How to approach internet security?

[Thought Art]

What is the best method to protect passwords, documents etc from people? How to best protect your privacy and information online?

[Death_]

1. What is the best method to protect passwords, documents etc from people?

The best way to protect encrypting files is by using software like veracrypt for local storage devices (HDD, USB, etc) or cryptomator for cloud based storage).

For passwords --> Personally I used KeepassXC but after I found out that it is not that future proof, I migrated to pass which is a command-line based manager. KeepassXC has a nice and easy interface so if you are unfamiliar with command-line then i would recommend KeepassXC and I don't think it will go anywhere as the software is opensource.

The sad truth is that passwords are just not that secure so be sure to use 2FA (2 factor authentication). WTF is that?

Simply, it is an authentication system which after you enabled it in your facebook account (example) then you will need your password and a 6 or more digits code that will be sent to your 2FA software to login to it which makes it safe from hackers. But it is not totally safe as no software is safe as there will always be bugs or worm holes from which an hacker can come through.

2. How to best protect your privacy and information online?

This one is hard. The thing is that you cannot really be private when you  are online. Since you posted this post as well as the 2000 post you posted, gave out many information about you like this post, now I know that you are concerned about your privacy and if an AD algorithm comes to know about this than the ads of VPN and other kinds of privacy promising BS products will follow you every time you search.

The first step to take is to stop using Google Services like Google Search Engine, youtube, android, etc. Google is evil, just read their privacy policy. All social medias like Facebook, pinterest, etc are evil. Use an private email provider instead of google such as protonmail which is end to end (E2E) encrypted.

An alternative of youtube that I found is --> http://invidio.us/

The main site has closed down but you can still use it's clones (instance), I am not sure how it works but it embeds youtube videos which makes it more secure and private. And the most important thing, it is ad free which leads us to the next step.

Step 2, download extensions like --> Ublock Origin (ad blocker, open source), https everywhere (https is never and better than http),  decentraleyes, cookies autodelete (cookies can track you LOL), and no script (java script is evil). 

Step 3, only use open source apps. Open source is a big deal as we can actually view the code but the thing is that we don't even need to view it as most apps are regularly checked by developers all around the world to find bugs to fix and to find if there are any vulnerabilities in the app.

In desktop/laptop use Linux. Just give it a try, it has gotten better over the years that it has existed and it is no longer hard to install. You can even run it from usb, if you just want to try without having to install it.

Step 4, use Tor. Tor is a good tool to anonymize yourself in the internet but there are many things that you need to keep in mind while using tor. An easy way to access it is through tor browser or TAILS which is an awesome operating system which directs your internet traffic through tor only. Tor is also often know as Dark Web or Deep Web as if there is some scary shit going on it but trust me there is not many scary shit that goes around in the dark web. Tor based services is mostly based on text as picture or video takes more bandwidth and the tor network is just too slow to handle it.

Things to keep in mind while using tor:-

• Don't use your real name ever in tor. 
• Don't use your real email address in tor as it can be used to link you. (This was one mistake that I did)
• Don't talk about it in real life to anyone even your own family.
• Be patient. It is slow but if you have Ethernet cable or a really good internet then it should be fine.
• VPN is optional.

 

Step 5, If you can do all the steps listed above then you are pretty safe unlike the rest of the population but one can go down to this rabbit hole more deep even if you think you have reached the end there are new stuff that all keeps popping up like the Pegasus (spyware company) that just popped out of nowhere but I recommend not to do so as one may go crazy.

The last thing that I want to say is that you aren't really safe, to tell the truth nobody really is "safe". Internet is like a matrix, until and unless you are off the internet completely or you were just born in a cave and you have no access to the internet, you can be found by just a simple google search. Have you tried that? Just google yourself on the internet you will be amazed and I was also shocked when I googled myself.

Check out Edward Snowden

This was kinda rushed so sorry, if there are any grammatical errors. Still most of the ways haven't been covered in this post, you might do your own research too.

Sad truth: You are not really free unless... 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Death_

[Flint]

@Death_ Just wondering, why do you consider Keepass not to be future proof ?

[Death_]

@Flint Even though it is open source, it has its own proprietary file system like .kdbx which cannot be opened by any other software other than keepass.  

[Goldzilla]

Biometrics. 

[Death_]

@Goldzilla Another deep topic. It also comes under 2FA and it is secure only if you use it only as a 2FA.

If you are talking about the fingerprint scanner on your phone, it is not secure. There are methods to bypass it, so I would recommend you to use an alphanumeric password instead of it. I am not saying that there is no secure bio-metric, there might be, but they are not readily available to general public.

 

[Goldzilla]

4 hours ago, Death_ said:

@Goldzilla Another deep topic. It also comes under 2FA and it is secure only if you use it only as a 2FA.

If you are talking about the fingerprint scanner on your phone, it is not secure. There are methods to bypass it, so I would recommend you to use an alphanumeric password instead of it. I am not saying that there is no secure bio-metric, there might be, but they are not readily available to general public.

 

Is true, in the mobile phone you need a password. But there are aftermarket scanners for high end security, fingeprints or the thoughest will be a Vein scanner. But yet, good ones are a couple of thousands. Don't doubt biometrics, but let's skip the mobile world. 

[Alex M]

Best method to protect password

Use a different password for every website you use. 30+ characters long, no words.

Use 1Password to manage all your passwords. Use 2FA where possible.