Let’s take a little quiz. If I asked you right now to rate your personal computer security on a scale from one to ten—with ten being Fort Knox and one being a wet paper bag—what rating would you give yourself? Seriously, give that some thought right now.

Unless you’re a techie person, I’m going to guess that you don’t really know how to come up with that number, and that almost surely means your ranking is closer to the wet paper bag end of the scale. Do you really need to be as secure as Fort Knox? No, of course, not, and that’s not what this book is about. However, there are many things you can do (or avoid doing) that will significantly increase your security and privacy, and this book is chock full of them. You don’t have to do them all—even I don’t do them all—but I firmly believe that everyone should at least consider the specific tips and techniques described in this book.

I’m guessing that a few questions are popping into your mind right now. Do I really need this book? Do I need to be a “computer person” to understand it? How much effort is this going to take? All good questions! Let’s answer them right up front.

The answer to the first question is easy: yes! Okay, why do you need this book? Because so many important parts of our lives are moving to the Internet now—banking, shopping, paying bills, socializing, gaming, you name it. And it’s not just our desktop computers that are connecting to the Internet, it’s our laptops, smartphones, tablets, and even appliances. Unlike the days of dial-up modems, our devices are now connected almost 100 percent of the time. These facts have not gone unnoticed by the bad guys. As the famous saying goes, why do criminals rob banks? Because that’s where the money is! ¹ You need this book because it will make you safer—significantly safer, if you follow most of the advice. In fact, not only will it make you safer, it will make those around you safer, even if they don’t do any of the things I recommend in this book. (I’ll explain that bit of magic later in the book.)

This book is for my mother, my friends, my neighbors, and all the other totally normal, everyday people like them: people who use computers and mobile devices but don’t really know (or frankly care) how they work. This book is for people who just want to know what they need to do to protect themselves—step-by-step, without judgment, and with as little jargon as possible. I’ve structured this book to give you the maximum benefit with the least amount of effort (and cost). The purpose of this book is to cut to the chase and clearly explain the things you need to do to protect yourself in this increasingly connected world of ours. Along the way, if you want to learn a little of the “why” and “how,” in language you can understand, I’ve included a good bit of that, too. In this book I use a lot of analogies to help explain these technical topics in ways that everyone can understand, and I also include some fascinating stories that help to drive the points home. I’ve made this book not only easy to read but I hope even fun to read!

But can’t I find all of this information on the Web, you ask? Sure you can! The problem is not lack of information—the problem is that there is too much . How do you find what you need and weed out the stuff you don’t? Most people wouldn’t even know what to search for. Even if you knew some of the technical terms, you’d still have to collect all the info and figure out what parts are relevant to you. To make matters worse, the common news sources that most people turn to have done a horrible job covering these topics (when they cover them at all). They tend to focus on the wrong things, crank the hype to ridiculous levels, and generally give poor advice. There are lots of good web sites that get it right, but you’ve probably never heard of them, and they tend to be very technical. If only someone could find all the most important stuff, break it down into manageable pieces, and explain it so anyone can get it….

That’s the main reason I’m writing this book. I firmly believe that in this day and age everyone needs a fundamental understanding of computer safety—not only for each individual’s sake but also for everyone’s sake because we’re all connected now. It’s not just about protecting ourselves from criminals who want our money but also from corporations and governments that want to track what we do, what we say, who we associate with, what we buy, what we read…well, basically everything. It’s important that we understand all of these threats. My goal is not only to give you the tools you need to protect your data and your privacy but to arm you with the knowledge you need to be an informed citizen when it comes time to vote, either at the ballot box or at the cash register.

So, let’s get to it!