How to Keep Safe When Investing Online

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Just like you would lock up your home when going out, there are risks attached to when you invest online. When you utilize your laptop or conduct internet banking one of the first things you will do is install a firewall and virus scanner to protect yourself online. The same concept applies when you invest online with a Cryptocurrency in a Crypto wallet. You want to ensure your investment is safe and free from hackers who attempt to steal funds.

Their main aim is to hack into as many accounts as possible, so yours will most likely just be another one to add to their list, it’s not necessarily a personal thing.

Research published by Check Point in October 2020 reported that the number of ransomware attacks that occurred online had increased by 50%, which is a significant amount. The numbers that occurred in the US alone increased by 98%. So there is certainly a risk when you go online and are not fully prepared.

Check You Have the Latest Up to date Anti-Virus Protector

The first thing to do would be to ensure that you have a reputable anti-malware program installed that is well known, such as Avira, Norton, AVG or McAfee. You should ensure it has all the latest updates, rather than ignore that little reminder box that pops up, to inform you and you just click away, saying you will do it later. That can be annoying, but it is there for a reason.

When utilizing your browser you can also ensure that you change your settings to prevent certain popups or potentially harmful malware being allowed to appear.

Change Your Password Frequently

It might appear obvious, but it is good practise to change your password as frequently as possible to prevent someone hacking into your account. Also it is essential to make it personal to you alone and not something that could be easily guessable like ‘Password’ or ‘abc123’. Keep aside a small notepad where you can gather all your passwords for all the different accounts you possess, as it’s very easy to forget when you have so many to remember.

Avoid Clicking On Dubious Emails or Links

It’s certainly best to avoid opening any unwanted emails from addresses that initially appear to be from a reputable company, yet don’t address you by your name and use a generic ‘Dear User’ which is sent from a personalised email address yet purports to be from a company like Amazon or Apple. This is where the hackers will strike, as soon as you click onto the link for the website you are vulnerable to them extracting personal information from your computer and tracing your movements.

Essentially it's good to be cautious when investing Cryptocurrency as you want to ensure your investment is not lost or stolen as there is little the company can do to reclaim it once it is stolen.