diff --git a/app/utils/vrf_key.go b/app/utils/vrf_key.go
index a248a4ff..c5e0cc8e 100644
--- a/app/utils/vrf_key.go
+++ b/app/utils/vrf_key.go
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ func LoadVRFKey(keyFilePath string) (*VRFKey, error) {
 
 func InitializeVRFKey(config *cfg.Config) (vrfPubKey sdkcrypto.PubKey, err error) {
 	pvKeyFile := config.PrivValidatorKeyFile()
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(pvKeyFile), 0o600); err != nil {
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(pvKeyFile), 0o700); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not create directory %q: %w", filepath.Dir(pvKeyFile), err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmd/sedad/cmd/init.go b/cmd/sedad/cmd/init.go
index 81c9a097..5c0e61d6 100644
--- a/cmd/sedad/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cmd/sedad/cmd/init.go
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ func readInMnemonic(cmd *cobra.Command) (string, error) {
 
 func configureValidatorFiles(config *cfg.Config) error {
 	keyFilePath := config.PrivValidatorKeyFile()
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(keyFilePath), 0o600); err != nil {
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(keyFilePath), 0o700); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not create directory %q: %w", filepath.Dir(keyFilePath), err)
 	}
 	stateFilePath := config.PrivValidatorStateFile()
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(stateFilePath), 0o600); err != nil {
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(stateFilePath), 0o700); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not create directory %q: %w", filepath.Dir(stateFilePath), err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/e2e/util.go b/e2e/util.go
index e36b2785..c495535b 100644
--- a/e2e/util.go
+++ b/e2e/util.go
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ func writeFile(path string, body []byte) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	return os.WriteFile(path, body, 0o600)
+	return os.WriteFile(path, body, 0o700)
 }
 
 func decodeTx(txBytes []byte) (*sdktx.Tx, error) {
diff --git a/e2e/validator.go b/e2e/validator.go
index 91ea02d3..804f5f8a 100644
--- a/e2e/validator.go
+++ b/e2e/validator.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func (v *validator) configDir() string {
 
 func (v *validator) createConfig() error {
 	p := path.Join(v.configDir(), "config")
-	return os.MkdirAll(p, 0o600)
+	return os.MkdirAll(p, 0o700)
 }
 
 func (v *validator) init() error {
@@ -117,12 +117,12 @@ func (v *validator) createConsensusKey() error {
 	config.Moniker = v.moniker
 
 	pvKeyFile := config.PrivValidatorKeyFile()
-	if err := tmos.EnsureDir(filepath.Dir(pvKeyFile), 0o600); err != nil {
+	if err := tmos.EnsureDir(filepath.Dir(pvKeyFile), 0o700); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	pvStateFile := config.PrivValidatorStateFile()
-	if err := tmos.EnsureDir(filepath.Dir(pvStateFile), 0o600); err != nil {
+	if err := tmos.EnsureDir(filepath.Dir(pvStateFile), 0o700); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}