AMA answers and Stay SAFU

Authored by: @hetty-rowan

Last Sunday I had written about AMAs and gave you the chance to ask me what you wanted to know. Apparently there are very few people who want to ask something. So let me just answer the few questions that were asked.

There were a few questions, and @silverstackeruk has already answered most of them satisfactorily.

@bashadow asked the following;

With the increased use of AMA's in the crypto world, do you think there is an increased chance of AMA manipulation? Where the only questions responded to are the positive attitude questions and not the hard to answer questions?

I've seen a few AMAs, I prefer the open pre-AMA question format like Dan did a couple times for 3Speak, ask a question in the comments section of a post. I prefer that method because sometimes as important as what was answered/replied to, are those questions that got ignored

My answer

There is definitely a chance that AMAs are being manipulated. Now and in the future. Projects naturally see an opportunity in the AMA to promote their project, and naturally want their project to be known as well as possible. There will certainly be a chance that questions will be ignored, or even people will agree in advance which questions will be asked. There will also certainly be projects that don't answer difficult questions, or only give a very vague answer that you can't do much with. On the one hand, this is of course very unfortunate when that happens, but sometimes also understandable. Some AMAs get so many questions that it's impossible to answer them all in the time the team has set aside for the AMA, and then it's somewhat understandable that easier questions will be answered sooner.

Personally, I think every question about a project should be answered, and it shouldn't make any difference whether it's an easy or a hard question. When it comes to questions that are completely irrelevant to a project ... then that's a different story, and everyone is free to answer or not.

@cmmemes posted the following comment;

In my country ( and I guess in other places as well) there is a social taboo about asking women their age but since I'm an ignorant pleb and this is an AMA, you know what I'm about to ask right :P ?

And yes, I know what the question is. LOL. It is also a bit 'not done' in my country to ask about the age of women. But hey, there are several things that are not so socially accepted, and that still occur on a daily basis. I don't mind being asked about that. Because age is just a number, isn't it? It's mainly about how you feel.

I am a 'child of the seventies'. And today I feel much younger and more confident than when I was 30.

@jfang003 asked the following;

Are there any other projects like CubLife that LBI plans on starting up?

@silverstackeruk had already written an extensive answer to this. And at the moment there are no concrete plans, but there are plenty of ideas.

On with 'boring stuff'.

Now, 3 questions are of course not worth a whole post, so today I searched again for something interesting enough to fill the space. And hopefully arouse your interest. So today we're going to talk about the 'borer' stuff like Metamask again.

Metamask is one of the most widely used software wallets. There is a good chance that you are a user of Metamask. One of the most important things to ensure that you are not the next to lose his crypto and continue to observe online safety. Boring perhaps, but very necessary. Of course we have all heard stories of the people who have been hacked. Everyone knows that there are hackers active, we hear the stories about the hacks of the exchanges, the dex´es, and of individuals. But the last thing you want is to become a victim of such a hack yourself. And that risk increases as more and more money circulates in crypto. Unfortunately, there are still people who do not want to take the trouble to get their crypto fairly. So time to take a look at how you can stay safe yourself… when you use Metamask.

Metmask is the wallet where the most hacks happen in proportion. So time to take a look at how safe Metamask is, and whether / how you can improve that security.

What is Metamask?

Metamask is a software wallet that makes it possible to trade on various decentralized exchanges. Originally, MetaMask is an Ethereum wallet, but luckily it is already possible to connect it to different networks, so that you can trade with your Metamask on different DEXs and in different networks. The browse extension gives you instant access to various protocols for trading crypto. Always make sure that you send your currency to the correct network!

The advantage of Metamask is that no one, except you, can determine anything about your own digital assets. For many investors it remains a strange fact that their crypto, on exchanges, is still not completely theirs. In principle, these exchanges can be hacked or go offline where your crypto is lost. Hence the well-known saying 'not your keys, not your coins'. This is different with Metamask. Here you are the only person who does have the keys and the coins are therefore exclusively in your possession. But there are other dangers lurking here.

Basic safety Metamask

Setting up a Metamask is child's play, but as easy as it is, it's important to be aware of the potential risks. Here we discuss the basic safety of your Metamask.

• Seed Phrase

When creating your unique wallet, you will receive a seed phrase. These are 12 random words that serve as access to your Metamask wallet. This unique sequence gives a user direct access to your wallet. Therefore, write down this seed phrase when creating your wallet and keep it somewhere offline in your home. This way you can keep it in a safe, so that it is never lost. For example, if you have a new computer, you can download the Metamask browser extension again and restore your wallet with this unique code.

Already have an account and have no idea what your seed phrase is? Then it is also possible to consult this combination of words from your personal account. But beware, this is not entirely without danger either. We are now reasonably familiar with the internet, but we are not sufficiently aware of the dangers. One of the most underestimated dangers is using a public network when using your wallet.

• Public network

Want to trade quickly on the bus or train via your Metamask? Not the best idea. A public network is a hotspot for scams and it is therefore easy for a cybercriminal to access. No reason to panic, if you give your social media an update, but when you do financial transactions, this criminal immediately has your login details. These monitor via the network and can also immediately consult all your passwords in the back office if you use your Metamask. It is therefore better to only use your Metamask via a secure network. This also applies to all software wallets and hardware wallets. This is often underestimated!

• Giving Approvals

Quickly approve that transaction? The world of crypto is still new and we quickly become familiar with the matter, sometimes too quickly. Quickly do that swap via Metamask and immediately give approval. Please note: with every transaction you will receive a warning from Metamask which access you grant exactly. Normally they only get access to the public address to make the transaction public on platforms such as EtherScan.

It may happen that you are asked to grant a different access, which you are not aware of. This freedom comes with great responsibility. Are you not paying attention and giving approval to something you actually don't agree to? Then the damage is already done! Double checking is therefore certainly not an unnecessary luxury. hardware wallet

Do you already have quite a bit of currency in your software wallet? Then it is a good idea to invest in a hardware wallet. Always keep in mind that there is a chance that your software wallet can be hacked. The more currency you have stored in your wallet, the more interesting it is for hackers. When you use a hardware wallet, you can say with certainty that no one, except you, has access to this currency. Examples of these hardware wallets are Trezor and Ledger.

Possible Hacks

There are several ways hacks can take place. I will discuss a few here, so that you can hopefully recognize and prevent them in time.

• Metamask unlocked

Suppose you want to make a transaction and you go to a decentralized exchange, such as UniSwap or PancakeSwap and you unlock your Metamask. From this point on, not only protocol can access your Metamask, but all other open tabs will also see that your Metamask is unlocked. Since the blockchain is public, knowing the address of your account is enough to view every outgoing and incoming transaction that has taken place in the past. Anyone can consult this via, for example, EtherScan. A scammer therefore immediately gains insight into your currency based on your transactions. Do you have a lot of currency on your Metamask? All the more interesting it is for a scammer to target you.

• fake notification

You may receive a false notification based on your transaction. You will receive a notification that your transaction has failed, and you will receive an overview of all details, such as currency value, destination address and date. When you go over this notification, the website proposes a new transaction, for the same amount. The transaction window looks identical, although the scammers have subtly changed the address. You tend to reaffirm it here, but in reality you are just sending your currency directly to the scammer.

• Incoming transaction

You may also receive a notification about an incoming transaction. Based on real data from previous transactions, you will be notified that you have to approve this transaction by means of a signature. This is the same principle as when you receive a package delivered at home, which you have to sign for receipt.

If you already have experience with crypto, you know that you do NOT have to give approval for an incoming transaction. Yet these are mistakes that can be made quickly, often with disastrous consequences.

Metamask locked

Even if your Metamask is locked, a website can still see that you are a Metamask user, without having your address details. As long as it remains locked, little can be done with it, but they can trick you in various ways so that you unlock your Metamask. Let's see how this happens:

• Timing

As mentioned above, all open tabs will have access to your data from the moment you unlock your Metamask. Suppose you want to make a transaction via your Metamask, and you receive a transaction proposal. Metamask doesn't tell you which site this came from; it can happen that another website suggests this to you. This automatically assumes that this transaction is legal and therefore also comes from Metamask and the active protocol.

• Phishing

The goal for a scammer, of course, is for you to unlock your Metamask so that he can access your digital assets. Here you may get a fake pop-up screen, explicitly asking for your password and even your seed phrase. Having a password is of course important, but a cybercriminal still needs access to your private keys. If they have access to this, that's the end of the story.

Metamask security settings

Fortunately, Metamask also offers an important feature to minimize the risks. This is in the settings of Metamask itself. One most important setting is the automatic locking of your wallet. You can set this via the browser extension and also in the app.

• Auto-lock timer Just like with your phone, you can have your Metamask locked automatically after a certain time. It often happens that after making a transaction you forget to lock your wallet back, which again offers a scammer plenty of opportunities.

How can you set this via the browser extension?

Go to settings – settings Go to advanced – advanced Auto-lock Timer – Set the number of minutes here

These settings are of course also possible via the mobile application:

Go to settings – settings Go to security – privacy Auto-lock timer

Unfortunately, however 'not fun' we may call it. The internet is full of scammers, and that ensures that the most secure way of trading in the crypto world is and remains a hardware wallet.

I wish ya'll a Happy and SAFU Sunday!

Posted Using LeoFinance ^Beta