Introduction
Coinsquare is committed to building the most safe, reliable and compliant cryptocurrency trading platform in Canada. An important part of this commitment is to ensure that our clients are equipped with the necessary tools to keep their accounts secure. This post will give you a set of actions you can take to improve your account security.
Change Your Password Regularly and Use a Password Manager
You should always choose a unique, difficult to guess password, and never re-use passwords across different accounts.
To improve your password security, follow these steps:
- Choose a password that is complex and different from any other website.
- Use a random mix of characters including uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols.
- Don’t use easy to guess passwords like ‘password’, or ‘‘12345’. Don’t use personal info like your name or birthdate in your password.
- Write down your passwords on paper in a secure space, or use a password manager to automatically generate and store complex passwords.
Enable 2-Factor Authentication
2 Factor Authentication (2FA) is your second level of protection, in addition to your password. 2FA works by requiring you to provide a 6-digit code from an authenticator app on your mobile device, in addition to your password, in order to login. The code changes every 30-60 seconds and is nearly impossible to guess. This protects your account in case someone was able to gain access to your password, because they would be prevented from logging in unless they also had your mobile device with the authenticator app.
To protect your account with 2FA, follow these steps:
- Select a 2FA provider. Our favourites are Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, and Twilio Authy.
- Keep 2FA enabled as long as you use Coinsquare.
- Add 2FA to your email logins as well. This way, no bad actor can change your passwords by having access to your email to confirm the change.
Set Up a Secure Email Address
You should always keep a separate, secret email address for your cryptocurrency exchanges and other sensitive accounts, that you don’t re-use for everyday purposes. Here’s some best practices for email hygiene:
- Set up a new, secure email address and link it to your online banking and investing platforms.
- Don’t include your name in this email address, use an alias.
- Use a strong spam filter, and always delete any suspicious looking emails right away, without opening them.
- Search your email address on https://haveibeenpwned.com/ to check for any prior data breaches.
By selecting a secure password, enabling 2FA for all your accounts, and using a separate email for sensitive accounts, you can greatly improve your security and peace of mind.