Defensive Computing - From Other Sources

DEFENSIVE COMPUTING FROM OTHER SOURCES

Lots of other people and places offer Defensive Computing advice, though they don't call it that.

Wirecutter’s Guide to Data Security from The Wirecutter division of the New York Times. Constantly updated, no subscription required.
The AvoidTheHack.com website is very similar to this one. In another endeavor, it might be referred to as my competition, but in the field of Defensive Computing, I consider it a sibling rather than competitor. Like this site, it is the work of a single techie, known only as Ashley.
Fraud.org is a project of the National Consumers League (NCL), a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Washington, DC. They have information on Common Scams and fraud Prevention Tips
From the AARP: Scams & Fraud
From the Better Business Bureau: Spot A Scam describes how to spot 10 different types of scams. Each type is a stand-alone article. Some articles undated, the dated ones are from 2020, 2022.
The Privacy Guides website is fairly extensive. It recommends software and services and also has configuration suggestions. They say: "We do not make money from recommending certain products, and we do not use affiliate links." Like this site, there are no ads.
Naomi Brockwell is seriously into Privacy and Defensive Computing
- She has a YouTube channel focused on privacy and security.
- She is behind NBTV, an educational platform created by the Ludlow Institute, a research and media non-profit dedicated to advancing human freedom through technology. NBTV produces educational material to teach people how to protect their fundamental rights in the digital age and harness empowering innovation to ensure that privacy, individual autonomy, and human dignity extend to the digital landscape.
- Brockwell is the President and Founder of the privacy-focused Ludlow Institute
- Brockwell wrote a book Beginner's Introduction To Privacy (December 2022).
See also the Privacy topic
digital-defense.io is from Alicia Sykes and it is her third project with a Defensive Computing theme. I believe it was released in February 2024. She also did the Personal Security Checklist which is linked to below. And she did Awesome Privacy, a curated list of privacy-respecting software and services but abandoned. Sadly the Awesome Privacy list/site seems to have been a one and done. It was created in 2022 and it looks like there have been no updates since then.
Security & Privacy An Opinionated Guide by an anonymous author. Continually updated as of May 2025.
6 Things That Can Be Faked To Compromise Your Security is an 11 minute video by Gary Rosenzweig from MacMost.com. April 2021. Pretty good. Gary and Leo Notenboom expanded on the topic in episode 131 (April 2021) of their Tech Enthusiast Hour podcast. Recommended.
Privacy first steps from Seth For Privacy. December 21, 2021. Seems like a reasonable list.
Surveillance Self-Defense from the Electronic Frontier Foundation is pretty big. But, it was funded by the Ford Foundation and the funding may have run out. The News section was last updated Nov. 2018. A couple Windows 10 examples are based on Service Pack 1703.
October 28, 2024: The site does now appear to be actively maintained. Some of the pages have a Last Review date that is in 2023 or 2024. It also seems smaller than it used to be.
Exodus Privacy is a European non-profit that reports on the trackers and ads in Android apps. As an example, this is their report on the Macys app. Macys is a department store in the US.
*Privacy Not Included evaluates the privacy of assorted products. From the Mozilla foundation, the company behind Firefox.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Online Anonymity by Anonymous Planet. Last updated August 2022.
Personal Security Checklist by Alicia Sykes. A curated checklist of 300+ tips for protecting digital security and privacy. As of July 2022, it is actively maintained. Has a section on Physical Security. Too bad its on GitHub which is not meant for non-techies.
Curated lists of tools, tips and resources for protecting digital security and privacy by Alicia Sykes. Part of the above list, I think.
Awsome-privacy list on Github by Pluja. It is just a list, so of limited value. Basically, this is a Santa Claus naughty/nice list. No explanations, no dates.
A list of alternatives to toxic Silicon Valley services from Mark Hurst. Last updated: April 20, 2022
Cyber security 101: Protect your privacy from hackers, spies, and the government by Charlie Osborne and Zack Whittaker of ZDNet. Very long. A stripped down version of this entire website in one article. Been around for a couple years, no change log. Last updated Dec. 2020.
October 2023: The article was updated this month. Zack Whittaker's name has been removed. Despite the update, the content seems very dated.
PrivacyTools.io makes software recommendations. However, there is nothing on configuring the software. They seem to make money from ads on software they recommend.
Security Guide by Maciej Cegłowski. Very short. Last updated April 2019.
Information security resources for laypeople by John Opdenakker is a list of sites competing with this site. This site is not included. Despite claiming that the list will be continually updated, the last update was Sept. 2019.
31 Days of Security by John Opdenakker October 2019
ConnectSafely is a nonprofit dedicated to educating users of connected technology about safety, privacy and security.
GetSafeOnline claims to be "the UK's leading source of unbiased, factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety." I heard a segment on BBC radio 4 about two people in England who were scammed out of money in their bank accounts. Both were interesting and useful stories. This was followed by advice from GetSafeOnline and the advice was, in my opinion, bad. I would look elsewhere for advice. Compare their advice for being safe on Public Wi-Fi networks to mine.
Zebra Crossing is a digital safety checklist, a guide for people that use the internet daily and want to secure their digital safety and privacy proactively. Last updated April 30, 2024 (last verified May 13, 2024).
Watch Your Hack created by six professional hackers. More than just a checklist. Has a change log. Last updated April 17, 2024 (last verified May 2024).
securityplanner.org from Citizen Lab is a very mixed bag. For example, they recommend the Chrome browser. And, their trust in HTTPS is dangerously mis-placed. And they suggest installing Windows bug fixes ASAP which is clearly wrong. Last updated February 2020.
Oct 12, 2022: the website seems to have gotten a make-over. It is now from Consumer Reports and has a new URL: securityplanner.consumerreports.org. It asks too many questions before providing any information. It still recommends Chrome and offers suggestions for securing Windows which I see as a fools errand, Windows can not be secured. On that topic, it recommends BitLocker, which I also see as a mistake. So, eh.
A Family Security and Privacy Review by Gabriel Fair. Last update Oct. 2020. Depressingly long list, just like this site. Just a checklist however, no additional information.
Digital Safety Kit for journalists from the Committee to Protect Journalists. Last Updated July 2019. This is much more a checklist than this site. In my opinion, the lack of context or background info makes these recommendations barely useful. The topic on encrypted email is really bad.
The American Institute of CPAs has multiple checklists in a single PDF. It is literally a checklist, so not all that useful. Also, it is not dated. The lists are for: Protecting your property in a disaster, protecting your health and life, protecting your loved ones, protecting your records and recovering from a disaster.
Security Planner from Consumer Reports was introduced in Oct. 2020. I am not impressed. For Windows, they suggest installing Windows bug fixes immediately, which is wrong. For web browsers, they are fine with using Chrome; I am not. For file encryption they suggest using one of the two options built into Windows. To me, VeraCrypt is the better option. They buy into the cult of password manager software as the only solution for managing passwords. I strongly disagree. The advice seems to come from people who read about technology but are not actual computer nerds. I am a computer nerd.
From the New York Times: How to Protect Your Digital Privacy. Yuch. Don't ever take computing advice from the New York Times. Really. That there is no date on this article is your first clue.
The Prism-Break website recommends privacy focused software and services. It also points out software to avoid, which is nice. However, as of Oct. 2024, it seems to have been abandoned. Every page on the site has a Last Updated date of Aug 2, 2021, over 3 years ago. And since it is on every page, it makes me think the common header was changed, but none of the content. Also, media mentions are all from 2013, 11 years ago. And, no documentation on who created it.
The Motherboard Guide to Not Getting Hacked. Very long, but now dated. The last update was November 2018. (last verified May 2024)
30 Day Security Challenge by Shannon Morse. Undated but sometime in 2017