[glossary_exclude]They assume perfection, and we all know how that goes.[/glossary_exclude] by Leo A. Notenboom (Image: DALL-E 3) A phrase we've heard more and more often in recent years is encryption backdoor. The concept is simple: government agencies want to be able to monitor otherwise encrypted communications. The concept is flawed. [glossary_exclude]Encryption backdoors[/glossary_exclude][glossary_exclude]Encryption backdoors allow governments or other entities to access...

Perfect security is a myth. What's important is to pay attention to the trade-offs you make.

Not long ago, I came up with the words to describe part of what I do. It was kind of a secret... until now.

Adding the most common and secure form of two-factor authentication to your account.

Will a specific power supply or charger damage a device? I'll look at what's safe and what's not.

Losing access to your Facebook account means losing everything within it forever. Make sure the important stuff is saved elsewhere.

Initial panic about the Microsoft Recall feature is overblown. If you're worried about that, you're worried about the wrong thing.

Commercial software can be expensive. Can you just pirate software if you can't afford it? You can guess my answer, but even better: theft isn't necessary.

CHKDSK can't check an empty drive, and Windows considers RAW to mean empty.

If your format happened quickly, it's unlikely your data was actually erased. I'll show you the difference.

Having your email automatically or continually signed in to can be a security risk in some situations, but very convenient in others.

Passwords are dying. On some services, you can start playing with the process by creating a secure password... and then forgetting it.

Here are my latest recommendations for specific security software and techniques.

This is a system designed to help you recover your email account if something should go wrong... and things go wrong more often than you would like to think.

Numerous people and programs can track your internet activities. But are you really that interesting?

When Windows tells you it's out of memory, what does it mean and what can you do about it?

Many people are concerned that they are specifically targeted by hackers, advertisers, and others. Nope.

Testing your backups is an easy step to overlook but an important one to take. Make sure your backups will be there when you need them.

Backups are critical. But for how long? I'll look at how long you might want to keep backups, why, and how long I keep mine.

Ping is one of the oldest diagnostic tools. It validates connectivity from point A to point B and provides additional useful information.

It's not obvious, but there's an easy way to block all email sent to you from a single domain. Just make sure it's really what you want.

For one thing, it doesn't back up Windows. For another it can make a mess of your folders.

Conventional wisdom says to change your passwords periodically. I disagree.

Programs typically don't use all available memory unless they need it or they have a problem.