Foreword

Binance always puts security as its top priority. While we do our best to keep your account secure, users themselves can play a part in making their accounts significantly more secure.

In this article, we’ll cover some simple account protection measures and some good habits you must develop. It is also in Binance’s interest to ensure the security of user accounts. As the blockchain industry develops at a rapid pace, creating a more secure environment will benefit everyone.

So, what steps can we take to improve the security of our personal Binance accounts?

1. Set a strong password and change it regularly

Sounds simple, but this is an essential step to protect your Binance account. You should have different, strong passwords for all accounts on your network. Asset savings accounts such as digital currency trading platform accounts should be strictly protected. Ideally, these passwords should be more than eight characters long and contain a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters.

One of the best ways to generate, manage, and store passwords is a password manager. This tool allows you to save and manage different passwords securely and conveniently in one place. Most password managers use sophisticated encryption mechanisms to provide additional protection. You must use trustworthy password manager software to set a strong master password.

Setting a strong password is just a good start, but it does not mean that it can be done once and for all and sit back and relax. Cyberattackers try to steal passwords in a variety of ways, and changing your passwords regularly is a good habit to defend against attacks. This measure not only applies to Binance accounts, but also effectively protects email addresses associated with Binance accounts.

Since we are talking about email addresses, we recommend that different accounts should be registered using different email addresses, which can effectively reduce the potential for data leakage risk. Especially accounts registered through long-ago email addresses are highly likely to have been exposed to data breaches before. If you set up a dedicated email address for each service, you can significantly reduce the possibility of a single email address affecting multiple accounts at the same time. The Have I Been Pwned website is a very useful tool to see if a personal account has been subject to a data breach.

Please note that once your Binance account password is changed, you will not be able to withdraw funds for the next 24 hours. This prevents potential attackers from stealing a victim's funds by changing their password.

2. Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA)

After creating your Binance account, the first task is to activate two-factor authentication (2FA). Binance supports two types of two-factor authentication (2FA): SMS and Google Authentication. We recommend using the second one - Google Authenticator. Be sure to record the reset key so you can use the two-factor authentication (2FA) code with your new phone.

While SMS authentication is more convenient, it is slightly less secure than Google Authenticator. SIM card hijacking attacks are a real threat, and many well-known accounts have unfortunately fallen victim to them. In 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey fell victim. The attacker has free control over his Twitter account, which has millions of followers.

These are not the only ways to secure your account with two-factor authentication (2FA). We'll briefly look at another method called Universal Second-Factor (U2F) Authentication. It uses security hardware devices to keep accounts safe. Binance happens to also support this tool.

3. Check all accounts that have permission to use the account Devices

You can check all devices that have access to your personal Binance account in the Device Management tab. In the Binance App, this tab is located under the “Accounts” tab.

If you find a device that is unfamiliar or no longer used, delete it. Once removed, the device will no longer be able to access the account unless confirmed via email and re-authorized. As mentioned in the previous discussion, the security of your email account is also crucial.

You can also check account activity, i.e. the IP address from which the account was logged in and when. If you notice any suspicious signs, disable the account immediately. This action will suspend all transactions and withdrawals, delete all API keys, and remove any devices gaining access to the account.

4. Manage withdrawal address

Your Binance account has a security feature called address management. It allows users to set wallet addresses from which funds can be withdrawn. After enabling this feature, all new addresses must be confirmed by email before being added to the withdrawal whitelist.

Once again, keeping your email account secure is crucial! This is the basis for keeping your online accounts secure.

Still hesitating about which digital currency wallet to deposit the withdrawn funds into? We recommend Trust Wallet, a secure software wallet that’s great for mobile. You can also use a hardware wallet to keep your private keys securely offline.

Want to start your cryptocurrency journey? Buy Bitcoin on Binance today!

5. Prevent Phishing

Phishing is an attempt by criminals to impersonate someone else (e.g. Enterprises) use cyber attacks to defraud personal information. This is also the most common attack method at present, and you should always be vigilant to take preventive measures.

In general, it is recommended to always access Binance through saved bookmarks to avoid manually entering your address every time you log in. If you haven’t bookmarked Binance’s official website yet, add the following link now: https://www.binance.com. This simple measure will block many fake Binance websites from trying to trick you into entering your account information.

Using the anti-phishing code feature, you can set a unique code and embed it in all notification emails sent by Binance. After enabling the anti-phishing code, you can use it to determine whether the notification email you receive is authentic and trustworthy. To learn more about this, read our guide to anti-phishing codes.

Want to learn about other ways to prevent phishing? Please read "What is Phishing?" 》.

6. Follow API security guidelines

The Binance API is an excellent way to help more advanced traders maximize their experience using the Binance trading engine. Binance API allows users to customize trading strategies.

However, using API keys requires external applications to share data, which also carries certain risks. Therefore, IP address-based access restrictions should be considered when using the Binance API. Only IP addresses added to the whitelist have access rights. In addition, API keys should be updated regularly to avoid leakage.

7. Use Universal Second Factor (U2F )Authentication

Binance supports U2F-compatible authenticators such as Yubico YubiKey. These devices can only grant you account access when plugged into your computer or paired wirelessly.

You may think that this type of device is similar to Google Authenticator, but it is not software but a hardware device. This hardware is also required for physical access when you access your account.

Conclusion

How to protect Binance accounts has always been our focus. In this article, we cover a number of simple steps you can take to secure your account and prevent hackers from stealing your hard-earned Bitcoin and altcoins.

To check the current security level of your personal account, please visit the security operation panel of our official website. If using the Binance App, check the Security tab under the Account tab.

For more information, visit Binance Academy and read articles on other security-related topics!