Achievement 2 @sage.lee Task : Basic Security on Steem

Hello Steemians, it is of profound pleasure that I write my second Achievement post which is about security on Steem.

The concept of security can never be overemphasised and as such, security on Steem is not left out. It is of utmost priority that your Steemit account be jealously protected and secured because no one wants the reward for their hardwork be unjustly taken due to a breach in security. It could be a very traumatizing experience for the victim(s).

Have I Retrieved All My Keys On Steemit?

As a matter of fact, yes I have. Understanding the importance of security made me not to waste even the slightest second before retrieving and backing up all my keys.
Upon the creation of a Steemit account, each user is assigned 4 different private keys for the rock-solid protection of the account. These keys individually serve distinctive purposes which help for the all-round security of the Steemit account. Also, during the course of finishing up registration on the Steemit platform, the user is obliged to download a pdf file containing various private and public keys. It is left to the user to add an extra layer of security by backing up the backup, lol. I personally took time to print mine out and also write it down somewhere.

Functions And Restrictions Of These Keys:

The different keys in question are the Master password, the Owner key, the Active key and the Posting key.
Owner Key:
If you ask me, I’ll say that the owner key is the ‘king’ of keys. It is a long horizontal list of meaningless texts which can be used in a case of compromised account, to generate new keys. Therefore, ideally, it is only used when necessary.

Master Password:
The master password is used to derive keys for an account. It is to be well protected because if the master password is lost to an account predator, there is no recovering your account.

Active Key:
This key is used while carrying out different activities on the Steemit platform. The blockchain works in such a way that any activity carried out is recorded as a transaction, therefore when you perform activities such as transferring funds, powering up or down, converting your SBD, voting witnesses, making profile updates, etc they are seen as transactions by/on the blockchain and as such, will need confirmations. And that is where the active key comes into play. So in a simple form, the active key is used to confirm ‘transactions'/activities.

Memo Key:
This key is used when transferring funds. It is used to encrypt and/or decrypt memo.

Posting Key:
Basically, the posting key is a key which allows users to carry out any ‘social' activity such as posting, daily logging in, commenting, editing, etc. It was created to reduce risk and damages of compromised key/account.

How Do I Plan To Keep My Master Password ?

Like I previously stated, I have it written down somewhere, together with other keys and also printed while still stored on google drive.

How To Transfer Steem To Another Steem User:

To be able to transfer Steem to another user, the first step is to login to your account. Then click on the icon where your display picture is shown. I would use a screenshot from my mobile phone to describe..

Clicking on the icon will result to a drop down menu of which you will see various options. Click on wallet.

The wallet is where transactions are carried out between users or users and third party applications. Also, you can view your different keys by clicking on the “Key & Permissions" icon, just incase you haven’t backed up. This will come in handy.
Now, back to transferring Steem...
Just below the “Buy Steem” icon in your wallet, there is a brief write-up about Steem (liquid asset) which ends with a hyperlinked Steem ‘balance'. Click on it.

The result of the action incurred is a dropdown menu where you can find different options such as Transfer, Transfer to Savings, Power Up, Trade and Market.

Because you want to transfer Steem to another user, you have to click on “Transfer" to proceed to the next step.

The image above is the result prior to the last action executed. Input the name of the account you wish to transfer Steem to, beginning it with ‘@’. Fill the amount of Steem you want to transfer and lastly, put in your memo to conclude the process.

How To Power Up Steem

To power up your Steem will require you to go to your wallet. Now you have to repeat the previous process but this time, you are going to click on “Power Up" menu from the dropdown.
The above action will lead to the next page where you will feel the necessary details in other to proceed.

Input the amount of Steem you wish to power up and proceed. You will eventually be asked for your active key which is mandatory in other to finalize the transaction.

Thank you,
@sage.lee