Lightweight Guide For Online Security
We are all online, and we are all vulnerable, but there are so many easy ways to start making yourself secure on the web. This in no way will bring you to being totally secure, but that is also something that is almost impossible. So I will mostly be talking about a set of tools I use, I don’t get paid by any of them.
1Password
We all have passwords, and we have tons of them even with the rise of single sign-on. This is where 1Password comes to save us; it is a password manager that will sync across their servers to all your devices for a monthly fee, they offer a family plan as well. You keep a master password and key, and this will be used to access your vaults for the first time from each device then you can set it just to use the password on that device. The Mac app supports TouchID, and the iOS apps support FaceID and TouchID. Now you have something storing your passwords, but you need a way to use them quickly. Copy and paste sucks for this, so 1Password has browser extensions for the desktop that allows you to cmd + \ to insert the user password combo for a given website. Then on iOS devices, you can use the share extension to fill out web pages.
2 Factor/Step
This is not a tool, but more a service most large website provides. This means if you are authenticating with a site for the first time on a device it will require a second piece of authentication besides your password. This is often a code generated by an app on your device, or a code that was sent to your verified device. You can set this up by going into the security settings of websites and turn it on. This way leaked passwords still won’t do you in. There are two apps in this section I use.
Authy
Authy is a great code generator that will sync between your devices and offers encrypted backups. Highly suggest using it for your code generator.
Google App
The Google app can work as the second authentication source for your Google accounts. It will send you a notification asking if you are logging in on another device and all you have to do is press yes or no. This saves you the time of copying codes from 1 device to another.
VPN
A virtual private network encrypts your web traffic from you to a dedicated server elsewhere then that server routes to your destination. This allows you to stay anonymous when browsing so someone can’t watch you from the middle of connections. So these are great to use when you are connecting to a public WiFi network, that way people there wouldn’t be able to monitor your traffic. I have heard good things about tunnel bear, but I personally I use VPN Unlimited and you can find lifetime memberships for it here.
Privacy
Privacy is a fantastic service that allows you to generate single-use card numbers or single merchant cards. So this will enable you to make a Netflix card, and only Netflix can charge to it if anyone else tries it gets denied. It can quickly be canceled and can even have single month limits so if they change the price without you knowing they get auto denied. Privacy then charges these back to your account through your routing and account number for your checking account.
These are just a few of the services I use, if you have any suggestions leave them as a comment! Always looking for new useful services.