Newbies Initiative Task3 - Hive Security

I have been constantly notified to change my recovery account since the time I activated my Hive account. I was meaning to do it but ended up procrastinating.

Week 3 of the newbie's initiative program got me finally. I read everything in detail about Hive Security and Recovery and I think I am fully equipped with all the knowledge now. I knew most of the things due to the good amount of experience on other blockchain but never really touched the topic of Account Recovery.

So, let's see what I have in task 3.

1- In your opinion, what are the best ways of keeping your keys safe?

There are multiple ways of keeping one's keys safe. Some people save it online and some prefer offline.

In my opinion, anything that is "online" is always under threat. I never trust cloud or email storages. Traditional passwords can easily be compromised.

If I have to send any key via online method, I always add another layer of encryption to it and decryption method stays between me and the receiving end.

I prefer cold wallets or any offline storage.

• A PDF in the computer, although not completely safe if the computer is compromised but still better than cloud storage.

• Get a printout and save the paper in your home. This will be a useful backup if your device gets broken or stolen.

2- How do you check your recovery account and what process is needed to recover an account?

I use PeakD interface usually and there we can check recovery account like this:

• Open your Profile
• Click on Account Actions
• Go to Keys and Permissions
• Go to Recovery Account tab.

There at the end of the page, recovery account is mentioned.

Before I explain the recovery method, I must remind that

Only stolen or compromised account can be recovered.

Lost master/owner Keys can't be recovered.

Because we still need the owner key to change keys or recover the account.

To recover an account,

• Go to https://reazuliqbal.com/HiveAccountRecovery/
• Click Recover Account

The page will redirect to a form like this:

Fill in all the information as instructed.

• Send the Newly Generated Owner Key to your Trustee or Recovery Account Holder.

• The trustee should open the Request Recovery tab from the same link - https://reazuliqbal.com/HiveAccountRecovery/ and fill the form which is somewhat like this:

• Assuming the trustee has filed the request, now you will have to fill another form like this and you will be able to recover the account.

3- Whom did you choose as your account trustee, and why?

I created my account in 2018 but was not active here so by default the recovery account was set to @steem. Now that I am active, I daily get pop-up messages to change my recovery account since a lot has changed since that time and I am not sure if my current recovery account is something that I can rely on.

I am still weighing my options because I don't know personally anyone on Hive. But soon I will figure it out and change my recovery account, whose owner I can reach outside Hive.

4- List the various types of keys and state their use cases.

Keys	Uses
Posting Key	For Voting, Commenting, Posting, Following, Muting
Memo Key	For Sending and Viewing Encrypted Messages
Active Key	For Executing all kinds of Transactions including Powering Up/Down, Token Transfer, HBD/Hive Conversions, Witness Vote
Owner Key	For Recovering Account, Resetting Posting, Active, Memo Keys
Master Password	For Recovering Account and Resetting all keys

That's all about keys and their uses.

^{Cover Image was designed by @projectmamabg specifcially for this inititave and other images are screenshots from here.}