Digital security
Device & Network Safety: The Complete Starting Guide
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Your devices hold the things everything else in your digital life depends on, so start by making them hard to get into. Then cover how you browse and connect, and finally how you store your most sensitive files.
If you only do a few things, do these: keep everything updated, encrypt your computer and set a strong passcode on your phone.
Secure the device
Keep antivirus and updates current
Turn on automatic updates for your operating system and your apps. Updates close the holes most attacks use, so this matters more than anything you can buy.
For antivirus, the protection built into your system is enough for most people: Microsoft Defender on Windows, and the protections Apple builds into macOS. Paid security suites add extras like identity monitoring and VPNs, which you may not need.
What good looks like: automatic updates switched on everywhere, and built in protection left on.
Encrypt your computer and set a password
Put a password on your computer and encrypt the drive. A password alone isn’t enough: if your computer is stolen and the drive isn’t encrypted, the drive can still be read. Windows and macOS both have built in drive encryption (BitLocker and FileVault).
Use a long, unique password. A password manager makes that easy, and we cover them in our passwords and account access guide.
What good looks like: full disk encryption turned on, and a strong password on the account.
Use a real passcode on your phone
Don’t use a four digit passcode. Pick something longer and hard to guess. Your phone holds your email, your banking apps and your MFA codes, so it deserves more than a short number.
What good looks like: a longer passcode, not a birthday or a repeating pattern.
Set up your phone’s other protections
Set the screen to lock quickly. Turn on the built in lost-device tracking and remote wipe, so you can find the phone or erase it if it’s gone. Review which apps have access to your location, contacts, camera and microphone, and remove what they don’t need.
What good looks like: a short auto-lock time, find-my and remote wipe turned on, and apps with only the permissions they need.
Turn on MFA for your device accounts
Your Apple, Google or Microsoft account controls your device, your backups and a lot of your data. Turn on MFA there first. Our guide to setting up MFA and backing it up covers how.
What good looks like: MFA on the account tied to each device, with recovery options saved offline.
Be careful what you install
Install apps from official stores, and only the ones you need. Be just as careful with browser extensions, since they can see what you do in the browser. Remove ones you don’t use.
What good looks like: a known developer, a long track record and permissions that match what the app does.
Browse and connect safely
Add ad and tracker blocking
A browser level blocker cuts down on malicious ads and trackers before they load. uBlock Origin is a free, open source blocker that does this well, so there’s little reason to pay for one.
What good looks like: a well known blocker from a reputable source, with regular updates. Avoid lookalike extensions with few users.
Watch for phishing and scam calls
Be careful with emails, texts and phone calls that push you to act fast, click a link or hand over information. When in doubt, don’t use the link or number they gave you. Go to the company’s site yourself, or call a number you already know.
If a call worries you, hang up and call back on a number you already know, like the one on your card or the company’s website. Your phone’s built in call screening and your carrier’s free spam blocking cut down on the rest.
Signs to watch for: urgency, unexpected requests and links that don’t match the sender.
Use a VPN on public Wi-Fi
Most sites already encrypt your connection (the padlock in the address bar), so public Wi-Fi is less risky than it used to be. A VPN still helps there: it hides which sites you visit from the network owner and others on it, and protects the few apps and sites that don’t encrypt. It doesn’t make you anonymous, and it doesn’t stop phishing or malware. Your VPN provider can see the same traffic the network could, so you’re moving trust to them.
Your phone’s hotspot is a free alternative to café Wi-Fi when you need it.
Our pick
Proton VPN· Proton
Proton publishes the results of independent no-logs audits, most recently by Securitum in 2025. Its apps are open source, it’s based in Switzerland, and it has a free plan, so you can try it before you pay.
Downside: A VPN moves your trust to its provider, who can see the traffic your network could. The free plan covers one device at a time and a handful of countries, so a paid plan is what you'd use on several devices.
What good looks like: a provider with an independently audited no-logs policy, that you trust with your traffic, and that’s easy enough to leave on.
Secure your home network
Your router is the front door to every device in your house. Change its admin password, keep its firmware updated, use a long Wi-Fi password, and replace it if it no longer gets updates.
Put guests and smart devices on a separate network, and add DNS filtering to block known malicious sites for every device at once. Our guide to securing your home Wi-Fi network walks through each step.
What good looks like: automatic firmware updates, a guest network for smart devices, and a manufacturer that still supports the model.
Back up and protect your data
Back up on a routine
Back up important files regularly, and keep more than one copy with at least one stored somewhere else. An encrypted external drive covers the local copy.
Our pick
WD My Passport 1TB· Western Digital
An external drive with built in 256-bit AES hardware encryption and password protection through WD’s software, which works on Windows and Mac. It also comes with backup software for scheduling automatic backups.
Downside: Encryption stays off until you set a password in WD's software, and it's a spinning hard drive, so a drop can damage it. It's one copy, so keep another somewhere else.
What good looks like: an automatic backup, a copy stored offsite, and a restore you’ve actually tested.
Encrypt sensitive files before they go to the cloud
For your most sensitive documents, encrypt them on your own device before uploading them to cloud backup. That way, if the cloud provider has a security incident, there’s less chance your files are exposed. Some services do this for you.
Our pick
SpiderOak One· SpiderOak
A backup service that encrypts your files on your device before they’re uploaded, with version history and apps for Windows, Mac and Linux. SpiderOak says it can’t read your files.
Downside: Only you hold the keys, so if you lose them your files are gone. SpiderOak's site shows no free plan or trial. The free route is to encrypt the files yourself before you upload them to the cloud service you already use.
What good looks like: encryption that happens on your device, before upload, with keys that you control.