Reminder.

I woke up to a sea of red this morning and found out why.

Coincheck suddenly suspended deposits/withdrawls/trading on a number of coins. It appears the exchange has been hacked. NEM & Ripple seem to have been affected the most. Bittrex has the NEM wallet offline due to maintenance. This may be related to the Coincheck issue.

Full article:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-coincheck-exchange-freezes-all-withdrawals-as-up-to-723-mln-leaves-its-wallet

Reminder: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE TAKE STEPS TO SECURE YOUR COINS!

At the very least setup the 2 step verification process that most exchanges recommend. This will prevent someone from getting into your computer and getting your account credentials. Yes, it may be a pain to have to enter every time you signon to your account but it is the 1st line of defense. Please do this, TODAY. Also, remove your the phone number that you use for the 2 step verification process from social media sites to prevent hacking your phone.

Now if you have enough money invested in crypto that it would hurt if that money was lost, you need to get a hardware wallet! A Ledger Nano S or Blue, a Trezor. Get a good wallet that will meet your needs by accommodating a majority of coins you are invested in. Please do some research and order one. I know the Ledger Nano S is now available from Amazon within 2 days for a better price than I wrote about yesterday. I'm not pushing that particular one but I have experience with it and I know how easy it is to use.

MyEtherWallet is a good website that works with Ledger Nano S and Trezor. It will also help with other ways to secure your coins.

There are other less secure ways to store your coins but I have not researched them so I'm unable to comment.

Please secure your coins. Your computer and exchanges CAN be compromised. Don't think it can happen to you? Well yes, yes it can. Please take security steps to protect yourself!

If other Steemians have recommendations I haven't covered, please create a post yourself and reply to this one with a link to yours. Lets get the word out. There are new people coming into crypto every day and they may not be aware of the security risks. Those of us good people who have been around a bit have a responsiblity to help them along and protect them.

Good luck to all. Please be secure!

Previous Article:
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@mikeflow/ledger-nano-s-in-stock-now-at-a-reasonable-price

Hardware Wallet Sale Pages:
https://www.amazon.com/Ledger-Nano-Cryptocurrency-Hardware-Wallet/dp/B01J66NF46/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1506452147&sr=1-3&keywords=ledger+nano+s
https://www.amazon.com/Satoshi-Labs-bitcoin-wallet-Bitcoin/dp/B00R6MKDDE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1506516103&sr=8-2&keywords=trezor

Wallet Site:
https://www.myetherwallet.com/