Articles

Checking a password without sending it Checking against breach databases sounds like a contradiction: to check it, you must send it. Here is the trick that avoids that. Randomness in the browser How crypto.getRandomValues differs from Math.random, why the latter must never make passwords, and how to check it yourself. How long should a password be Eight characters, twelve, sixteen — what those numbers mean and why one extra character beats any special symbol. Why you must not reuse passwords The most common habit and the most expensive. How a forum breach opens your email and why adding a digit does not help. Password myths Change monthly, always add symbols, never write it down. Nine persistent myths and what replaces them. Passphrase or random password A comparison by strength, typing comfort and compatibility — with a table and a simple rule for choosing. How to create a strong password Seven rules that genuinely affect your security, and a look at the habits that stopped working long ago. Password entropy in plain words Why strength is measured in bits, how to work it out yourself and how many years cracking a password of your length would take.

Fake sites in search results You search for your bank and the first link leads to a copy. Why search allows this and how to tell them apart. Job search scams Well-paid remote work, a test task with payment up front, “onboarding” via a transfer. The schemes aimed at applicants. How to check a link Where the real domain sits in an address, why shortened links are risky and why letters are not always what they seem. When personal data leaks An ID number, a phone and an address cannot be changed like a password. What it actually means and what can be done. Marketplace scams A payment “outside the platform”, a fake checkout page, a courier with a link. Schemes aimed at sellers and buyers. SIM swapping The number is reissued in someone else’s name and confirmation codes stop arriving to you. The scheme and the defence that works. Fake tech support You post a question on social media and “support” replies within a minute. How the trick works and why real support never writes like that. Investment scams An advert with a celebrity face, a personal manager, a rising chart in an app. How the script works and when the money disappears. Cloned voice and video A voice is convincingly cloned from fifteen seconds of audio. What counts as proof now, and what to agree with your family in advance. Safe online shopping The signs of a fake shop, which payment methods are protected and what to do when the parcel never arrives. Messenger scams A friend’s hacked account, “mum, I’m in trouble”, fake support. The schemes and the signs visible from the first message. How passwords are actually cracked The four methods used in practice, their speed in numbers, and which defence works against each one. Signs of a hacked account What gives away someone else’s access, where to look for traces, and why silence in your inbox is also a sign. Phishing: not handing over the password yourself The strongest password is useless once you type it on someone else’s page. The signs that work, and the ones you cannot rely on. What to do if your password leaked An order of actions where the order matters: email first, everything else after. And why changing one character does not help.

How sites store passwords What happens to a password after sign-up, what the salt is for, and why a service able to email you your own password is a warning sign. Hardware security key The only second factor that cannot be phished. How it achieves that, who needs one and what it costs. How to check an email A sender name is freely faked and the real address hides behind it. What to look at, and in what order. Crypto wallet seed phrase Twelve words that cannot be recovered and cannot be changed. Why the familiar password rules do not apply here. Privacy settings on your devices App permissions, interest-based advertising, location history. What to switch off and what it actually changes. Authenticator apps How they differ, what to ask before installing, and why the secret key must be saved at setup rather than later. Recovering access to an account A forgotten password, a lost phone, a changed number. What to prepare while you still have access and what to do once you do not. What an ordinary photo gives away Coordinates in the file, a house number in a reflection, a key on the table. What ends up in the frame besides the subject. Browser security An extension sees everything you see. What that means, what to switch off, and why private mode protects against the wrong thing. Do you need an antivirus The answer differs for Windows, macOS, phones and tablets. And why built-in protection now covers most of the job. Updates and security What happens between a patch being published and installed, why automatic updates are worth it and when to wait. Social media privacy Which settings genuinely affect security and which only create a feeling of it. And what stays visible even on a private profile. Bank account security The password is not the main thing here. What actually protects the money, and why a call “from the security department” beats any brute force. Security questions Your mother’s maiden name and your first pet are findable on social media in five minutes. What to do instead. Login without a password What a passkey is, how it differs from a fingerprint, and why passwords will not disappear in the next few years. Password manager: why and which Why unique passwords are impossible without one, what happens if the master password is lost, and how cloud vaults differ from local ones. Two-factor authentication How the three confirmation methods differ, why SMS is the weakest and what to do with backup codes before the phone goes missing.

A plan for when you are hacked When it happens there is no time to think. A ready sequence for each kind of incident — save it in advance. Shared computers One laptop for the family, a library machine, a colleague’s desk. What to set up at home and what never to do on someone else’s device. Parental controls An honest look: where they work, where they are bypassed in five minutes, and why an agreement beats any software. A year-long security plan One-off tasks end; security is a habit. Everything worth doing, spread across the year instead of one exhausting evening. Protecting a gaming account Free skins, a great trade, “vote for me”. The tricks that work specifically on players. Passwords in a small team Five people, thirty services, half the access sitting with one person. Order without corporate process. Email aliases A trick that shows exactly who sold your address and lets you switch off the spam in one move. Remote work security Work data on a personal laptop, family at the same computer, calls from a café. What to set up and what to agree on. What to wipe before selling a device Deleting apps and wiping a device are not the same thing. What stays behind and the order in which to remove it. Security while travelling A lost phone abroad, a hotel computer, roaming with no signal. What to prepare in advance and what to do on the spot. Security for older parents What to configure in a single visit, and how to talk about scammers without insulting or frightening anyone. Backups and the 3-2-1 rule A copy in the cloud is not yet a backup. How the two differ and why ransomware destroys both at once. Digital cleanup: old accounts Every forgotten account is your data in someone else’s database that will eventually leak. How to find what you forgot and what to do with it. Digital legacy What happens to email, photos and subscriptions if only you have the keys. How to prepare without handing out passwords in advance. Passwords for children What to explain at seven, at twelve and at fifteen. Shared access without spying, and what children are afraid to tell their parents. Personal and work accounts Why a work mailbox must not be the recovery point for personal services, and what the employer takes back when you leave. A password audit in one evening Forty accounts cannot be fixed at once. Sort them by importance: what to change today, what this week and what to leave alone. Changing your phone without losing access Your second factor lives in an app on the old phone. What to move before you sell it, and what to do if the phone is already gone. Password policy in a company Why 90-day rotation backfires, which requirements produce results, and how to hand credentials to new employees. How to share a password Why a password must not go in a message, which methods are genuinely safe, and what to do when it has to be read out loud.

Securing a Telegram account The cloud password, active sessions and the takeover schemes that actually work. What to set up in five minutes and what to check monthly. Home Wi-Fi security The network password, the router password, a guest network and three settings worth turning off. Half an hour of one-time work. What a provider sees Encryption hides the contents but not the fact of the request. A calm account of what stays visible. Guest Wi-Fi network Ten minutes of setup that separates your work laptop from a smart plug, a bulb and a visitor’s phone. Fake QR codes A sticker over the real code on a parking meter, in a café, on a bill. How the trick works and what to check before scanning. Smart home security Devices shipped with a default password that nobody ever updates. What to configure, what to move to the guest network and what not to buy. Public Wi-Fi What actually threatens you in a café or an airport, which scare stories are out of date, and the three rules that suffice.

A fair giveaway on social media How to make the result impossible to dispute: what to publish before the draw, why a screenshot proves nothing and how a participant can verify the outcome.