If someone gets their hands on your seed phrase or gains access to your wallet, you will almost certainly lose any NFTs associated with it. You can have a legal safeguard, though; these techniques are barely effective at the hackers.
Hackers have been stealing art since the NFTs have become popular. As long as you yourself are not prepared to share your work in a public arena, there is always the possibility that someone will steal it and benefit from it. So, to save you from this type of danger, this guide will provide some easy and effective ways, if you have been wondering how to protect your NFT art.
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10 Ways to Secure NFT arts in 2022 -2023
1. Use a Non-Custodial Wallet.
Most artists store their NFTs in the custodial wallet, which is far more vulnerable to attacks than anyone can think. Instead of a custodial wallet, a non-custodial wallet is a great option. A hardware non-custodial wallet provides greater security than a custodial wallet. It simply eases storing the NFTs on an exchange or a marketplace. Your non-custodial wallet will require you to have a seed phrase, which can be up to 24 words long.
Further, to enhance the security even better, you can add a security PIN requiring your physical device to access any of your NFTs or cryptocurrency. Non-custodial wallets are far more effective than custodial wallets in protecting your digital art from phishing attacks and copying. It will keep your cryptocurrency safe on the blockchain in every scenario, like damaging the physical device, stealing, or anything else.
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2. Copyright Your Digital Art.
Copyrighting the NFTs can also protect your art. However, remember that copyrighting your NFTs gives you security over your digital art, not the actual word version of this.
Also, there are many other widespread confusions about copyrighting NFTs because NFTs are metadata files, so they become tricky to copyright.
NFTs founders always create digital copies of your art and start offering it online. Copyrighting your NFTs can protect the illegal distribution or reproduction of NFT art. Once you have copyrighted your NFTs, you can describe them on any marketplace or exchange where you list your NFTs.
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3. Mint Your NFTs.
Minting is yet another way to protect your NFTs. When you mint an NFT, a unique token is created and executed on the blockchain. These nearly minted tokens store the metadata for an image. Minted token forever stores the metadata for an image, video, text, audio, and more. Plus, minting an NFT is easy. You can mind your NFT paying a small gas fee one by one. A developer can create a smart contract to allow you to mint your NFT. You decide the contract’s perimeter based on your preferences.
4. Stay Aware Of Fake Browser Extensions.
Staying alerted about the fake browser extensions can save your NFTs from possible attacks. Hackers and NFT thieves utilize the fake extension to record the seed phrase so that they can easily break into the security of your NFTs. So, you should always avoid downloading any unverified browser extension for your browser and computer. Unverified extensions always contain suspicious characters in the URL.
The NFT artists also have reported about the thieves who install the extensions, often claiming to verify your right as an owner of the NFTs. Do not get into these types of traps. You have the copyright, so you don’t have to verify your ownership rights. Hackers do all of this to harm your digital art ultimately.
5. Trade On Only Trusted Marketplace.
Several marketplaces to trade your NFT provide you with a trading platform—some of these marketplaces, such as OpenSea. A reputable marketplace requires you to verify your user identity so that you and others can trade securely.
A reputable marketplace follows all the necessary measurements to secure your NFTs from any stealing attempts. So, it’s always better to trade your digital art on a reputable marketplace rather than making deals through indented channels. In addition, many popular nft marketplaces also encourage non-custodial digital wallet like MetaMask. So, in any case, you won’t be compromising your security.
6. Trade Only With Genuine Buyers.
Ensure to do your due diligence about the buyer before jumping into any trade commitment. Scammers often pick a targeted approach that makes people hope in the high trade money. These types of deals look too good to be true. So, verifying the user’s rating is always better before jumping into any trade decision. Be cautious and stay aware of hackers’ tactics to dun you.
Never be forced to make any deal just because the buyer kept indicating to you and paying the reasonable amount. Only go ahead with the value once you are entirely sure about the trade and buyer.
7. Use “Watermark” to Protect Your Art.
Using a watermark as possible NFT security is a great idea to save your NFTs from getting copied or stolen. Only provide the non-water market version to a legitimate buyer. So, even if a stealer tries to sell your digital art online, you can check its authenticity online.
The watermark works the same with NFTs as with any other image. You can cover the entirety of the image to create perfect water.
You can think of it as a simple yet effective way to protect your art from theft.
8. Never Share Your Details With Anyone.
Hackers do not have to attack you digitally to obtain your seed phrase. Sometimes they can get close to you in person and trick you into stealing your seed phrase. Never share your seed phrase, even with those who trust you. Your digital wallet’s secret recovery phrase should always stay private to you in every situation. You don’t have to provide your secret recovery phrase to a marketplace. This slight privacy plays a considerable role in protecting your funds and tokens.
9. Learn About Unknown And Broken Links.
Unknown and broken links are one of the primary reasons behind the NFT theft happening in recent times. So, stay aware when browsing the different websites and interact with others on social media or discord. Avoid clicking on any ads and media sent to you by strangers.
Hackers often use these types of links to penetrate the security of your system. Often the broken link looks suspicious even at first look. These types of URLs mostly contain odd symbols. However, there is no foolproof way to identify an infected link. Stay vigilant about clicking on the affected links.
10. Secure your Email.
Marketplace only sends emails from their authentic domain. So, do not respond to any email that claims to be a certain marketplace but looks suspicious.
By posing in the marketplace, thieves send download links that ultimately make you lose your NFTs. So, never, ever, ever download anything from an email. Marketplaces generally don’t include attachments or download demands.
To prevent this from happening, you simply have to stay alert and check every URL before clicking on it. Most of the fake URLs are misspelled, and hackers can frequently personalize URLs by swapping letters. Don’t share any details or accept a request if you want to protect your digital asset.
11. Never Skip Smart Contract Auditing.
Smart contract auditing is the process of inspecting and validating the operation and security of a smart contract. The auditor searches for any flaws that may be exploited and result in losses for the contracting parties. If you or the developer somehow failed to eliminate these flaws, then these flaws, hackers can benefit from it and copy your NFTs. So, ensure smart contract auditing. You have to take care that the smart contract follows every standard set.
Another thing you have to take care of about the smart contract is the transaction you make.
When approving transactions through digital wallets like MetaMask, constantly review your spending limit. Click “Edit on Permission” to change the expenditure limit for each currency.
12. Never Reuse A Password.
Using all passwords is something that everyone has done at least once, but using the same approach in the case of NFTs can put your digital wallet under the serious threat of hackers.
Hackers usually pick a person’s habits to break into their system security, so there are significant chances that a hacker already knows your old password. So, you are doing nothing but a mistake. Like the old password, you should also not use a weak one. Weak passwords always have a great history with break-ins, security thefts, and now the NFT theft. If you don’t want all of this to happen, ensure to change your password every now and then and always create a strong password.
13. Only Use Authentic Password Savers.
If you worry that you might forget your password, don’t worry. It is the most common thing that people fear. Passwords are a delicate subject. Only your password prevents others from accessing your personal details. However, storing your complete password in a notepad is not secure. Anyone with access to your phone can view all of the credentials on your notepad. You can secure your credential on a secure password manager, but only on any password manager you see on the internet. When looking for significant information on “how to protect NFT,” an ordinary wallet is definitely not the answer.
While a secure password manager can organize and maintain all of your passwords for various digital wallets, an ordinary password will bring you even closer to hackers.
14. Same As the “Seed Phrase,” Never Disperse Your “Secret Recovery Phrase.”
Same as the seed phrase, the secret recovery phrase for your wallet is personal to you and should not be disclosed, even with individuals you trust.
It may seem apparent to all the crypto experts out there, but it cannot be overstated. A wallet service will never request the secret recovery phrase for your wallet.
According to your wallet services wallet providers, you may also find some helpful tips there. So go to your wallet provider’s website and look through the instructions and tutorials for further information on how to protect nft art.
15. Only Talk About Your NFT When You Want to Sell.
Dropping your NFTs can be the most exciting thing for you. But, are you sure that it only excites you? Not really!
An NFT scammer is always looking for information to drop about an NFT collection to prepare themselves to steal it. Never deliver too much information about your NFTs on social media, if you don’t have the mind to sell it at this point. It puts you at the potential risk of being robbed for your NFT. There have been incidents before, where the hackers stole the NFTs and then listed them on the marketplace, even before their original owner. So, if you don’t want this to occur to you. Think clearly about the timings to drop teasers and your entire NFT collection.
16. Protect Your Computer System Against Malware.
You should be cautious whether you’re downloading PDFs, movies, or free NFTs from an unauthorized source. The virus is also a program that works in predictable and unpredictable ways at other times. As a result, protecting your system becomes your own duty.
Some malware has the ability to steal vital information from NFT artists. When it comes down to it, a costly NFT is just as valuable as gold. To safely access your wallet, you must guarantee that your computer is virus-free.
If you suspect your computer has a virus and NFT data on it, you should immediately disconnect from the internet. Then, check to see if the malware has infected your phone; if so, turn it off. Next, analyze the suspected infection externally (like on an iPhone) and avoid connecting any device to your PC. After that, have your system cleaned by a professional.
Wrapping Up!
For queries like “how to protect my NFT art,” these tips are the best answer. You can employ these tips in your everyday digital art journey to make it more secure than ever. Remember, whether fake or legal, blockchain transactions are irreversible, so pay close attention to your NFT’s security.
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