You may have heard of DNS, often called the phonebook of the internet. When you want to visit a website, like google.com or ihpacademy.com, DNS tells your device how to get there.
What might surprise you is that you can choose which DNS you use. Some options protect you by blocking all known malicious sites—they simply refuse to tell your device how to get there. It’s like ripping pages out of the phonebook.
But you don’t have to stop there. You can remove all sorts of pages to block nudity, gambling, piracy, social media, and more. It’s up to you.
If you’d like to upgrade your DNS phonebook, just reply to this email and let me know what kind of pages you’d like to rip out!
Do you use PayPal? I do fairly regularly, so I was a bit disappointed when I found out that PayPal has changed its Privacy Policy. Starting November 27th, 2024, PayPal will, by default, store your purchase history in preparation for selling it starting early 2nd quarter next year.
Luckily, you can disable this by going to your PayPal settings, Data & Privacy section. There you will find a “Personalized Shopping” preference.
You’ve probably heard the term. It’s a technique that uses artificial intelligence to alter someone’s appearance or voice, making them look or sound like someone else.
If you’re on a site you don’t already know and trust, take a moment to pause and get a second opinion from someone you trust.
This simple pause can help you avoid many scams.
We believe it’s critical to have someone you can talk things over with. We call this trusted person your “Protection Partner.”
In Episode 4 of our Super Simple Security Principles podcast, we discuss who makes a good Protection Partner. We also dive into some other ways to use this simple practice to stay safe.
I understand – it's convenient. But let me give you a compelling reason to stop.
When you reuse a password and it's leaked in a data breach, hackers take that email and password combination and use it to try to access your other accounts.
In 2024, data breaches are happening multiple times a week. You can read all the painful details here.
Maybe you don't use the exact same password everywhere – perhaps you have a few variations or make small tweaks for each website. Unfortunately, these strategies are no longer effective enough to keep your accounts safe. Learn why by listening to Episode 2 of our Super Simple Security Principles Podcast.
Are you using Windows built-in virus protection and firewall? If you're using Windows and not using them, you should be. If you're not sure, read our forum post with instructions.
Do you update (patch) your device software regularly?
If you don't, you should consider doing so. Each month, on the first Tuesday of the month, Microsoft releases an update fixing, on average, over 70 vulnerabilities in its software (every month — it's called Patch Tuesday!).
Other vendors have different schedules, but security patches are common and frequent on all platforms.
The vulnerabilities are public once the fix is released, so the bad guys frequently use that information to build hacks to take advantage of people who haven't updated yet.