“Only the paranoid survive.” — Andy Grove
Andy Grove was a Hungarian refugee who escaped communism, studied engineering, and ultimately led the personal computer revolution as the CEO of Intel. He died earlier this year in Silicon Valley after a long fight with Parkinson’s disease.
When one of the most powerful people in the world encourages us to be paranoid, maybe we should listen.
And Grove isn’t the only powerful person urging caution. Even the director of the FBI — the same official who recently paid hackers a million dollars to unlock a shooter’s iPhone — is encouraging everyone to cover their webcams.
But you obey the law. What do you have to worry about? As the motto of the United Kingdom’s surveillance program reminds us, “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear.”
Well, law-abiding citizens do have reason to fear. They do have reasons to secure their devices, their files, and their communications with loved ones.
“If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged.” — Cardinal Richelieu in 1641
In this article, I will show you how you can protect yourself by leveraging state-of-the-art encryption. In a single sitting, you can make great strides toward securing your privacy.
Common sense security for everyone
To be clear, everything I recommend here is 100% free and 100% legal. If you bother locking your doors at night, you should bother using encryption.
“Be prepared” — The Scout Motto
Let’s get prepared.
First, a couple definitions. When I use the term “attacker” I mean anyone trying to access your data whom you haven’t given express permission to — whether it’s a hacker, a corporation, or even a government.
And when I use the terms “private” or “secure”, I mean reasonably so. The reality is that — as long as humans are involved — no system will ever be 100% private or 100% secure.
As long as your phone, computers, and accounts are sufficiently protected, their contents will remain an “encrypted lump” and there’s not much anyone — regardless of how powerful they are — can do about it.
Tip #1: Use two-factor authentication on your inbox
Your inbox is the skeleton key to your life. If an attacker compromises it, they can not only read your emails, they can use it to reset your passwords for pretty much anything. This includes social media accounts and even bank accounts.
The simplest thing you can do to dramatically improve your personal security is to turn on two-factor authentication on your inbox.
Basically, two-factor authentication is a second layer of security when signing in. It usually involves receiving a text message with a special code whenever you sign into your account.
Two-factor authentication substantially reduces the likelihood of your inbox getting hacked.
If you use Gmail, you should activate two-factor auth here.
Now.
Seriously.
I’ll still be here when you get back.
Tip #2: Encrypt your hard drive
Both Windows and MacOS have built-in full-disk encryption. You just need to turn it on.
