Saturday, 13 February 2016

The security setup for a beginer/noob

Lately I got interested in security, more and more. I'm not an expert of security (just read the title of the article :)), but listening to the advice of some expert in this field , I started following some "common rules" and so I came up with my personal security setup.

What I do

First I started updating every software every time that an update was available then I started using a password manager, like LastPass or Keepass. I recommend KeePass for three reason:
  1. Lostpass
  2. Open Source
  3. It's free
I recommend LastPass to all who want an elegant interface and who don't care about my three reason to use KeePass! :)

After I started to "secure" my devices and I came up with this:

On my Windows machine:
  1.  Encrypted HHDs
  2.  VPN: I use NordVPN
  3.  DNS script
  4. GlassWire: A network monitor security tool very easy to use and elegant
  5. Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit: to mitigate the threat of 0day
  6. Sandboxie 
  7. Turn UAC to max setting 
On my Linux machine the setup it's almost the same.
I don't use GlassWire (not available for Linux), but I've installed Snort and I'm slowly learning how to use it.

In either my pc I use firefox with the following add-ons (remeber to configure browser plugins as click-to-play):
  1. Https-everywhere
  2. NoScript
  3. ublock Origin
  4. Calomel SSL Validation (If the link doesn't work search in Google)
  5. Cryptocat
And at last my android phone (Samsung Note 3 with CyanogenMod 13) setup:
Every Android user can use this Apps some of them requires rooting
  1. Signal
  2. DNSCrypt
  3. Open VPN
  4.  AFwall
  5. all encrypted
  6. Keepass2Android
  7. Firefox with HTTPS Everywhere and ublock Origin
I've also switched to ProtonMail and started using external HDDs to keep a backup of everything that I've.

Another thing that I forgot to write is that it's very important to be either on windows and linux a standard user (don't use admin or root account) with this you reduce the damage that a virus can do.

What I will do

For the moment I don't know how to really improve/fix my setup(any kind of suggestions will be appreciated), but I've some other things that I want to add.
I'll buy one or two Yubikey and I'll build a small fanless pc (to use it like router) where I can put pfSense and start playing with it (all of this when I'll have some money to invest)

WHY?

Sometimes I try to convert someone to use at least a password manager (one time it worked:) ) and I also tell them to take care of their privacy. Usually they respond me with "I don't care if someone (like the government) is spying on me! I have nothing to hide!"

If you get the same response, a clever answers can be the citation of this article:

"If I'm not doing anything wrong, then you have no cause to watch me." "Because the government gets to define what's wrong, and they keep changing the definition." "Because you might do something wrong with my information." My problem with quips like these -- as right as they are -- is that they accept the premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong. It's not. Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.

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