I'm planning to put more in crypto, but how can I make sure my asset/tokens are safe? (Best privacy/security tips?)

Hey all. I finally reached my savings goal and I can finally put $5K in crypto after saving for a couple of months. This will be my first big substantial investment, as I really just try putting ~$50 whenever I could to coins I'm interested in. But this is the extent of what I've put in crypto - just in coins lol. I haven't tried exploring defi, staking, or even NFTs until now.

I've read my fair share of people getting scammed or losing more than what I'm planning to put in crypto. So naturally I feel nervous lol. I know there are new platforms that want to make defi more private and all, but I want to know if there are specific tips I should follow to keep my investments/assets/tokens safe.

I can't believe I'm just now fully trying to understand the full scope of everyone else's worries about crypto. Some questions I have regarding safety are:

• Are there things I could do to make my transactions more secure? I plan on playing Axie Infinity and hear about people getting scammed in Ronin Wallet.
• Is a hardware wallet worth it? I keep on seeing ads about them but I only started considering them now.
• Is there an equivalent of an ad blocker or an antivirus/antimalware in crypto I'm not aware of?
• Are wallets that take the form of browser extensions really safe?
• Am I missing something in terms of security?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks