Back up your Steemit Password and Keys Off-line Today!
Would you back up your Steemit password after reading this post because this is the most important thing that you could do today?
Time after time, I have people telling me that they have lost access to their Steemit account, not because they have been hacked and their password was stolen, but simply because they didn't backup their password and keys.
Maybe their laptop was stolen or the hard disk failed, not only they lost their blog posts, reputation and account, but also all the Steem in their wallet.
Steemit is not Facebook, there is no way to recover a forgotten password clicking a "lost password" link, and you should take it seriously.
Today, I am showing you what you need to do to back up your passwords and keys outside of the machine you use, and it's very simple.
Back up your Steemit Password and Keys Off-line Today!
When you have just signed up with Steemit, backing up your master password and all the private keys is the first thing you should do.
If you are not new to Steemit and haven't done it, just do me a favor and do it now.
Make sure that you have no spyware, keylogger, malware or viruses on your computer first and run the necessary software to confirm that. Also, do not use a public computer or a friend's computer to do this, use your own machine because there is no point of backing up potentially compromised information.
After you log in with your master password in Steemit, to make sure that it is still working and that you have the correct one, create a text file.
In that text file type your username, and then the master password.
Now, we need to collect all keys, public and private.
Go to your "Wallet," and then "Permissions."
Copy and paste all the "Public Keys" you have there in your text file: Posting, Active, Owner and Memo.
Then, click on the "Show Private Key" buttons at the right.
Copy and paste all "Private Keys" in your text file.
Then, take a screenshot of that data in the text file and print on paper.
You can also save this screenshot on a thumb drive that you use for sensible data only and for storage.
Put the paper copies and thumb drive in very safe and different places.
Anyone finding them can access your account.
I have one paper copy and one thumb drive copy in two different and very secret places in the house. I have the same in a safe.
When it's done, delete that text file, it should not have been saved. If it was automatically, erase all passwords in it, type a few letters and save again, then delete it and empty the trash.
It's how seriously I take this!
Data in a file can be scanned, not an image.
Delete also the screenshot and if it was saved, just put some brush over the password and keys, save again and delete.
Do not let anything this important on your computer, because the next time it is serviced, the repair man might be the one to clean you up.
Reset your Steemit password
If for some reason you want a new password because you think it was compromised, click on the "Password" tab.
Or go to https://steemit.com/change_password
Read carefully the seventh rules.
They are so true about them.
You need your current password to do this, and if you have lost it, then you can't change it.
Click the button to generate a new password and re-enter it in the field.
Check the two warning boxes.
Backup this new password immediately, even before you click this "Update Password" button.
If you have backed-up the original master password and all your keys, update them. Go to the "Permissions" tab and collect your "Private Keys" again.
Stolen Accounts Recovery
The "Stolen Accounts Recovery" is not for recovering a password that you have lost because you need your password to use it.
That's in case someone got your password and changed it to something else, stealing your account.
If you have Steem Power, it will take them a long time to power down and that's when you can do something about it. If you had Steem and SBD, it's probably gone.
Go here: https://steemit.com/recover_account_step_1
Enter your "Account Name" and your "Recent Password," then click "Begin Recovery" and follow the steps thereafter.
Please, make an off-line backup copy of your password and private keys now.
One day, you will be happy you did.
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Michel Gerard
Very useful advice.
About that overwriting method: I'm a bit worried about flash drives. They usually never safe files twice at the same physical location to preserve their limited write cycles. So if I fill a file with scrambled data and safe it again, will it really physically overwrite the old data and not just mark the old data as deleted and write on a new spot?
Does anyone know how to answer that?
And the other way around if I use something as aggressive as the Gutmann method and the hardware really does not change the physical saving location, this should reduce the lifetime of the storage device endangering the saved backups. Actual usage lifetime nubers for flash drives are barely known at all. This makes this a bit scary.
Any ideas?
I don't care about the method of storing data in the thumb drive as it is only used for important crypto passwords and then hidden away. I have a 10 years old drive still working. There are no moving parts so they should work a very long time. I have two drives in the event one fails and will make sure they continue to work.
Great post. Make complete sense to secure the passwords and keys. As always well thought article :)
Thank you @nids209 for your kind words and I hope you will follow the advice in the post.
of course this advice on my priority list. I am travelling for a couple of weeks so I will take the print out once I will reach back to my home. :)
I am glad you will!
Done everything which you suggested @gmichelbkk. Thanks again for a valuable post.
Posted using Partiko Android
I am glad you did @mrgeeksunited. Thank you for your feedback.
Are you on a Mac @itstime? I already have tutorials on Steemit here: https://raindrop.io/collection/4857742
Sorry, not a Windows guy!
Sorry , not a mac guy !
:(
Ooops... You really need then to have those security software installed on your Windows machine. Mc Affee, Norton, etc...
i gots that but I generally don't think they are ever adequate
You need something to scan for malware and keyloggers too.
I was so anxious when I forgot my Steemit password few days ago. I can't even sleep at night. I was looking for a solution to solve my problem. I requested Steemit authority to recover my password. But I had to wait about five days. In the meantime I was thinking, I will never recover my password. Here you have so important post about password. It is very crucial for all Steemit community members. I think many members are facing this problems. Your post definitely help them. Thanks for your valuable post.
@sayemsonai, thank you for your comment. People are used to other social media and websites where it is easy to recover a lost password. Steemit needs special attention concerning passwords.
@gmichelbkk
Sir is there no way to log in if we forget our key??
Seriously no way???
seriously, no way @anishag!
indeed very interesting information you shared with us. No need to search whole internet regarding issue like this if we have surrounded by people like you. thank you..
@sarfaraz6699, thank you. I am glad this is useful for you.
@gmichelbkk
Thanks you very much for explaining how important it is to keep offline backup of passwords and keys. I have not done that till now. After reading this article I just did the backup.
Again thank you very much for this article. Cheers :)
@airdrophunter, I am glad that my post encouraged you to backup your password and keys.
Good suggetion,thanks for notifying us dear.
I already did the job.
I am glad that this is useful for you @mahadihasanzim.
Very common-sense advice but definitely worth repeating many many times! It's just some very simple steps but it saves you a tremendous amount of stress/hassle in the future if anything unfortunate happens. Keep shouting this from the Steemit rooftops! Thanks for the post and have a great weekend!
Thank you for your comment @zhuwa. It has to be repeated over and over because it's a simple step that if not taken can ruin your Steem efforts later on.