#security tools

VPN Get you a VPN. They hide your online activity. Where "Incognito" or "Private" modes on your browser don't cache your browser history, VPNs (reputable ones, anyway) keep no logs of your browsing activity. At all. If you truly want privacy, get a VPN. This chart from Techlore is a really good comparison of the functions for all VPNs: https://vpn.techlore.tech/ A couple of important points to look at on the chart are: - Does the VPN provider have 2FA? - Does the VPN provider have audits? - What are the maximum simultaneous devices you can use? - What jurisdiction is the provider in? For explanation of what some of the terms are: 14 Eyes is an intelligence sharing network of 14 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway. Warrant Canary is something companies use to inform users the company has been served with a subpoena.

MFA/2FA Levelling with you guys - if someone's trying to get into your account, chances are they already have your password. It doesn't matter how complex it is because they already have it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have complex passwords (I'll get into that in point 3), but in this day and age, you need MFA. Regardless of how annoying it can be. The best MFA options are biometrics (facial/fingerprint), security keys (such as Yubikey - though keep in mind these are limited use as not every site has this set up), an authenticator app (Google, Proton, etc). If you can avoid it, don't use email or SMS passcodes - they're pretty weak as security goes. But also, they're better than nothing. So if they're the only option, use them.

Password Managers Numbers, letters, special characters, your first born, and a sacrifice to the old gods. Who the hell can remember all that? A password manager will do that for you. And it will create complex passwords. Many of them let you set the default complexity and length, so when you're creating a password it's easy to generate. Then the manager stores it for you, and you can recall it from an extension in your browser to paste in. You'll still need to remember your password manager's password, but that's not as bad as remembering a new password on every site - or, worse, using the same password. My advice on creating a password? Make it long, but easy to remember. That xkcd comic had it...mostly right - something like "CorrectHorseBatteryStaple". Don't use that, though. Guaranteed it's first on any hacker's list now, lol. So, what would make that better? Complexity. Corr*ectHors*eBatterySta*ple Anyone trying to find your password using actual words would struggle. But you? You've picked a few words or a sentence you can easily remember and broken it up randomly. If you need a number on top of that, don't pick 1, don't pick 2, don't pick your birth year. And don't use number substitutions instead of breaking up the words. Do not use the password manager on your browser. If you can't afford to pay for one, companies like Bitwarden and Proton offer free versions to use. You'll lose features like breach monitoring and alerting when your password is in a breach, but you'll still have the manager. Do not write your password down. Do not reuse passwords. And, again, use 2FA/MFA.

Secure Browsers This one's important. A lot of browsers are designed to track your every movement, and build a profile on you for marketing. The Electronic Freedom Foundation have created a tool called Cover Your Tracks. You can use this to test your browser for security. Safari and Brave are some of the best free browsers for privacy out there. And Firefox, though it doesn't have a randomized browser fingerprint like Safari and Brave, also doesn't track you. Vivaldi is similar to Firefox in that respect, and it has an option to block trackers and ads when you do the initial installation. I'm not here to talk about ethics of each of these companies, but I do know many people are looking for a company with a firm stance against AI to support. In that case, you may want to consider Vivaldi. Their CEO has been very outspoken about remaining human, and not turning into an AI browser: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2892582/vivaldi-rejects-ai-browsing-humans-over-hype.html