Optimize account security

Although the hardware wallet offers great security advantages compared to software wallets, it is important to follow the following safety recommendations to ensure the funds are as safe as possible.

Use a strong PIN code:

The PIN code is the mechanism that protects the funds if the device is lost or stolen. If an unauthorized person gets access to the device, it is not practical to try to break the PIN protection by testing many combinations one after the other, because the device ask the user to wait some time after each failed attempt, and that time is incremented exponentially every time, which makes the process extremely show and inviable. However, this is of little use if a easy to guess PIN is used, such as an important date or even 1234.

Please, use a PIN that is as long as possible while not difficult to remember. Also, make sure that it is not easy to guess. Do not use sequences (such as 1234), repetitions (such as 1111) or numbers that are very easy to associate with you (such as your identification number or birthday).

Keep your recovery seed safe:

The recovery seed is the only way in which you can recover your funds if something bad happens to the hardware wallet. That's why it's extremely important to have a backup of your seed, but it's also extremely important to be sure that that copy be secure. Anyone who has access to the seed will be able to access the funds, regardless of whether the device has a PIN code or not, so keeping the seed protected and secret is extremely important.

It is recommended to write down the seed on paper or some resistant material and keep it in a safe place. Store it in a place were unauthorized persons won’t be able to access it and won’t be damaged by accident. You may also want to create more than one copy and make sure that your family members can access it in case of emergency. You could also write the seed in such a way that the text is not normally understandable, either because it is messy or divided into several parts, for example, but you should bear in mind that this carries the risk that you could forget how to decipher the seed and lose access to your funds permanently.

Warning: you should never enter the seed on an electronic device at any time, especially on your computer. The purpose of the hardware wallet is to keep the secret keys out of any computer, making it impossible for a virus or any other security vulnerability to have access to the coins. If you write the seed on your computer, this is no longer effective and, basically, the protection provided by the hardware wallet is lost. The only exception to this is when you are restoring your hardware wallet and you must enter the seed to regain access to the funds, because the desktop wallet and the hardware wallet will use a secure process in which you will have to enter the words in random order.