HOMEWORK TASK-6
Entire Question
- 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.
It is a very important factor when we are dealing with wallet keys. So, we must ensure that our sensitive keys are kept safe. Because, If someone steals the keys, we may lose all the money in our wallet and it will no be able to recover our wallet. And also, the same thing happens if we lose our keys. Because, if we are using decentralized wallets, we can't get support from someone as there are no Intermediaries in decentralized systems. Therefore, in my life, I use several methods to protect my keys. Actually, I am using 3 methods and below I have categorized and explained them separately.
IN MY CLOUD STORAGE
- Just store Private keys in cloud storage can't be recommended. Because if someone has access to our cloud storage, he also has access to our wallet. But here I have used a little trick to protect it very securely and very faster.
Actually, I have used the Password Encrypted Win RAR file to store my keys. So, here I have noted my sensitive keys in a notepad file and converted it to a Password Encrypted RAR file. Then I put it in my Cloud Drive. Future, if someone opens my wallet keys file, he has to enter my secret password to open it and even he can't get access to my cloud drive as I've activated the Two Factor Authentication key method. Here I have attached a screenshot of my password-protected wallets keys file in my cloud drive.
IN MY PEN DRIVE
Like I explained above, I've used the same method for my Pen drive. I copied my all sensitive keys to one folder and encrypted it with my personal password. Then, I copied it back to the Pen drive as a password Protected and Encrypted RAR file. So, if someone needs to get access to my sensitive keys, first of all, he has to open my password-protected Pen drive, and again he has to open the password-protected RAR file. So, I think practically it is too difficult.
WRITTEN IT ON A PIECE OF PAPER
I have also written my sensitive passwords on a piece of paper card and I put it in my personnel wallet. So, I can use it in an emergency situation and it brings me more protection to my sensitive keys. Because, if I lost all the electronic devices and all my passwords, still I can recover my wallet from my soft copy which I retained in my personal wallet. So, I can easily generate other keys from my Private key. Those are the methods I use to secure my keys.
Basically, there are 3 types of Private keys. Actually, I gained some knowledge about this when I was creating my personal Tron Link wallet. Below I've explained them one by one.
This Private key is a very sensitive key that automatically generate it from our Public key using cryptographic functions. Basically, it consists of both Alphabet and Numeric Characters and it is very difficult to remember in our mind. So, we have to keep it in a secret place to use when we need it. Here I have attached a Screenshot of my Tron link wallet keys which I generated from My Steemit wallet. We can use both QR code and Alphanumeric to accomplish our Transactions.
This is a very interesting Private key. Because it is easy to remember in our mind and it is a very secure key. Because we have to remember this key in the correct order to get access to our wallet. Usually, this key consists of 12 to 24 words, and here I have used 12 words Mnemonic Key created by me. This key is also very sensitive and it can be used to recover our account. Therefore, we should keep it in a safe place to ensure the security of our wallets.
This Private key is very special and different from other keys. Because we have to enter an extra password with this file to get access to our wallet. We have to back up this file in our local storage and we can use it when we need. However, there is an important thing which we should keep in our mind. We definitely make sure that the password and the file are not stored in one place. Because, without the password, the Keystore file would be useless. Therefore, I highly recommend to write this password in a notepad.
TronLink Wallet is a Decentralized wallet and it is very useful when work with Tron coins (TRX). And also, it doesn't charge transaction fees within our daily Bandwidth. So, below I have explained the download and installation process step by step.
We can click on "Download TronLink wallet" from our Steem wallet to get access to the TronLink installation Site. If not, we can directly go to the
https://www.tronlink.org/
After clicking on that link, we can see a page like below attached. Here we can see there are 3 options.(Android, iOS, Chrome Extension) . We can install any of them according to our choice and I've selected Chrome Extension.
- STEP 3
As I selected Chrome Extension, I can see I've directed to the chrome web store. Then we can click on 'Add to chrome' Option like below attached image. It's simple to install this extension.
Now we can enter a password and we use this password to open our TronLink wallet. (Image 1). Then I can click on "Create" option like in image 2. After that, we can select any user name as our account name. We should use only alphanumeric characters to create this username. Then, we can click on continue.
Now we can see our Mnemonic key and we should write down it on a piece of paper according to the sequence as we have to enter it again in the next step. Also, we should keep it in a secure place to use when we need and it is an important key to recover our wallet.
After clicking on continue, we can enter our Mnemonic key. Actually, here we can select the sequence instead of typing. But we must ensure to type it in the correct order. So, as I have clearly written it in my notebook, it was very easy to continue to the next step. And also, we can't minimize the web browser without completing the next step. If we minimize the browser to copy the Mnemonic key in a pc notepad, it will not succeed and it will generate another Mnemonic key back. So, we have to keep it in our mind.
After click on confirm from the Mnemonic key window, we can move to our TronLink Interface. Here I've attached a screenshot of my TronLink wallet. Now we can send or receive TRX coins without Transaction fees according to our daily Bandwidth. It is very simple and very fast. As this wallet is Decentralized, we have a free hand to handle this wallet.
Actually, I stored the key as two parts from a piece of paper. Also, I didn't place both parts in one place. As I wanted to ensure the safety of this key, I placed those two parts in separate places which I remember in my mind. And also, I saved a soft copy of this key in my Password Protected Flash drive. Also, I put that file in a password-encrypted RAR file too. By that, I can ensure the security of these keys and no one can access my Keys without my intervention. So, If I lost my hard copies, I can recover my account this way.
For me, I am comfortable with using the Mnemonic key. Because I mostly use Mnemonic key as I can remember it in my mind and this key is very familiar to use as a Private key. Therefore, in my life, I prefer to use the Mnemonic key to handle my TronLink wallet.
Further, it is a key that consists of 12 words, and I wrote it on a piece of paper. Also, I have divided my Mnemonic key into two parts before storing it. Above I have attached the images of my Mnemonic key and I am really comfortable using it when I need it.
This is my Homework Post for Task 6 and all the screenshots and images are created by me
At the end of this article, I would like to appreciate professor @sapwood for his effort for creating very essential lessons for us.
Hi @reddileep, Thank you for taking interest in the 6th Task of the Beginners Fixed Class. Your grades are as follows:
My Review and Suggestions:
You completed the task well.
You created an article with a very good structure, great work!!
You discuss in easy-to-understand words.
You made a picture with good explanation, good job!
Thank you!
Thank you very much for your feedback Professor.