Digital Security Guides

Here is a curated list of resources that can help you with digital safety, information security, privacy and online anonymity needs.

Here is a curated list of resources that can help you with digital safety, information security, privacy and online anonymity needs, all of which tend to get wrapped under the banner of Digital Security. There are a lot of guides online, and quite a number of them are not great. I'm curating a few of the better ones here, and will occasionally add and subtract them as time goes on. This isn't to suggest that these are the only good ones out there, just that these are ones I'd currently recommend. You may find others, and that's great.

Signs of a good resource on digital security

  1. It takes a threat model approach, and helps you assess the risks. Everybody has different situations, concerns, needs and abilities. A journalist protecting sensitive sources needs a very different plan than a some parent protecting mobile photos of their kids. protecting commercial data will require different tools than defending yourself against targeted harassment. A political activist will maybe accept more uncomfortable trade-offs in how they configure their mobile than your average user might want or need. Some resources are targeted for specific users, look for signs of this. It may be interesting to see what conflict journalists should know, but you might be more interested in how to safely look up abortion services, or who knows. Your threat model is your own. Other resources are more widely applicable, but if they're any good, they'll still start from this point and then you look at the sections relevant to your needs.
  2. Another clue you're in the good place is that the content is up to date, and hasn't been published years ago and forgotten about. There are a lot of these out there collecting world wide web dust. One tell-tale sign is that they're referring to outdated or discontinued software, operating systems or devices. Look for a publish date or a 'last updated/reviewed on...' line. They don't have to be as fresh as this week, but possibly should have been updated in the last 12 months, give or take.
  3. A good guide is written for the humans! It shouldn't be overloaded with jargon, require a lot of work in the the command line terminal (that little black window every computer has and few users check out), or expect you to look up every other word. New concepts are explained as they are introduced, and any technical words that may be necessary are explained on first reference. The advice is practical, and explains the reasoning behind the guidance.