Security above everything: why every month is Cybersecurity Awareness Month at Kraken

5 min read

By Nick Percoco, Kraken Chief Security Officer

Cybersecurity cannot beryllium an afterthought for a crypto platform. At Kraken, we see securing our clients’ idiosyncratic accusation and cryptoassets to beryllium our highest priority, truthful we spot security supra everything. Following October’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we’d similar to archer you much astir our ongoing attack to safeguarding your idiosyncratic information and cryptoassets.  

Kraken was founded with a security-first mindset successful 2011. Our Co-Founders witnessed the Mt. Gox exploit firsthand, arsenic clients mislaid entree to funds they had entrusted to that platform. It was a catastrophe for thousands of customers and the speech itself.

We proceed to strive to beryllium a unafraid trading level wherever clients tin entree the cryptoasset ecosystem and put with confidence. For us, information is simply a mode of life. 

Security is portion of our DNA

Security is astatine the halfway of Kraken’s planetary operation. Over our 12-year history, we person consistently invested successful our cybersecurity infrastructure, hired immoderate of the brightest endowment successful the info-sec assemblage and spent countless hours grooming all of our teams to beryllium “productively paranoid.” 

But information is not conscionable astir keeping the crypto we clasp connected behalf of our clients safe. The idiosyncratic identifying accusation we support astir our clients is conscionable arsenic invaluable to malicious actors.

We purpose to usage the latest standards to encrypt each delicate relationship accusation astatine some the strategy and information level. This means your identifying accusation is ever hidden down a almighty furniture of security. After we encrypt your information, we travel a robust acceptable of information procedures and controls that earned america ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certifications.

Why information is simply a two-way process

We besides admit that our security-first attack is astir effectual erstwhile clients recognize the value of remaining vigilant arsenic they navigate the progressively integer satellite we unrecorded in. 

Because cybercriminals are perpetually evolving their practices to extract idiosyncratic accusation from their victims, we person invested important resources to amended cognition of bully information practices for everyone.

For example, we entered a concern with fashionable American scam-baiter KitBoga to creatively rise consciousness of the astir communal crypto-related scams. We were besides recognized by the CSO 50 awards for our ongoing efforts to trim the prevalence of email phishing attacks.  

The relation of 2 origin authentication (2FA) successful our security-first approach

While Kraken is continuously striving to support our client’s assets and idiosyncratic data, we admit the value of clients implementing 2FA to assistance america successful our efforts to support the highest level of operational security.

2FA acts arsenic a important 2nd furniture of defence that further protects your online life. We comparison 2FA to having a deadbolt connected the beforehand doorway of your home. Yes, 1 fastener mightiness beryllium capable to support intruders out, but having a secondary fastener that requires a antithetic cardinal is simply a almighty upgrade that further safeguards your home. 

Because this secondary furniture of extortion is truthful vital, we judge everyone should alteration 2FA connected each the accounts and applications they tin – particularly their idiosyncratic email.

Our clients person a scope of options for enabling 2FA connected their Kraken accounts. For example, determination are respective communal authenticator apps that make one-time passcodes which tin beryllium utilized to authenticate an enactment – similar verifying their relationship sign-in process. They tin besides usage these passcodes to validate caller wallet addresses being created oregon the initiation of a transaction from their Kraken account.

We actively promote our clients to spell 1 measurement further by enabling aggregate forms of 2FAs erstwhile utilizing our platform. This is known arsenic multi-factor authentication (MFA), arsenic each further furniture creates other extortion for assets and idiosyncratic information.

Even much secure: MFA and beyond

For those who privation an adjacent higher level of protection, we besides alteration 2FA done carnal hardware devices supporting the FIDO2 and WebAuthN standards. Similar to utilizing authentication apps, hardware information devices make unsocial keys that authenticate a instrumentality oregon service.

However, these hardware devices are not taxable to risks of phishing attacks, similar a time-sensitive codification tin be. These devices usage peculiar information chips to securely make keys that are unsocial to the authentic web work oregon mobile app they are designed for. This makes them resistant to communal phishing attacks.

Finally, portion implementing a 2FA strategy is important, its effectiveness tin beryllium reduced by anemic password management. Many radical inactive usage precise communal passwords specified arsenic password1, spring2023, qwerty oregon hunter2 to safeguard their accounts. The bully quality is that it’s casual to make unafraid passwords; larn however successful astir 3 minutes with this speedy video:

Eight successful 10 radical assertion to reuse their passwords crossed antithetic websites. While this whitethorn beryllium convenient for a idiosyncratic to remember, it creates a azygous constituent of nonaccomplishment for a unfortunate should a cyber transgression compromise an relationship with this communal password. The attacker volition past effort to summation entree to each different fashionable sites and apps and volition apt beryllium palmy successful doing so.

The information of crypto platforms, including ours, and idiosyncratic cybersecurity hygiene volition beryllium captious for cryptoassets to determination into mainstream adoption. If you’re funny successful learning much astir our information approach, click here for much details.