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Security & Privacy Protocol

Michael's Security & Privacy Protocol

“A man who has been betrayed by people he once trusted understands why privacy is power.”

  1. Use a VPN for all internet connections (mobile, laptop, servers). I use ProtonVPN. This also gives you a private DNS.
  2. Use a secure email service such as ProtonMail for important and sensitive emails.
  3. Use a unique email alias, username, and password for every account. This provide the ultimate defense against data breaches and strong privacy protection. In other words, each login should use a username, email and password that you don't use anywhere else. (Some websites use your email as your username - same rules apply.) I use ProtonEmail aliases to generate unique email addresses (see below).
  4. Store passwords, usernames, 2FA codes and other sensitive credentials in Bitwarden. Let Bitwarden generate long and unique passwords and usernames for you (never make your own passwords nor reuse old ones). Use ProtonEmail aliases to generate unique email addresses (see below). ProtonPass is another good option,
  5. Always turn on Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for all websites and apps that offer it.
  6. Get a free voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) phone number, such as Google Voice, to use for txt/SMS messages from companies/loyalty programs, and for 2FA security codes (only if they don't support an Authentication app - see above). Your 'real' phone number should only be used for friends, family, business associates or when absolutely necessary. Otherwise, present your VOIP number as your 'real' phone number to companies. Since most firms and loyalty programs sell your data this will dramatically reduce the amount of spam calls/SMS you get on your real phone. Also, using a VOIP for 2FA will make 'man-in-the-middle' hacks more difficult.
  7. Use a secure messenger, such as Telegram or Signal.
  8. For online storage use a fully encrypted service, such as ProtonDrive. And/or use Filen is a zero knowledge end-to-end encrypted cloud storage based in Germany. I use it mostly for backing my laptop, home server and other data. Sign up for free and use my code to get an extra 10 GB.
  9. Use the Brave browser. It is based on Chromium and is 95% similar to Chrome. Do NOT store passwords in Brave (or any browser).
  10. Use a non-tracking search engine, such as Brave Search or DuckDuckGo.
  11. Use Cryptomator to create an encrypted folder on your computer to store your really sensitive information and then store it in an encrypted cloud storage.
  12. If you need a domain registrar consider using a privacy and security focused one, such as CloudFlare.
  13. Consider switching to Linux for your laptops/desktop/server (I use System76 running Cosmic OS). Microsoft, Mac and Google don't have the best track record regarding privacy and security.
  14. Get a shredder and always shred all of your documents and mail once you discard them.

Written by Michael Paulding Thomas