(TEXT) 14/02 2017
Practical Security and Privacy Guidelines
Mick Halsband, Boaz Levin
Security vs Innocence
The main concern with data security is to balance between having your devices seem innocent and having your devices be secure.
Security can sometimes be incriminating.
For these reasons we have separate recommendations for day-to-day (safe & anonymous) usage; and extreme security scenarios (safest but not innocent).
Try to find a balance which makes sense with your individual concerns and threats on the one hand; and with your individual work habits and resources on the other.
Lastly, it is better to have average security all the time, than perfect security once in a blue moon.
Best everyday practices for some security and anonymization
Activate a VPN
Open an anonymous browser window (private (firefox) or incognito (chrome))
Use anonymous search engines (duckduckgo.com, startpage.com)
Best practices for high-security scenarios
Activate TOR browser
Follow these guidelines
Security setup
Secure your browser
https://www.eff.org/Https-Everywhere
Use encrypted online storage
https://tresorit.com/nonprofit
Use secure signal messenger
https://whispersystems.org/
Use a secure email account
https://mail.protonmail.com/
Use a different secure password for each service with a password manager
PC/Mac, Android, iPhone
Device encryption
PC/Mac, iPhone, Android
For further reading
Berlin based non-profit tactical-tech comprised a list of tools and best practices
A very comprehensive guide overview