Crypto Academy Season 4 Beginners' course - Task 9: Blockchain Wallet-- Types, Uses, Installation, etc.
Hello fellow blockchain nodes, it gives me the joy to be given this wonderful opportunity to learn more about blockchain Wallet; Its Types, Uses, Installation, etc. This is task 9 of the homework for beginner's fixed courses, I will be writing the assignment task given by professor @sapwood.
Question
How do you store/secure your keys? What are the different forms of Private Key(Examples/Screenshot)? Download & Install TronLink Wallet(Android/iOS/Extension)? How do you store the key(Hint- write it down on a notepad, demonstrate it with examples)? Which form of the key are you comfortable with to handle your TronLink Wallet? Include Screenshots & hide/blur the sensitive information.
How do you store/secure your keys?
A key to me is an independent factor used to open a dependent factor. In this context. a key is used to open anything ranging from padlocks, wallets, phones, apps, etc. It is independent because without it the padlock or wallet cannot open or function properly.
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For me, there are three ways in which I stored my keys for my social media and blockchain account. I am going to arrange them in the ascending order of accessibility that is from the easiest to the hardest.
- Digitally
- Gadget
- Printed
Digitally
This is the easiest for me because I use it often. Here I saved a copy of my keys to my discord channel. Discord is known for keeping information even though you uninstall the app and install it. Once you put in your password, all the saved documents will still be retrievable. Whenever I need my private keys for any transaction, I go there and copy the necessary key and paste. It only works with my mobile phone, for my laptop, I have to send the keys from the discord channel to my telegram channel that is linked to my system, copy the key, paste, and delete the key from my telegram channel.
Gadget
This usually comes in handy once it is connected to my system. I saved my keys in a document and transferred them to an external hard drive. I save other important documents too on the external hard drive. This is a form of back up in-case my phone or laptop crashes. It's a practice I have maintained over the years and I continue to do so. My advice to others hoping to adopt this method too is - Get a reliable and trusted external hard drive. Go for quality and well-known ones.
Printed
Having exhausted the other two, I fall back to the one I printed out on A4 paper. The shortcoming of this is that it requires typing the password one after the other and for steemit and Tron keys that are long, it can be tiring to do so. Regardless of that, I still have an extra copy of my keys in the printed version.
What are the different forms of Private Key(Examples/Screenshot)?
The basic forms of Private Keys are;
- Keystore files
- Private Key
- Mnemonic key
The Keystore system allows users to store encryption keys in a box to make them increasingly hard to remove. Keys could be utilized for encryption algorithms once they've been stored in the authenticator, but the information that can be obtained isn't easily transferable. It includes features that limit when and where keys could be used, including enabling the user authentication for keys usage or limiting them to mostly be used in specific encrypted settings. The KeyChain API, Android Keystore provider, and the Jetpack Security module are examples of users of the Keystore system.
It is also known as an encryption key - A cryptographic parameter that is used to encode and decode data using an automated system. Just the key's originator and those entitled to encrypt or decrypt ought to have access to the private key. This key plays an essential part in symmetric cryptography, asymmetric cryptography, and virtual currencies.
A private key is usually time-consuming, inconsistent, or series of bits that can be easily remembered. The sophistication and duration of the key define how easy it would be for an intruder to carry out such a cruel attack, in which they attempt out several keys until they find the appropriate one.
Mnemonics often contain 12 or 24 (within range) characters. All phrases were drawn from the set vocab, as well as the sequence in which they are generated is determined by a system, so you don't have to bother about an irregular 12 words being able to view a chain address. Even though both seed phrase/mnemonics and Keystore could be used as an additional type of private key, the seeds phrase/mnemonics is an unprotected private key, unlike Keystore.
Download & Install TronLink Wallet(Android/iOS/Extension)?
- To Download TronLink wallet, go to google play store, search for it, download and install to your mobile phone.
After downloading the app, click on it to open. For newcomers, you will need to register while for existing users like myself, I will just need to import my Tron account from my steemit wallet.
At the top right of the TronLik home page you'll see a circle-like icon. Click on it to import your wallet.
- A list of options will come up to add the wallet. I chose to use my Tron private key to import my wallet from steemit.
- I put in the private key and my wallet was automatically linked.
How do you store the key(Hint- write it down on a notepad, demonstrate it with examples)?
To store my private key and its backup key, I copied it and pasted to my discord channel.
Which form of the key are you comfortable with to handle your TronLink Wallet? Include Screenshots & hide/blur the sensitive information.
Out of the two options available for me to use and secure my wallet, I chose to use the private key. It's less ambiguous to me and I can easily copy the whole text and paste when the need arises. Due to warnings from the app, I could not take a proper picture of my private key to blur.
- Wallet Management - Private Key
- Back-Up Private Key
Conclusion
Knowing the significant differences between the different forms of private keys can help new users when they see one. They are all used interchangeably and are secure ways used to open most wallets.
Thank you for reading, and thank you professor @sapwood for the lecture.