It’s been 2 weeks since @noisy posted his text about not-hacking 11 Steemit accounts. It was the top 1 trending post for a week and I think at some point everyone saw it. And they probably did.

Private memo keys

First let me quote @noisy:

There are 4 pairs of keys: active, owner, posting and memo. Every pair has public key and private key. Under any circumstances, you should never expose any of your private keys.

As I wrote in a post, right now exposing a private memo key is not very dangerous. But it was said few times, that in the future memo-keys will be used to encrypt and decrypt private messages. So basically every your conversation encrypted with your memo-key would be basically public for everyone who poses your private memo key.

Also... even right now everyone with your private memo key could try do some kind of social-engineering attack, by pretending that attacker is you (because technically speaking only you should be able to sign message with your private key).

So... no, your account was not hacked right now, but with private memo key exposed, your account could be attacked in a moment when private-memo-keys would gain some new role in Steem ecosystem.

But many users, like @dollarvigilante, didn’t take it seriously.

And those users didn’t change their keys. No reason why.

Not in blockchain?

I have found one setting which is not stored in blockchain. So it means it can be changed in the user’s profile with ANY private key. This setting is viewing the Not safe for work (NSFW) content.

To show you how it works I have found user with NSFW content (one post without any images - @hungrylilkitten) and I will use @dollarvigilante private memo key as an example.

So are you still going to wait with changing private keys for something worse to happen?

A lot of memo keys

You might think there are only a few of those private memo keys so no need to worry. Let me surprise you - there are dozens of them.

Let’s have a look at the number of posted private memo keys (end date is 2017-06-19 17:27:12).

Month	Keys posted	Percent of all
07.2016	16	13,68%
08.2016	18	15,38%
09.2016	7	5,98%
10.2016	7	5,98%
11.2016	1	0,85%
12.2016	2	1,71%
01.2017	1	0,85%
02.2017	0	0,00%
03.2017	4	3,42%
04.2017	4	3,42%
05.2017	23	19,66%
06.2017	34	29,06%

First, I’m going to divide it into two categories: Keys posted and changed some time later by user OR keys posted with no response from user till now.

Posted...	Number of keys	Percent of all
... and changed later	42	36.75%
... and NOT changed later	74	63.25%

Let’s set a point in time called POST. POST is a date when @noisy published his text. Data shown above will be divided into more categories:

Posted...	Number of keys	Percent of all
...before POST and changed before POST	28	23.93%
...before POST and changed after POST	13	11.11%
...after POST and changed after POST	2	1.71%
...before POST and not changed	51	43.59%
...after POST and not changed	23	19.66%

Posted before POST and changed before POST

Table sorted in ascending order of memo key posted:

User	Memo key posted	Key changed
@business	2016-07-04 20:59:09	2016-07-16 08:53:12
@katiasan1978	2016-07-15 14:53:03	2016-07-15 15:02:18
@crypt0	2016-07-15 20:30:42	2016-07-21 18:14:36
@pinkisland	2016-07-20 05:24:15	2016-07-24 02:36:45
@jl777	2016-07-26 23:06:24	2016-07-27 17:36:15
@theanubisrider	2016-07-27 19:26:15	2016-08-05 02:56:27
@toxichan	2016-07-29 05:03:51	2016-08-20 13:36:36
@jl777	2016-08-01 11:52:54	2016-12-29 08:58:39
@zhuvazhuva	2016-08-03 18:39:21	2016-10-17 07:50:12
@bdavid	2016-08-04 00:20:03	2016-08-12 22:15:21
@mandibil	2016-08-09 21:07:21	2016-08-14 12:52:36
@konti	2016-08-12 15:42:12	2016-08-12 15:44:39
@crypt0	2016-08-13 19:29:24	2017-05-21 07:50:12
@instructor2121	2016-08-16 22:56:21	2016-10-02 06:57:30
@infovore	2016-08-29 10:32:51	2016-09-19 16:38:15
@mohammed123	2016-09-05 08:17:30	2016-09-06 10:22:33
@mohammed123	2016-09-06 17:40:39	2016-09-06 17:42:12
@theprophet0	2016-09-12 01:00:12	2016-10-08 01:03:42
@mohammed123	2016-09-14 17:48:57	2016-09-14 17:57:39
@lichtblick	2016-10-01 14:17:06	2016-10-09 07:45:09
@hien-tran	2016-10-13 08:04:57	2016-11-19 08:33:36
@justtryme90	2016-10-17 02:27:51	2016-10-26 02:27:57
@jacobts	2017-03-21 10:46:24	2017-05-08 18:43:39
@berovvv	2017-05-13 08:18:09	2017-05-15 11:50:57
@samdaman	2017-05-14 03:14:03	2017-05-21 10:34:57
@dancingstar	2017-05-22 15:41:21	2017-06-04 01:52:00
@cryptonouvelles	2017-05-28 23:47:12	2017-05-29 01:45:57
@tombstone	2017-06-06 14:18:03	2017-06-06 15:37:06

Table sorted in ascending order of key changed after:

User	Times used	Key changed after
@mohammed123	1	1 min 33 s
@konti	1	2 min 27 s
@mohammed123	1	8 min 42 s
@katiasan1978	1	9 min 15 s
@tombstone	1	1 h 19 min 3 s
@cryptonouvelles	1	1 h 58 min 45 s
@jl777	2	18 h 29 min 51 s
@mohammed123	2	1 d 2 h 5 min 3 s
@berovvv	2	3 d 3 h 32 min 48 s
@pinkisland	2	3 d 21 h 12 min 30 s
@mandibil	2	4 d 15 h 45 min 15 s
@crypt0	2	5 d 21 h 43 min 54 s
@samdaman	1	7 d 7 h 20 min 54 s
@lichtblick	1	7 d 17 h 28 min 3 s
@theanubisrider	2	8 d 7 h 30 min 12 s
@bdavid	1	8 d 21 h 55 min 17 s
@justtryme90	8	9 d 0 h 0 min 6 s
@business	2	11 d 11 h 54 min 3 s
@dancingstar	6	12 d 10 h 10 min 39 s
@infovore	2	21 d 6 h 5 min 24 s
@toxichan	1	22 d 8 h 32 min 45 s
@theprophet0	3	26 d 0 h 3 min 30 s
@hien-tran	1	37 d 0 h 28 min 39 s
@instructor2121	6	46 d 8 h 1 min 9 s
@jacobts	1	48 d 7 h 57 min 15 s
@zhuvazhuva	4	74 d 13 h 10 min 51 s
@jl777	2	149 d 21 h 5 min 45 s
@crypt0	1	280 d 12 h 20 min 48 s

Posted before POST and changed after POST

Table sorted in ascending order of memo key posted:

User	Memo key posted	Key changed
@alao	2016-07-11 15:50:06	2017-06-11 17:44:57
@saramiller	2016-09-14 20:54:27	2017-06-07 17:26:06
@mrgreen	2016-10-01 11:19:33	2017-06-12 13:48:36
@lichtblick	2016-10-10 05:48:15	2017-06-07 15:43:03
@tomino	2016-10-27 10:55:51	2017-06-12 16:17:27
@trump	2016-12-19 02:05:45	2017-06-08 12:40:15
@marionjoe	2017-03-23 12:23:36	2017-06-11 15:08:48
@steemshop	2017-04-22 02:28:21	2017-06-09 10:52:54
@kingofdew	2017-05-07 21:50:09	2017-06-12 13:48:36
@worldclassplayer	2017-05-09 09:08:39	2017-06-10 22:49:18
@wthomas	2017-05-24 21:57:30	2017-06-07 21:01:03
@golgappas	2017-06-05 17:12:30	2017-06-09 17:01:57

Table sorted in ascending order of key changed after:

User	Times used	Key changed after
@golgappas	5	3 d 23 h 49 min 27 s
@wthomas	1	13 d 23 h 3 min 33 s
@worldclassplayer	5	32 d 13 h 40 min 39 s
@kingofdew	7	35 d 15 h 58 min 27 s
@steemshop	1	48 d 8 h 24 min 33 s
@marionjoe	4	80 d 2 h 45 min 12 s
@trump	1	171 d 10 h 34 min 30 s
@tomino	1	228 d 5 h 21 min 36 s
@lichtblick	15	240 d 9 h 54 min 48 s
@mrgreen	2	254 d 2 h 29 min 3 s
@saramiller	1	265 d 20 h 31 min 39 s
@alao	1	335 d 1 h 54 min 51 s

Posted after POST and changed after POST

Table sorted in ascending order of memo key posted:

User	Memo key posted	Key changed
@deividas	2017-06-10 00:19:15	2017-06-10 21:41:24
@lulzim	2017-06-11 14:22:00	2017-06-11 15:08:48

Table sorted in ascending order of key changed after:

User	Times used	Key changed after
@lulzim	3	46 min 48 s
@deividas	3	21 h 22 min 9 s

Posted before POST and not changed

Table sorted in ascending order of memo key posted:

User	Memo key posted	Times used
@onighost	2016-07-09 22:17:36	4
@kakradetome	2016-07-13 23:45:09	11
@vovaha	2016-07-15 21:59:48	1
@niliano	2016-07-19 12:16:45	2
@farinspace	2016-07-19 14:02:24	1
@francoisstrydom	2016-07-19 14:17:33	2
@qamarpinkpanda	2016-07-29 14:12:09	1
@pinkisland	2016-07-29 14:18:15	2
@romanskv	2016-08-06 23:53:30	1
@slimjim	2016-08-07 19:12:00	1
@malyshew1973	2016-08-08 01:13:39	1
@athleteyoga	2016-08-11 02:28:12	11
@murat	2016-08-12 08:34:45	1
@rawmeen	2016-08-13 08:57:00	4
@tee-em	2016-08-20 19:30:45	2
@smisi	2016-08-22 13:16:03	3
@lostnuggett	2016-08-23 16:21:15	2
@dollarvigilante	2016-08-31 02:10:45	10
@cryptoeasy	2016-09-07 10:54:00	1
@iaco	2016-09-28 17:59:18	1
@richarddean	2016-10-27 13:33:24	1
@leesmoketree	2016-11-11 21:42:54	37
@luani	2016-12-12 02:48:15	1
@nikolad	2017-01-21 09:57:00	2
@colombiana	2017-03-20 17:14:39	1
@beeridiculous	2017-03-22 09:01:21	1
@norbu	2017-04-03 10:44:24	3
@inphinitbit	2017-04-18 06:27:24	2
@maxfuchs	2017-04-18 15:34:48	1
@sraseef	2017-05-02 18:17:45	1
@surpriseattack	2017-05-09 05:22:03	1
@churchsoftware	2017-05-10 21:19:48	1
@thunderberry	2017-05-11 19:03:15	2
@hithere	2017-05-14 11:09:21	3
@walcot	2017-05-14 19:17:36	2
@bryguy	2017-05-17 06:34:48	2
@mama-c	2017-05-18 17:26:45	1
@blockiechain	2017-05-19 02:42:33	1
@theofphotography	2017-05-20 10:46:36	2
@writemore	2017-05-20 16:55:12	1
@nathanhollis	2017-05-22 15:51:33	3
@jellos	2017-05-26 08:35:45	2
@coincravings	2017-05-29 09:36:51	2
@chuckles	2017-05-29 10:39:57	1
@amrsaeed	2017-05-31 18:10:15	1
@dethie	2017-06-03 03:42:51	1
@goldrush	2017-06-03 10:10:00	2
@bloodhound	2017-06-03 16:33:45	2
@datkrazykid	2017-06-04 04:08:42	1
@mkultra87f	2017-06-06 14:21:00	1
@lopezro	2017-06-06 17:32:03	1

Posted after POST and not changed

Table sorted in ascending order of memo key posted:

User	Memo key posted	Times used
@cryptowaffles	2017-06-07 19:12:39	1
@webwizards	2017-06-09 12:00:09	1
@bitlamb	2017-06-10 12:07:00	1
@aresmari	2017-06-10 17:10:33	1
@dancingstar	2017-06-11 01:37:03	1
@dattabitcoin	2017-06-13 02:50:42	1
@wakeupworldnews	2017-06-15 12:39:06	1
@gbonikz	2017-06-15 14:50:21	2
@chrizbiz	2017-06-15 20:16:12	1
@gary911	2017-06-16 05:36:45	1
@hingedthomas	2017-06-16 11:07:39	2
@edie84	2017-06-16 13:38:36	1
@brandonas	2017-06-16 14:08:03	2
@imccormick82	2017-06-16 15:24:03	1
@marshallevans	2017-06-16 20:13:12	5
@rottdean2	2017-06-16 21:43:12	1
@sandman1923	2017-06-16 22:31:24	1
@cwrz1976	2017-06-17 02:55:09	3
@murtazasyedm	2017-06-17 18:37:42	2
@elfictron	2017-06-18 14:02:36	2
@big-ginger-fuck	2017-06-18 23:30:57	2
@acarl211	2017-06-19 02:52:06	2
@neilism	2017-06-19 02:56:33	1
@d-pend	2017-06-19 17:27:12	2

Can I help?

After publishing this post I’m going to send every user with not changed key a minimal SBD transfer with a link to this text and information CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD. I hope this will work and at least some of those users will change their keys.

I’m going to keep an eye on keys updates and after a week or two data will be gathered to create new statistics.

What is Memo?

But there is also a second issue that I would like to talk about. Public keys and how users use them as a habit in the wrong places. By wrong places I mean mostly Memo Fields when withdrawing Steem and SBD from markets to Steemit.

I’m going to use Bittrex as an example. I was sending 1 SBD to my Steemit account.

And I received it like this (problem with apostrophe):

I did it to show you that every Memo Field is public. All that info can be found in your Wallet. If you write something in Memo Field during transfer from market to Steemit it will stay in blockchain forever. And sooner or later somebody is going to see that and maybe even use against you.

BECAUSE MEMO FIELD IS NOT THE SAME AS MEMO KEY.

Memo Field is a place for any information you want. It’s a place to write something like My daily update 2017-06-21 or Gift from aunt Betty. This field is for you.

All keys can be found in your Wallet and then Permissions. Those long strings of characters should stay in that place if you don’t know what you can do with them. And Memo key, as you can see, is used to create and read memos.

Public keys

I’m talking about all of this because if somebody used at least once a public key in Memo Field, there is a possibility that next time maybe for mistake user will paste private key. And that’s not good.

There are a lot of tutorials on Steemit with incorrect information. People read them and they make the same mistakes. Here are some the most popular posts that can be found using Google:

User	Tutorial with INCORRENT information
@ninjace	How to transfer Steem Dollars from Poloniex to Steemit Account
@cryptos	How to Transfer STEEM From Poloniex to Steemit.com [GUIDE]
@g-dubs	How To Transfer Steem from Poloniex to Your Wallet
@knozaki2015	Tutorial: How to deposit Steem from an exchange to Steemit (without converting to BTC)
@me-tarzan	TUTORIAL : BEGINNERS HOW TO SEND STEEM FROM POLONIEX TO STEEMIT
@nxtblg	How To Deposit STEEM In Your Account: Poloniex And Bittrex
@steempowerwhale	How to Transfer Steem from Poloniex to Your Steemit Wallet? Visual Step by Step Help Guide

You know how many users used public key at least once to transfer Steem and SDB?

Transfers from	Number of users
@bittrex	743
@blocktrades	13
@changelly	46
@freewallet	18
@openledger	19
@poloniex	1053

A lot of them. And there are more than 300 transfers between users!

The best part - many people after the first transfer with public key assume it’s the only good way and they duplicate this error over and over again.

Public keys used	Users
89 times	@lightsplasher
74 times	@mctiller
67 times	@murat
63 times	@vortac
61 times	@judasp
54 times	@paws1t1veev
51 times	@asim
47 times	@royalmacro
46 times	@asmolokalo
44 times	@nxtblg
38 times	@sflaherty
35 times	@takertrade
34 times	@mynameisbrian
31 times	@surfyogi
30 times	@btcshare7 @cqf @carface
29 times	@catulhu
28 times	@dreemit
27 times	@coininstant @steemvest17
26 times	@laonie
25 times	@jl777 @marco-delsalto
23 times	@exploretraveler @sneakgeekz @mixa @otisbrown
22 times	@politicasan2 @urbanoid @jol @tradz
20 times	@helikopterben
19 times	@me-tarzan @claudiop63
18 times	@cardboard @henry-gant @addicted
17 times	@gigafart @btcbtcbtc20155 @sandrino
16 times	@snubbermike
15 times	@jerrybanfield @manoami @scotty2729

And here comes bigger numbers:

Public keys used	Users
14 times	6 users
13 times	6 users
12 times	11 users
11 times	6 users
10 times	17 users
9 times	18 users
8 times	29 users
7 times	36 users
6 times	53 users
5 times	64 users
4 times	88 users
3 times	198 users
2 times	454 users
1 time	620 users

THIS IS FULL BLACK LIST: IF YOU CAN FIND YOURSELF ON IT THAN YOU COULD BE THE ONE WITH PRIVATE KEY POSTED INSTEAD - REMEMBER THAT!

If you want to know more about public and private KEYS on Steemit - look at @noisy profile.

If you like this text - please follow me!