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Lock It Down: Online Security for Real People

Do this today: look at your desk

If a password, an account number, or a Social Security number is written on anything a visitor could see, shred it. It's the cheapest security fix there is, and it takes five minutes.

A friend who works in cybersecurity put it bluntly this week: there are a lot of old, badly maintained websites out there, and every one of them is a hole. Hackers don't need to be geniuses anymore. AI tools are handing them shortcuts that used to take a team of experts.

You can't fix the internet. But you can make yourself a much harder target than the next person, and most of it costs nothing. Here's what I use and what I recommend.

1. Use a VPN

A VPN (virtual private network) scrambles everything going in and out of your computer or phone, so the coffee shop Wi-Fi, the hotel network, or anyone snooping on the line sees gibberish. It also hides your real internet address from the sites you visit.

I recommend Proton VPN. It's run by a Swiss company, and its free plan has no ads, no data limits, and keeps no logs of what you do. The free plan covers one device. The paid plan covers up to ten.

To set it up:

  1. Go to protonvpn.com and create a free account.
  2. Download the app for your computer or phone.
  3. Sign in and press Quick Connect. That's it.
  4. In the settings, turn on Kill Switch, so nothing leaks out if the VPN drops.

2. Use a password manager

Here's the truth: if you use the same password in more than one place, one leak anywhere unlocks everything. Nobody can remember fifty strong passwords. A password manager remembers them for you, behind one master password.

I use Proton Pass. The free version stores unlimited passwords on unlimited devices, creates strong passwords for you, fills them in automatically, and warns you about weak or reused ones. Pass Plus, at $2.99 a month billed yearly, adds a built-in 2FA code generator and alerts if your info turns up on the dark web.

To set it up:

  1. Create a free account at proton.me/pass.
  2. Install the browser extension and the phone app.
  3. Import the passwords your browser already saved. Proton Pass walks you through it.
  4. Check the password health alerts and change the weak and reused ones, starting with your email and your bank.
  5. Make your master password a long phrase you'll never forget, like four unrelated words. Don't use it anywhere else.

3. Turn on two-factor authentication, but not by text message

Two-factor authentication (2FA) means a password alone isn't enough. You also need a code or a key. Turn it on everywhere that offers it, starting with your email, your bank, and anything that holds a credit card.

But don't rely on codes texted to your phone number. Here's why:

  • SIM swapping. A scammer calls your phone company, pretends to be you, and gets your number moved to their phone. Now your texted codes go straight to them.
  • Lose the phone, lose everything. If your phone dies, gets stolen, or falls in the lake, you can be locked out of every account at once.

Better choices, from good to best:

  • An authenticator app, such as Proton Authenticator or the one built into Proton Pass Plus. The codes are made on the device, not sent over the phone network, so a SIM swap can't steal them.
  • A hardware security key, a small USB key you plug in or tap. Nothing to type, nothing to intercept, and no phone involved at all. Buy two and keep the spare somewhere safe.

When you turn on 2FA, the site gives you backup codes. Save them in your password manager, not on a sticky note.

4. Change up your email

Your email address is the master key. Every "forgot password" link goes there. So:

  • Change your email password regularly, and make it one nobody could guess.
  • Stop handing out your real address. Proton Pass makes "hide-my-email" aliases, throwaway addresses that forward to your real inbox. Use a different one for each store or newsletter. When one starts getting spam or turns up in a breach, switch it off and make a new one. Your real address stays private.

5. Get the passwords off your desk

I once had a meeting with a local businesswoman in her office. She had a sheet of glass over her desk, and tucked underneath it, for anyone who sat down across from her to read, were scraps of paper with her passwords, Social Security numbers, and other private information written on them.

I was shocked. I gently suggested she take them out from under the glass, and she did. She wasn't careless. She was busy, and she needed to remember things. That's exactly the problem a password manager solves.

Take a look around your own office. Sticky notes on the monitor, a list taped inside a drawer, a notebook labeled "passwords" next to the keyboard. Cleaning staff, delivery people, customers, and a passing stranger with a phone camera can all read them. Put everything in your password manager, then shred the paper.

The short version

  • VPN on, especially on public Wi-Fi.
  • A password manager, with a different strong password for every account.
  • 2FA everywhere, with an authenticator app or security key instead of text messages.
  • Aliases instead of your real email, and a strong email password.
  • Nothing private written where anyone can see it.

None of this makes you hack-proof. It makes you a lot more trouble than the next target, and that's usually enough.

Want a hand locking down your business?

Contact me through linktr.ee/verve413

Verve Music, Granby, Massachusetts. A Pioneer Valley company.

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