5 Free Guides To Understanding Digital Security

 Data breaches are now common, such as phishing attacks and other digital threats. We need to know how to stay safe while using technology. You can check out these 5 free online guides to understand digital security and protect your privacy.

Criminals try to infiltrate your system through various channels, such as your browser, phone, email, and even the Wi-Fi network you are connected to. The first step is to study how they carry out these attacks and then implement steps to prevent them. Along with that, it is also important to protect your online privacy. Security and privacy are separate issues, of course, but they are deeply connected in the field of technology.

1. YourSecurity.Guide: Protect Yourself Online In 2 Hours

YourSecurityGuide

Your Security Guide is a place for beginners to learn what it takes to keep yourself safe online, in a step-by-step process. Websites divide online security and privacy into eight categories: browsers, passwords, phishing, devices, public access, networks, private data, and advanced security details.

Each mini-guide gives you several actionable steps and warns you in advance of how long it will take to implement them. For example, it only takes five minutes to secure your browser, as this guide recommends the best browsers, extensions and search engines.

The first seven steps take less than two hours to complete. Securing private data was the longest, taking over 40 minutes, so you might want to save it for another session. Advanced security details can take longer, as it's up to you how many steps you want to practice.

2. Ononymous: Movies, Games, And Guides About Online Safety

anonymous

There are a number of organizations fighting for your digital rights, as well as trying to educate people about how to protect yourself online. These resources are spread across the web. Ononymous brings them together in one portal to educate yourself about online safety.

This website includes content from Access Now, Center for Investigative Journalism, Digital Society Switzerland, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Front Line Defenders, Open Data City, Tactical Technology Collective, and The Tor Project. It is a mix of animated films and documentaries, articles and guides, and online games. You can filter content by type or manufacturer. Ononymous has a variety of resources covering a number of topics. There is a broad subject (the digital footprint we leave). Watch, play, or read to educate yourself about staying safe online.

3. Google Phishing Quiz: Can You Find a Phishing Scam?

Google Phishing Quiz

The most common digital security threat on the internet is phishing scams. You get an email that looks like it came from a legitimate source (your company, service or contact) but is cleverly disguised. After thinking it's real, you end up giving out personal details that compromise your security.

It's often difficult to find phishing scams. Jigsaw, one of Google's sister companies, created an online quiz to test whether you can spot phishing emails as well as legitimate ones. This quiz is based on a security training exercise with journalists, activists and political leaders.

In a series of eight questions, you have to click a button to say whether the email presented is legit or a phishing scam. You will soon get the correct answer, and the quiz will show a phishing indicator. So not only is it a quiz, but it's also educational. Even if you got everything right, send this quiz to other people who you think are vulnerable to phishing.

4. Email Self-Defense: Learn Email Encryption

Email Self-Defense

It's no secret that your email is not secure. Companies, governments, advertisers, and other people can read what's in your inbox if they want, without even letting you know. If you want to send something securely to other people, you need to encrypt your email. The Free Software Foundation teaches you the basics of email encryption with our Email Self-Defense guide.

This website teaches you how to set up GnuPG on a desktop email program like Thunderbird or IceDove. GnuPG (GNU Privacy Guard) is an open-source way to use cryptography to secure data. It can protect more than just email, including files and identities. But the most frequently used is to secure email.

After setting up GnuPG in the first step, you will learn how to encrypt emails with a private key. It also teaches you how to securely send those keys to the recipient, so that only they can decrypt the email. This is the simplest guide to email encryption using open standards.

5. Pixel Privacy: All About Protecting Your Privacy

Pixel Privacy

Pixel Privacy is an entire blog dedicated to teaching ordinary people how to protect their privacy online. Its creator, Chris Hauk, was an IT expert who had his credit card stolen, his email hacked, and his identity compromised. That's why he created a space for ordinary people to learn about privacy.

Broadly, Pixel Privacy has six categories: VPN, cloud storage, backup provider, password manager, antivirus and privacy guide. Each category alerts you to privacy failures in that sector and provides you with best practices to avoid falling victim. The blogger team also did a detailed comparison of popular apps and software to help you choose a privacy protection service.

The Online Privacy Guide section is among the best resources I've come across. Each article uses plain English without jargon, provides lay users actionable steps to secure their privacy, and gets to the point quickly. Pixel Privacy is one of the best ways to find out why online privacy matters and to get back to it.

Conclusion

So those are 5 Free Guides To Understanding Digital Security. This guide makes you more aware of how important your digital security and online privacy are. And this is evident, the best way to protect yourself on the internet is to change some bad habits and practices.