Название: Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Security and Privacy for Non-Techies, 5th Edition
Автор: Carey Parker
Издательство: Apress
Год: 2023
Страниц: 390
Язык: английский
Формат: pdf, epub
Размер: 37.2 MB

Rely on this practical, comprehensive guide to significantly improve your cyber safety and data privacy. This book was written expressly for regular, everyday people -- though even technically savvy readers will find many useful tips here. This book contains everything you need to protect yourself-step by step, without judgment, and with as little jargon as possible.

Protecting your digital domain is much like defending a medieval castle. Wide moats, towering walls and trained guards provide defense in depth, safeguarding the people and property within against the most common threats. But attempting to dragon-proof your castle would be counterproductive and costly. The goal of this book is to keep your devices and data safe from the most likely and impactful hazards - not a targeted attack by the NSA. Like wearing seat belts and sunscreen in the real world, there are dozens of simple, effective precautions we need to take in the virtual world.

Author Carey Parker has structured this book to give you maximum benefit with minimum effort. If you just want to know what you need to do, each chapter includes a detailed checklist of expert tips. But the book also explains why you need to do these things, using entertaining analogies and straightforward explanations. This revised and expanded fifth edition includes:

Updated for Windows 11, macOS 13 (Ventura), iOS 16 and Android 13.
Updated recommendations for most secure and private products.
Over 200 tips with complete step-by-step instructions and screenshots.

What You Will Learn:
Maximize your computer and smartphone security.
Minimize your vulnerabilities and data footprint.
Solve your password problems and use two-factor authentication.
Browse the web safely and confidently with a secure, private browser.
Shop and bank online with maximum security and peace of mind.
Defend against identity theft, ransomware and online scams.
Safeguard your children online, at home and in school.
Block online tracking, data mining and malicious online ads.
Send files and messages with end-to-end encryption.
Secure your home network and keep your smart devices from spying on you.
Create automated backups of all your devices.
Learn how to deal with account hacks, data. breaches and viruses.
Understand how computers, the internet, VPNs and encryption really work
And much more!

Who This Book Is For:
This book is for my mother, my friends, my neighbors, and all the other totally normal, everyday people like them: people who use computers and smartphones but don’t really know (or frankly care) how they work. This book is for people who just want to know what they need to do to protect themselves—step by step, without judgment, and with as little jargon as possible.

I’ve structured this book to give you the maximum benefit with the least amount of effort (and cost). The purpose of this book is to cut to the chase and clearly explain the things you need to do to protect yourself in this constantly connected world of ours. Along the way, if you want to learn a little of the “why” and “how,” using language you can understand, I’ve included a good bit of that too. In this book I use a lot of helpful analogies to explain these technical topics in ways that everyone can understand. I also throw in some fascinating stories and interesting anecdotes that help drive the points home. However, I went further than just trying to make this book easy to understand—I tried very hard to make it entertaining, as well! Trust me, I’ve read a gazillion dry, boring tech books in my life—I’ve taken great pains to make sure this book isn’t one of them.

“But can’t I find all this information on the Web?”, you ask. Sure, you can! The problem is not lack of information—the problem is that there is too much. How do you find what you need and weed out the stuff you don’t? Most people wouldn’t even know what to search for. Even if you knew some of the technical terms, you’d still have to read a ton of info from different sources and figure out what parts are relevant to you. To make matters worse, the common news sources that most people turn to have done a horrible job covering these topics (when they cover them at all). They tend to focus on the wrong things, crank the hype up to silly levels, and generally give poor advice. There are lots of good websites that get it right, but you’ve probably never heard of them, and they tend to be very technical. If only someone could find all the most important stuff, break it down into manageable pieces, and explain it so anyone can get it!

That’s the main reason I wrote this book. I firmly believe that in this day and age, everyone needs a fundamental understanding of computer safety—not only for each individual’s sake but also for everyone’s sake—because we’re all connected now. It’s not just about protecting ourselves from criminals who want our money but also from corporations and governments that want to track what we do, what we say, whom we associate with, what we buy, what we read… well, basically everything. It’s important that we understand all of these threats. My goal is not only to give you the tools you need to protect your data and your privacy but to arm you with the knowledge you need to be an informed consumer and an informed citizen. We need to vote with our wallets and at the ballot box.