Digital Self-Defense: Cybersecurity Basics for Everyday People

Most people don't get hacked by a genius. They get tricked by an email.

Digital Self-Defense is a plain-language guide to protecting your money, your accounts and your personal information online. No jargon, no scare tactics, and no assumption that you're good with computers.

The difference between this and the free advice you've already skimmed: 37 step-by-step walkthroughs. Not "turn on two-factor authentication" — the actual menus, the actual buttons, in order, for Gmail, your bank, your phone carrier, your router and the rest. Written to be followed with the book open next to you.

92 pages across 14 chapters, including:

• Freezing your credit at all three bureaus — it stops new accounts being opened in your name, and it is free
• Putting a PIN on your phone carrier account, which is the thing that blocks a SIM swap
• Checking your email for the silent forwarding rule that almost every other guide leaves out
• Locking down your router, your phone, your social media and your backups
• Spotting the trick: what a fake link, a fake download button and a hacked friend actually look like
• Exactly what to do, and in what order, if something has already gone wrong

Every chapter ends with a checklist, so you can do one thing today and come back next week for the next one. If you would rather not read it in order, there is a five-item list at the front of the final chapter — about two hours of work, and it removes most of the risk.

Who it's for: anyone with a phone and a bank account who would rather not learn this the expensive way.

What you get: instant download, in PDF and EPUB. Read it on a phone, a tablet, an e-reader or a computer. Yours to keep, and no subscription.

Written for readers in the United States. The password, phishing, device, malware and Wi-Fi chapters apply anywhere; the credit-freeze, carrier and identity-theft steps are US-specific.