31–40 of 215 posts
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iOS/macOS with 1blockerX/1blocker and keychain has worked wonders for my parents.
I’d say use AdGuard instead of 1Blocker - the latter pretty much never updates its blacklists.
Maybe this is off-topic, but everything I know about personal security I learned from my mom. She gets spam calls like we all do, claiming to be health insurance or the IRS or something, and she'll always hang up, look up the right phone number, and call that back and see if there really is anything going on. Same with emails, she doesn't click links but instead goes to the website independently and logs in there. Sh…
A lot of scams can be stopped if you consult with someone before sending actual money. I think it's important to tell your parents that before they give anybody any money or account numbers or buy gift cards (a lot of scammers make people buy gift cards and then give them the number) they should talk to you first. And tell them that there is nothing legitimate that ever requires you to pay NOW. Scammers are really good at pressuring people to act immediately instead of asking somebody.
Some specific advice I'd give with relevant episodes:
- Use a password manager https://looseleafsecurity.com/episodes/securing-your-online-... so you can use strong, unique passwords, and and set up two-factor auth wherever possible (preferably with a security key) https://looseleafsecurity.com/episodes/two-factor-authentica... so that you're protected from the many possible attacks on passwords.
- Get an unwanted content blocker (aka ad blocker) like uBlock Origin to protect you against malicious ads, popups, etc., and/or a cross-site content blocker like Privacy Badger to protect you from being tracked across websites and also protect you against malicious embedded content. https://looseleafsecurity.com/episodes/web-security-continue...
- Set up backups, because it's the only reliable defense against ransomware, and it's the best defense against your computer getting malware - it's easier to wipe and start over than to try to pick out the malware (especially if their child isn't around!). https://looseleafsecurity.com/episodes/backups.html
- Learn about how to protect yourself from malware. It's not clear today that antivirus or similar software has enough benefit, and they often introduce their own security issues (or just slow down the computer enough that you'll want to turn it off). But your OS has various built-in knobs about running unknown software, and you're probably better served by turning those up to the safest settings and knowing what its security prompts mean. https://looseleafsecurity.com/episodes/malware-antivirus-and... (In particular, if you're not in tech, it's not obvious that every program you download has access to all your cookies and private files ... unless you get it from your OS's app store ... unless ... we talk about this complexity in this and previous episodes.)
We post both the entire transcript and additional notes / links to further reading, so if listening to people talk isn't your preferred way of consuming content (and honestly it's not mine either!) our website should still be pretty useful.
Phishing is a big problem for non-technical users. Google's Phishing Quiz ( https://phishingquiz.withgoogle.com ) is a surprisingly good resource.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’d say use AdGuard instead of 1Blocker - the latter pretty much never updates its blacklists.
Ublock Origin by gorhill is better, although the trouble with any ad-blocking plugin being used by non-technical people is that they will occasionally break a site and have no clue how to turn it off.
Maybe this is off-topic, but everything I know about personal security I learned from my mom. She gets spam calls like we all do, claiming to be health insurance or the IRS or something, and she'll always hang up, look up the right phone number, and call that back and see if there really is anything going on. Same with emails, she doesn't click links but instead goes to the website independently and logs in there. Sh…
There are some phone numbers where you have to pay to call them, and so there is a current scam where you call people just to get them to call you back, and you'll have to pay.
My parents still conduct the majority of their personal business offline, and though I have scoffed at this in the past, it makes more sense for them and also keeps them safe. Their bills come in the mail, and its not uncommon for them to go to a department store and pay the bill for that chain's credit card in person. They meet with their financial advisor in person at their house, and it's someone they've worked with for decades. They keep all of their important documents (social security cards, birth certificates, passports) in a safety deposit box at a local bank. All of their insurance agents are local, and they meet with them at their cluttered, homey offices. They call the hotlines for their primary credit cards fairly often, and listen for fraudulent charges.
Their online experiences are mediated through things like Facebook. They get e-mail, but I have them set up to use smart clients that filter out the most pernicious stuff. If they think something sounds fishy, they will ask me to look at it for them. Any digital documents (airline tickets, hotel reservations) they want to save go to both the Apple Cloud (which they can occasionally do, though I have to help) and to the printer so they can keep records.
The only downside of this is the sheer amount of mail they receive, and the difficulty of finding hard copies of documents despite their best efforts to file things. Even their mail is somewhat protected, though, as they live in a gated retirement community.