NEWBIE TASK 3: SECURING HIVE ACCOUNT (HIVE KEYS AND SECURITY)

6 months ago(edited)

Hello fellow hivers, I had the opportunity to attend the last class on hive tools and security taught by our instructor @vickoly. It was a wonderful experience and an eye-opener for me regarding the various keys of hive, their importance, and how to safeguard these keys. Once again, I want to express my gratitude to our leaders who made this newbie initiative pull through for us.

During the account opening process on Hive, we received a PDF containing essential keys to navigate on Hive. These keys include; the owner key, master key, active key, posting key, and lastly the memo key. As our tutor mentioned, unlike in Web 2 platforms like Facebook where we safeguard our passwords to prevent unauthorized access, securing these hive keys is vital given the finances involved.

There are various ways to keep our keys safe these include;

Hard copy :
Write down your keys, but omit some letters or numbers to prevent easy access if found
PDF format:
It shouldn't only be saved but also locked to prevent people from easily accessing it.
Email or cloud storage:
Although it isn't highly advisable, in cases where your email can be hacked.

THE FUNCTION OF HIVE KEYS

As previously listed, there are different hive keys /passwords, it is important to understand the various uses and functions of each.

Owner's key
Master key
Active Key
Posting key
Memo key
Owner's key:
It is the most powerful and important hive key. It is used to recover a new set of keys and also to recover your account if it has been hijacked.
Master key:
It is also a very important key used to recover your account. If you misplace your other keys, the master key is used to recover those lost keys.
Active key:
Active keys are used for anything related to financial transactions including transferring and exchanging of tokens. It is also used for powering up and down.
Posting key:
It is also known as engagement key. It is required to publish post, comment, reblog, share, downvote, upvote.

Memo key:
It is used to send encrypted messages or view encrypted messages. Essential for privacy and security within the hive blockchain.

TRUSTEE/RECOVERY ACCOUNT

In situations where we lose access to our account or where our keys have been compromised, we can recover our accounts using the Trustee /recovery account. This account is assigned to us automatically when we open a hive. For instance, when you open your account using eccency your trustee account will be eccency, similarly when opening your account with other hive frontends. It is advisable to change your trustee account to someone you can easily access, contact, and most importantly someone you trust. Below are the steps on how to change your recovery account:

First and foremost you log in to your hive account using PeakD

Click on your profile picture

Click on your profile picture again to display your profile

Click on the three dots beside the settings. You will be given different options

Select keys and permission, where you will be given other options to choose

Click on recovery account. Scroll down to know your recovery account and also where to change it

Click on change recovery account. You will be told to fill in your new recovery account and your owner key

Peradventure, your account Active Key got exposed to the general public. What are the measures you'll take to safeguard your assets and account going forward?

In a case where my active key is exposed, the first thing I would do is transfer all my assets to my trustee account immediately. Then I will use my owner's key to generate a new set of keys which include a new active key.

The first image was edited using Canva

All other images are screenshots from my phone

This is my entry for newbie-task week 3