Steemit Crypto Academy Contest / S7W6 - Careful, Has your Steemit account been hacked?

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As always, the Steemit Crypto Academy community have organized another exciting and educative topic of discussion that would be of utmost benefit to both the old and new Steemians.

For the sixth week, the Moderators and Professors of this great community have presented an interesting topic titled Careful, Has your Steemit account been hacked? by @crypto-academy.

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As a user of Steemit, you should always be aware of the potential risks of using the platform. Unfortunately, hackers and scammers have been known to take advantage of unsuspecting users.

It is important to be vigilant and protect yourself from Steemit hacks and phishing links. Follow this article, as I would be sharing my hack experience, as well as what you can do to protect yourself and your account from such activity.

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Have My Steemit Account Been Ever Hacked?

Just like any ignorant and security careless steemian, I have equally had my own share of account hacks, which I would be sharing with us in this article.

It was on a Saturday evening, at around 23:00 UTC, I logged in to my Steemit account and navigated to my wallet, where I got the shock of my life.

Transfer of my asset by malicious user	Other transactions made by same user and timeframe

My 50.519 liquid STEEM was missing, and to worsen the whole situation, I observed that a Power down had been initiated in my wallet. At first, I didn't believe my eyes, and taught it might have been my brain playing with my mind.

After refreshing my page multiple times and discovering that nothing had changed, I realized that this was reality, and my Steemit account has been hacked.

I was destabilized for a while, but I didn't relent, I asked myself what the next step was, and I acted fast to get a solution to my challenge.

My assets were moved to a roqqu wallet with this Momo address (ZXuDJlCm1w7evTfj0jfK), but when I checked through the transactions made on that day, I discovered that a single memo address (ZXuDJlCm1w7evTfj0jfK) has been used to steal my assets and that of my friends within the same time frame (a total of over 136 Steem token stolen).

It was at this moment I realized the hacker was an insider, and probably a close friend of mine. I was right because when I checked for the past transactions made with this memo, I was shocked to my bone marrow, as a very close friend of mine @mahmudubaida131 was responsible for the malicious act.

I detected the malicious user

Mahmudubaida131 is a friend I personally introduced to Steemit, and I taught him every necessary thing he needed to succeed in this great platform. Nevertheless, I took it as a lesson and sorted the way forward.

The first step I took was to stop the power down, and I proceeded to change my account password. I later confronted Mahmudubaida131 the next day which was on Sunday morning. After several exchanges of words and aggression, I collected his phone and recover all the stolen assets, including that of my other friends.

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My Opinion On Dubious Links Offering Rewards

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Clicking on links offering rewards on Steemit or any other platform can be a dangerous practice. Fraudulent websites often use such links to try to get users to enter their private keys and other sensitive information, so they can gain access to accounts and steal tokens.

example of a phishing link

Take for instance on the screenshot above, you could see that a fraudulent website owner created an account with us (@hudsonolden), and is using this account to promote his malicious link by promising an attractive reward to users.

Furthermore, clicking on these links can also spread malware and other malicious software, as such malware can be used to target users’ computers and steal personal information, such as credit card numbers and bank account details. This can result in serious financial losses for users.

By clicking on these links, users are essentially putting their tokens at risk of being stolen by malicious actors. Clicking on dubious links offering rewards on Steemit is not recommended and users should exercise caution when considering such links.

My Opinion And Recommendations On How To Prevent Our Accounts From Being Hacked

We've all heard horror stories of people's accounts getting hacked and losing their hard-earned crypto. As a Steemit user, it's important to take the necessary steps to protect your account from being stolen.

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Don't Share Your Private Keys

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When it comes to keeping your Steemit account secure, one of the most important things to remember is to never share your private keys with anyone.

Your private keys provide access to your account and can be used to send funds or make changes to your account. Sharing your private keys with anyone can put you at risk of having your account hacked or stolen.

The first step to safeguarding your private keys is to avoid making them public in any way. This includes not posting them online or sending them via email. If you must share your private keys with someone, use a secure method such as an encrypted messaging app. You should also make sure that the person you are sending them to is someone you trust.

My Steemit account was hacked because I trusted a friend with my phone where all my keys were stored, and the outcome of this ignorance was disastrous.

It is also important to change your private keys regularly, as this will help protect against any attempts to hack into your account.

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I Equally Recommend The Use Of VPN

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A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a great way to protect yourself from online hackers, as VPN allows you to encrypt your internet traffic, making it harder for malicious actors to intercept or snoop on your information.

It also masks your IP address, making it difficult for anyone to trace where you are or what you're doing online. Using a VPN can help keep your personal information and data secure while you're browsing the web, especially if you're using a public Wi-Fi network.

It can also help you access restricted content from anywhere in the world and bypass local censorship.
When it comes to Steemit, using a VPN is highly recommended. Not only will it help keep your data safe and anonymous, but it will also protect you against DDoS attacks.

To get started with a VPN, simply choose a reliable provider and download the software. Once installed, you can switch on the service when needed and enjoy the added security of a virtual private network.

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Avoid Phishing Attempts

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Phishing is one of the most common types of attacks used to gain access to Steemit accounts. Phishing is when a malicious person or group attempts to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, or credit card details by pretending to be a legitimate source.

It typically involves scammers pretending to be a trusted source, and sending you an email or text message asking you to click on a link or open an attachment. If you do, the scammer can gain access to your account or personal information.

To protect yourself from phishing attempts, it’s important to be vigilant when it comes to suspicious emails and text messages. Make sure to look for any red flags, such as misspellings or strange sender addresses.

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Always Keep Your Computer Secure

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One of the most important steps you can take to protect your Steemit account is to keep your computer secure, as hackers are always looking for ways to gain access to your information, so it’s essential to ensure that your computer is as secure as possible.

Here are some tips to help protect your computer from hackers:

• Install and regularly update antivirus software, as having a good antivirus program installed on your computer is essential for preventing malicious software from getting onto your system.

• Keep your operating system up-to-date, as OS is constantly evolving and new vulnerabilities are often discovered. Keeping your operating system up-to-date ensures that any vulnerabilities that have been discovered are patched.

• Install a firewall, as this can help prevent malicious software from gaining access to your computer. A good firewall will block incoming connections, allowing only those connections that you allow through.

• Be cautious when downloading files. Before downloading any files, make sure you know where they came from and that they’re safe.

My Opinion On Why Some Accounts Get Hacked

It's a sad reality that some Steemit accounts get hacked, leaving users feeling frustrated, violated, and vulnerable. So the big question here is why this happens, and how can we tackle the challenge?

In summary, I would say Ignorance and Carelessness are the major reasons why some accounts get hacked. Ignorance because, we fail to detect phishy attempts, and Carelessness because we just don't want to make any effort to protect our assets.

Users with crypto assets are targets of malicious actors, and the most common way to get the necessary information from genuine users is through Phishing. It's a form of social engineering and is one of the most common ways that cybercriminals gain access to user accounts.

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What I Would Say To People Whose Accounts Are Hacked

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Keeping your Steemit account secure is essential if you want to protect your data, funds, and online identity. Below are the following things I could tell and recommend to a person whose account has just been hacked.

• Monitor activity: Regularly check your activity log for any suspicious behavior. If you spot any unfamiliar activity, change your password immediately and contact Steemit support.

• Use a password manager to store the newly generated keys of your account, as it would be more dangerous if this new password is equally lost.

• Work with secure browsers like Tor, Chrome, or Brave. I personally strongly recommend the Tor web browser, as it used multiple layers of encryption to hide your IP address and other personal information when visiting websites. This makes it much more difficult for hackers to track your activity and gain access to your account.

• Avoid clicking on any other suspicious link until you get help or guidance from other users.

Immediate Steps You Should Take To Prevent Your Tokens From Being Stolen

It's important to note that the power and access to our token relies on our private keys. With that said, one of the most important steps to take to prevent your tokens from being lost is to keep your private keys safe.

Private keys are long strings of alphanumeric characters that are used to access your wallet and control your tokens. If someone gets access to your private key, they can transfer your tokens to their own account.

it is important to make sure that you are keeping track of your account activity. Regularly review your transactions to make sure that nothing suspicious is going on. If you see any unfamiliar activity, quickly change your password and re-generate new keys for your account.

After regenerating and getting your new private keys, you should always store them in a secure place. It's best to keep them on a physical storage device such as a USB drive, or encrypted and stored offline.

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A Simple Guide To Quickly Change And Re-generate Your Private Keys

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• On my Steemit account, I navigate to the wallet section where I would see my " balance, keys, and communities."

I inserted my current Master password

• I select "Change Password," where I would be required to enter my current Master password.

I clicked to generate new password

• I then clicked on "Generate Password" to get my new password.

Conclusion

Hacking is a real threat to anyone who uses the internet, and Steemit is no exception. With the rise of cryptocurrencies, hackers have been targeting Steemit accounts in order to gain access to funds.

This can be a devastating experience for anyone who has invested time and money into their Steemit account. Fortunately, as stated in this article, there are some simple steps that you can take to protect your account from hackers and prevent hacks on your Steemit account.

Kudos to the organizers of this contest, it's really a great initiative that would help better the Steemit platform.

Am inviting @enveng, @carlaisl, and @mvchacin to check out this contest.

Thanks for your time here.