EASY GUIDE TO

CYBERSECURITY
& P R I VAC Y

The Most Comprehensive, Exhaustive and

Complete Guide Ever Written

TERENCE KAM
Preface ...........................................................................9
Introduction ..................................................................10
Chapter 1: Fundamental Laws of Digital Security .........12
Chapter 2: Fortifying Your Computer Against Hackers
and Malware ................................................................13
Anti-malware software is just the starting point ......................18
Secure Boot ........................................................................21
Firmware password .............................................................24
Risks of using your computer as an administrator ...................26
Updating your software and operating system ......................32
Disabling and enabling specific features in your operating
system ................................................................................34
Recognising executable code ...............................................40
How to tell whether the software is safe or not? ....................45
Check the app permissions ..................................................52
Check website permissions ...................................................54
Check your web-browser extensions .....................................55
Has the software been tampered with? .................................59
Updating the firmware of your computer hardware ...............66
Locking down your Windows PC with AppLocker ..................67
Isolating suspicious software with a sandbox .........................69
Why 64-bit versions of Windows is more secure? ..................79
Be careful of unknown USB sticks .........................................81
Tip: how to open suspicious office documents safely ..............82
Scams ................................................................................83
Chapter 3: Secure Your Passwords...............................85
How to find out if your password has been compromised in a
data breach? ......................................................................86
Why will you eventually be hacked if you don’t use a password
manager? ...........................................................................87
How a password manager shore up your digital defence
substantially? ......................................................................92
Which password managers? ................................................93
Using KeePass for maximum security ....................................95
Using cloud-based password managers ...............................114
Sharing passwords .............................................................117
Danger of storing passwords in your web browser ...............121
Chapter 4: Two-Factor Authentication.........................122
Types of 2FA .....................................................................123
Security weaknesses of 2FA ...............................................125
Complications with 2FA .....................................................129
Setting up 2FA ...................................................................131
Physical 2FA .....................................................................133
Beware of answers to ‘Security’ questions ...........................135
Chapter 5: Introducing Public-Private Key Cryptography .
137
Symmetric Key Cryptography .............................................138
Public-Private (Asymmetric) Key Cryptography ....................138
Certificate Authority, Digital Certificates ..............................139
Subversion of Certificate Authority ......................................141
Chapter 6: Going Beyond Passwords & 2FA ...............143
How do hackers defeat 2FA? .............................................143
Passkey .............................................................................145
How incorrect passkey implementations allow phishing ........148
SQRL ................................................................................152
Chapter 7: Securing Your Home/Office Network ........155
Securing your own WiFi .....................................................156
Home network self-tests ......................................................162
Securing your Internet-of-things (IOT) devices at home .........164
Chapter 8: Using Public Wifi .......................................169
Use a trusted DNS server ...................................................170
Solving the DNS security problem- DNSSEC ........................182
Tunnel through the Internet using a trusted VPN ..................183
Chapter 9: Surfing the Web Safely .............................186
Weakness of automatic malicious website blocking ..............187
Consulting anti-malware software blacklist ..........................188
How to surf dangerous websites safely? ..............................188
Phishing: do not be tricked into revealing your secrets! ........190
How to tell if a social media page is legitimate? ..................195
How to tell if a website is secure? .......................................196
How do the visual cues for the security levels look like? .......198
How to tell if a hacker is intercepting your supposedly secure
website connection? ...........................................................201
Is someone eavesdropping on your secure connections? ......203
 Beware of tiny URLs ..........................................................205
Is your web browser and its extensions up to date? .............205
Beware of web browser extensions .....................................207
Which web browser/extensions must you NOT use/install? ..209
Is someone else assessing your accounts? ............................210
Chapter 10: Protecting What’s Inside Your Computer.215
Encrypt your disks .............................................................215
Why you must encrypt SSD/flash disks before first using it ...241
Dangers of hibernating your computer ...............................242
Secure erase your disks .....................................................243
Chapter 11: Securing Your Mobile Devices .................247
Why device operating systems are technically more secure ..247
Dangers of rooting or jail-breaking your device ...................249
Be careful of what you connect to your device ....................250
Ensure you sanitise the data in your car before you return/sell it
253
Which is safer? iOS/iPadOS or Android? ...........................254
Initial security settings you must activate immediately ...........260
Beware of iOS configuration profiles ..................................273
Preventing people from exploring your mobile device ..........276
Be careful of third-party keyboard apps ..............................277
Are apps spying on you? ...................................................278
Is your ‘turned Off’ iPhone really off? ................................282
Chapter 12: Physical Security .....................................285
The “Evil Maid Attack” ......................................................285
Ways to physically secure your computers and devices ........289
Beware of visual hacking (Shoulder Surfing) .......................291
Don’t leave your device/computer unattended ....................292
Secure your physical mailbox .............................................294
Chapter 13: Suspicious Behaviours .............................296
Significant slowdowns ........................................................296
Weird behaviours ..............................................................296
Emails you didn't ask for ....................................................297
Strange text messages .......................................................297
System settings are disabled ..............................................297
Application settings are altered ..........................................298
A lot of pop-up messages ..................................................298
 Random crashes and boot up problems ..............................299
Very poor battery performance .........................................299
A sudden uptick in data usage ...........................................299
Webcam light turn on without good reason .........................300
Error message when trying to use webcam .........................300
Unauthorised forwarding ...................................................300
Chapter 14: Before You Sell, Dispose, Return Your
Device/Computer/Disk... ............................................302
Step 1: Is your device already encrypted? ..........................303
Step 2: Secure Erase .........................................................304
Step 3: Reset ....................................................................305
Chapter 15: Avoiding Accidental Leakages .................310
Prevent leakages via Office documents ................................310
Removing hidden information in photos ...............................315
Always turn off location services in your smartphone ...........318
Have you given consent to steal your private information? ...324
Chapter 16: Sending Messages, Phone Calls, Emails &
Documents Securely ...................................................330
Keeping your emails private ...............................................330
Sending private messages ..................................................343
Making secure phone calls ................................................359
Chapter 17: Backups, Cloud Storage and Services .....361
How ransomware makes a mincemeat out of your backups ..361
Are your backups encrypted? ............................................365
Are the files In your cloud storage encrypted? ....................369
Chapter 18: Prevent Tracking and Data Collection .....374
Using the right web-browsers ..............................................374
Use the right search engine ................................................376
Setting up your web-browsers .............................................376
Private mode is not as private as you think ..........................385
Protecting your DNS traffic ................................................385
Protecting your web traffic .................................................388
Install ad-blockers .............................................................392
Cleaning up your activity history in your Google account .....394
Protecting your privacy FROM Facebook ............................395
Cleansing your Amazon account ........................................408
Adjusting your privacy options ...........................................411
 Removing other ad trackers ................................................416
Software services to beware ..............................................418
Privacy settings to turn on in iOS/iPadOS and macOS .........421
Chapter 19: Defeating Facial Recognition Technology 423
Chapter 20: Social Engineering Tricks.........................426
Caller ID Spoofing ............................................................426
OTP scams ........................................................................428
Chapter 21: Mitigating Against Identity Theft .............431
Feeding pseudonymous information ....................................432
Virtual Mailbox .................................................................435
Fake identity generator ......................................................436
Fake face generator ..........................................................437
Credit card numbers ..........................................................437
Chapter 22: Disconnecting Between Your Physical and
Online World ..............................................................440
How Facebook follows you from the physical world to the
online world .....................................................................441
How shopping centres follow you around electronically .......443
Beware of QR code ...........................................................448
How to hide your home from people in Street View .............449
Finally… ......................................................................451