Securing the Home Base

When it comes to security in an enterprise environment the tech stack can be dense, costly, and severely tech savvy, all with good reason. DNS servers, firewalls, endpoint detection and response (EDR) agents, extended detection and response (XDR) agents, Security Information and Event Management systems (SIEM), and password managers almost always come with a cost. And I have yet to mention the productivity suites necessary to run the business, or the skills the administration teams require to manage a complete, ongoing, ever-changing system.

When it comes to protecting yourself off the clock, I believe the general public should take their security just as seriously. There are a number of steps an individual can take to lock down their home environment and maintain a safer online experience.

There are 3 main softwares that are a must for ANY everyday user: a password manager, a VPN, and anti-virus protection. For those not technologically inclined, I’d suggest an all-in-one solution — an interface that is easy to look at, a design that is easy to navigate, and not much to think about once the invoice is paid.

The big three have perfected this: Norton with Norton 360, Bitdefender with Ultimate Security Plus, and McAfee with McAfee+ Advanced. Each is pretty costly per year for a family that may not see the value in them as much as your average tech savvy security guy — $300–$430 for family plans once the first year’s discount is up. There are newer names in the game that are just as useful, and one offers a user experience that is virtually dummy proof: Aura.

Turns out I’ve spent 2 years paying for services my phone carrier already bundles in.

There are 2 mobile providers that supply their clients with security solutions at the consumer level: T-Mobile and AT&T. T-Mobile’s partnership with McAfee grants the average user access to their VPN, anti-virus and malware protection, and the same identity protection and dark web monitoring you’d get from the vendor directly. The same goes for AT&T’s ActiveArmor, although that solution appears to be proprietary and lacks desktop support if AT&T isn’t your ISP. As for identity theft insurance, they both have that covered — and so do some credit cards.

As for password managers and password monitoring, there are cheaper options out there that get the job done and also come with dark web scanning and password exposure reports. The automated data removal offered by Aura and Incogni is a nice feature, but it’s the one the average joe should see the least value in. Anyone with multiple accounts anywhere has had their data pass hands via a data broker more times than they know — and they consented to it, in a dense 40-page T.O.S. they accepted in one second, just to use a mobile application.

I did enjoy my time with Aura. Its simplicity let my loved ones use its device protections without thinking about it, and at the discounted price it was a great value. But every service it rendered can be sourced at a significantly lower cost than the actual new annual fee — provided I accept the risk that comes with losing automated data removal. And I am.

I acknowledge that risk. A change in practice and posture will minimize it. One master password to your password manager, then changing every account over to generated passwords, does 2 things: you don’t have to remember 32 different passwords, and there’s no correlation between the passwords for any account you hold. Adding a 2FA layer fortifies that posture, and a VPN from the company of your choosing allows for safer use of public wifi.

ISPs and VPN providers offer their own malware protection — Proton’s NetShield, or T-Mobile’s McAfee partnership with both mobile and desktop support. VPN memberships and credit cards provide identity insurance. Passwords can and should be complicated; they’re the key to many of your online assets. You reading this may already be paying for features that can aid in a better defense.

No one is ever 100% safe in the enterprise environment, and neither are those at home trusting their ISPs with their internet activity and personal data. But safe practices can and will help maintain data integrity. Check your carrier plan and your card benefits before you renew anything. You may not be maximizing use of your account benefits. Check, what are you paying for that you already have?

#cybersecurity #infosec #privacy #passwordmanager

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