Here we collect and discuss the best DeFi,Blockchain and crypto-related OpSec researches and data terminals - contributions are welcome.
Feel free to submit a pull request, with anything from small fixes to translations, docs or tools you'd like to add.
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Note: OpSec is a term coming from the military, meaning operational security. It has been widely used to describe security precautions in various sensible activities, and more recently also in cryptocurrency management.
| Special Author's Notes:
- All-about-NFT security
- Browser leakage checkers
- All ETH security tools existing
- All good TG Dev communities
- Known smart contract-side and user-side attacks
- Solidity language cheatsheets, tools and references collection
- All known smart contract-side and user-side attacks & attack vectors
- All possible transaction analysis, crypto-forensics and investigation tools list & references in a single note
- Key principles of storing crypto cold wallet attacks defense methods best practices
Use a secure email provider like Protonmail or Tutanota. Also use trused VPN like Mullvad or ProtonVPN. E2E (end-to-end) encryption is only as secure as the service you are sending the email to. For example, if a Protonmail user sends an email to a GMail user, the email is encrypted with TLS, but Google can still read and hand over any data that passes through their server. E2E can be re-established by using features such as the password-protected email feature from Protonmail.
Watch More Read More on Email Encryption with Proton
Use different emails and different strong passwords. Store them in one place like a password manager. Never reuse passwords, especially for accounts with personally identifiable and sensitive information (e.g. Facebook, Gmail, AppleID, Twitter, banks/payments, crypto accounts). Use passwords that are at least 8 characters in length, but a minimum of 12 is generally recommended for memorization. Along with that, if using memorization, ensure that a minimum complexity requirement is met: which means having an uppercase character, a lowercase character, a digit, and a non-alphabetic character. Using a string of unrelated words while still meeting the dictionary requirement makes it easy to have an extremely secure password while still being able to remember it. If fully relying on a password manager, a password of 20+ characters in length that is randomly generated can be used. If you see suspicious password activity or failed log-ins on any of your accounts, change all of your passwords, starting with sensitive and authorization accounts, such as your primary email and bank/crypto accounts. Keepass or BitWarden are good options.
Read More NIST 800-63b Password Guidelines and Best Practices
Never link phone numbers to crypto platforms. Use trusted multiple e-sims if you have to link the phone. To lock down your SIM, contact your mobile phone carrier. Ask them to NEVER make changes to your phone number/SIM unless you physically show up to a specific store with at minimum two forms of identification. This (should) prevent hackers from calling up AT&T or T-Mobile or Vodafone, claiming to be you, and asking them to port your phone number to a new phone.
Instead of SMS-based 2FA, use Authy or Aegis OTP for iOS or Android. Google Authenticator is generally not recommended anymore in order to stay out of the Google ecosystem, and Authy offers more robust account recovery options (Aegis does not offer the same level of account recovery options). Keep in mind that the codes generated by 2FA apps are device specific. If your account is not manually backed up to Google cloud or iCloud and you lose your phone, you’ll need to spend some time proving your identity to restore your 2FA. The added security is worth the hassle!
Hardware-based 2FA options are regarded as more secure than phone-based OTP options since the keys are stored on the YubiKey device itself, not on your phone, or in the cloud, or on your computer.
Cold storage, and separate “hot” wallet. Use multisig (gnosis-safe as example) or at least a hardware wallet. Never store your seed phrase digitally. Seed phrases are intended to be stored on the paper card included with hardware wallets! That means never type it up, store it online, or take a photo of the card. Store your key on hard device.
Offline back-ups. Store them in a safe. Can be written on paper, but recommended to be etched or laser-printed into metal. Always be sure to have a backup stored somewhere safe if your threat model allows for that. Ask yourself, what happens if my house catches on fire? What temperature is my safe rated to? Some individuals find a safety deposit box handy.
Read More
Never do anything you do not understand. Always check which token you approve, transaction you sign, assets you send, etc - be extremely accurate while making any financial operation. Keep in mind that one of possible attack vectors is to put you in a situation that will encourage you to do smth (login or anything like that). You can install malwarebytes or Comodo or DrWeb antivirus but it won't help you if you do not understand them. Keep up your basic set of defending tools up to date.
Be careful about using your real home address online for delivery purposes. Data breaches are now a daily occurrence, and many breaches include customer names and addresses. Your physical address is not as easily changeable as a phone number or email address, so be especially mindful about where you use it on the Internet. If you’re ordering pizza with crypto, order it for pickup instead of delivery. When online shopping, use a different (and publicly available) address for package delivery. Options here include your workplace or drop boxes at delivery service providers like FedEx and your local postal service.
Remember: You Could Be a Target! We are a natural target for all sorts of attacks — from garden-variety cybercriminals to competitive spying (sounds dramatic, but it’s real!). That said, it doesn’t really matter what industry you’re in. If you have any sensitive, proprietary information at all (and let’s face it, most people in crypto do), then you could very well be a target. This is a good thing to always keep in mind.
Remain Vigilant - Create a culture of skepticism where they feel comfortable checking twice before clicking a link or responding to a request for sensitive information, and you’ll have a much more secure organization overall.
OpSec often comes into play in public settings. For example, if members of your team are discussing work-related matters at a nearby lunch spot, during a conference, or over a beer, odds are that someone could overhear. As they say, loose lips can sink ships, so make sure you don’t discuss any sensitive company information while out in public. Many OpSec missteps can be avoided by being more aware of your surroundings and the context in which you are speaking: what you’re saying, where you are, who you’re speaking to, and who might overhear. It’s a good idea to go over the “no-no’s” for your specific company during onboarding and to remind employees of them periodically.
Identify your sensitive data, including your product research, intellectual property, financial statements, customer information, and employee information. This will be the data you will need to focus your resources on protecting.
Identify possible threats. For each category of information that you deem sensitive, you should identify what kinds of threats are present. While you should be wary of third parties trying to steal your information, you should also watch out for insider threats, such as negligent employees and disgruntled workers.
Analyze security holes and other vulnerabilities. Assess your current safeguards and determine what, if any, loopholes or weaknesses exist that may be exploited to gain access to your sensitive data.
| Example: Use AirGap, OpenSource Wallet, OpenSource Password storage, multi-sig, Selfhosted link system, read this Sheet, use OpSec Services - (you can also use tenderly.co contract/address alerts + SMS). For deals use escrow and tx alarm clock and with special services like safient.io, sarcophagus.io, safehaven.io.
Never forget about non-trivial defence methods like one I shared here and here.
Appraise the level of risk associated with each vulnerability. Rank your vulnerabilities using factors such as the likelihood of an attack happening, the extent of damage that you would suffer, and the amount of work and time you would need to recover. The more likely and damaging an attack is, the more you should prioritize mitigating the associated risk.
Get countermeasures in place. The last step of operational security is to create and implement a plan to eliminate threats and mitigate risks. This could include updating your hardware, creating new policies regarding sensitive data, or training employees on sound security practices and company policies. Countermeasures should be straightforward and simple. Employees should be able to implement the measures required on their part with or without additional training.
Implement separation of duties. Make sure that those who work on your network are not the same people in charge of security.
Automate tasks to reduce the need for human intervention. Humans are the weakest link in any organization’s operational security initiatives because they make mistakes, overlook details, forget things, and bypass processes.
Incident response and disaster recovery planning are always crucial components of a sound security posture. Even when operational security measures are robust, you must have a plan to identify risks, respond to them, and mitigate potential damages.
Read More on Incident Response Plans
Risk management: The process of identifying, assessing and controlling threats to an organization's capital and earnings. These risks stem from a variety of sources including financial uncertainties, legal liabilities, technology issues, strategic management errors, accidents and natural disasters.
Many individuals from an organization can be in charge of different parts of the risk management process. Through this process, they can discover potential areas for a data breach or other threats. Understanding potential threat vectors is central to this process, as it allows them to be seen before they can be exploited.
For example: A hacker delivered a RAT (remote access trojan) onto the computer of an employee. If the RAT has a variety of capabilities, it could steal the cookies from the web browser, sift through files on the computer, and then exfiltrate that data to be sold on a darkweb market at a later date. The operational security steps mentioned in problems 1 through 10 should help prevent this from happening.
Another potential attack is called "DNS Poisoning". It is a "highly deceptive cyber attack in which hackers redirect web traffic toward fake web servers and phishing websites". A web page could appear that looks like a normal login page for a business like GMail, Kraken, etc., but in reality it could be a phishing site made to steal your login information (email/username/password). Separate machines on the same network will not prevent this, as the traffic passes through the router for both machines, so the solution is to have separate networks and to verify website certificates. Some VPN providers use their own DNS servers through the software pakcage they provide, so this could prevent this type of attack as well.
Malware can also have the functionality to "attack" a computer's clipboard. The malware could check the clipboard at a set interval to see if any cryptocurrency addresses are detected in it. If they are, it would then replace the one in the clipboard with one of the hacker's cryptocurrency addresses, which means the cryptocurrency would then be sent to the hacker. The beginning and end may match, but this requires extra functionality on the part of the malware, as it would need to generate wallets on the fly and exfiltrate the keys to the hacker.
Your level of opsec usually depends on your threat model and which adversary you're up against. So it's hard to define how good your opsec is. But I'd say it sounds pretty okay. I recommend watching:
If you use smartphone be extremely aware.
Only Interact with DeFi Protocols You Trust - Take your time to read up on some previous concepts we’ve covered such as staking, yield farming, NFT farming, and research any other new terms you may come across before depositing crypto into a DApp that deploys any of these investment strategies.
Use trusted services. Using a secure, easy-to-use crypto wallet to interact with DeFi applications is essential to a safe and user-friendly DeFi experience. Interacting with smart contracts can be tricky for first-time users, so using a beginner-friendly crypto wallet with DApp support is a smart way to mitigate risks stemming from accidental errors on the side of the user.
Be aware of most common attacks. Follow hacker websites, latest security standarts, check out what Nitrokey does and why. As a conclusion - read what is OSINT and counterOSINT so possible criminals wont be able to collect needed data.
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