“Buying the right computer and getting it to work properly is no more complicated than building a nuclear reactor from wristwatch parts in a darkened room using only your teeth.” Dave Barry.
Congratulations and well done (again)!
We’ve covered a lot of ground together. You’ve implemented your strategy for backup and recovery, password management, anti-malware protection and full disk encryption. Automatic updates are enabled for your operating systems and applications. You’ve taken steps to manage your privacy permissions and understand secure file deletion. And along the way, you’ve learned how to freeze your credit report, avoid getting scammed, tighten up your privacy settings on social networking sites, find a lost or stolen device, and lock your phone account.
That’s a lot. Your digital devices are now much more secure.
You’ve also taken action to preserve your privacy while accessing the Internet with virtual private networks (VPNs), private web browsers, web search, text messaging, and email. You’ve also learned how to securely sell or donate a device, manage metadata in photos, protect yourself when using the Internet of things (IoT), take advantage of virtual credit cards, and explore privacy-focused social networking services.
You are now much more secure when accessing the Internet.
We’ve come to the end of our time together. I hope you’ve found it helpful and I very much hope you’ve taken action. While it’s not possible to protect yourself from every conceivable threat, it’s empowering to control what you can and take charge of your privacy online.
I will review and update these posts if there is a significant change in the marketplace or the information environment. If I make a change, I will note that fact in the post and in the index.
I can be found on Mastodon at @[email protected] I will comment on more topical issues there.
I wish you well in your journey.
Information provided in this post is subject to the disclaimer in the first post of this series.