With the Holiday season and 2019 quickly coming to a close, many people may be starting the new year and new decade with a shiny new Apple Watch Series 5. These useful little devices are essentially an extension of the iPhone’s they get paired to.
They also have their own apple watch privacy settings.
Like their iPhone siblings, the Apple Watche shares similar strengths and weaknesses concerning how effective they are at protecting data privacy and ensuring data security. The main weakness of the Apple Watch Series 5 ultimately lies with the owner and how they configure it, and maintain it.
Learn how to protect your data privacy and data security with while wearing an Apple Watch by using the most effective privacy settings.
A recent Forbes magazine article gives some good tips on how to secure a new Apple Watch Series 5 by configuring the apple watch privacy settings for maximum privacy and security.
Part III on the NETPRAETOR.com overview of the nine main categories of information technology which have the most impact on end user data privacy and data security through daily use.
Best VPN Service Providers
Assuming you’re running an operating system which has been configured for enhanced security and reduced data leaks, along with a password manager for strong and unique passwords, a virtual private network (VPN) provided by the best vpn service providers are the next logical step towards protecting your data and your privacy.
The best VPN service providers offer a type of VPN, where your computer connects to a series of linked servers using an encrypted tunnel. The connected servers form a virtual private network forming a secure and private means for data to travel. How VPN works, along with it’s features, benefits, and levels of privacy are dependent upon the policies and word of the companies who own them.
Among the best VPN service providers, there are a multitude of companies who market their VPN service as being the best VPN service provider available. In order to determine which VPN service provider actually is the best, certain criteria needs to be established in order to see how each VPN service provider compares against the rest.
To see how VPN works, NETPRAETOR.com believes the following criteria broken down by purpose and feature, are paramount when evaluating a the best VPN service providers.
Best VPN Service Provider Purpose:
I. Increased data privacy
II. Increased data security
III. Connection speed and reliability
IV.
Multiple devices supported
Best VPN Service Provider Feature:
I. Maintain a no log policy
II. Use the latest encryption standards such as OpenVPN
III. Offers consistent speeds with good connections over a vast network
IV. Allows use of more than one device per account
The best VPN service provder will increase end-user privacy by operating servers that don’t log user activity. Many people choose to use a VPN service from home for this reason and not just while traveling. Almost all internet service providers (ISP) log customer internet activity. A VPN which logs customer activity would essentially take the place as a new ISP and defeat the purpose of enhancing end-user privacy.
With
no logs as a starting point, anyone searching for a VPN service can
automatically rule out VPN’s that are advertised as completely
free. It would be naive to think that a free VPN service is not
selling its users data for profit as ISP’s do. That being said,
some good VPN service providers who offer paid plans do offer a
scaled down free service in order for prospective customers to try
the service.
Having the foundational criteria of the best VPN service provider with a no logs policy established, the next question relates to the encryption protocols offered for data security. The two main protocols that a good VPN service will offer are called OpenVPN and IKEv2. OpenVPN is a completely open source encryption protocol that provides reliable and secure encryption tunnels. The OpenVPN protocol is best suited for desktops and laptops due to its reliability and speed on a static network.
IKEv2
is a closed source encryption protocol which also provides reliable
and secure encryption tunnels. However, the IKEv2 protocol is best
suited for tablets and mobile devices such as vpn on iPhone. This is
due to the IKEv2 protocol being more resilient to mobile device
transitions from wireless networks and cellular service. IKEv2 has
proven more reliable at maintaining a connection under these network
transitions than OpenVPN.
Only the best VPN service provider will also maintain a global network of servers for reliability and speed. A major reason to subscribe to a VPN service is to protect data while traveling and having to use unsecured and untrusted networks. Being able to login to a server close to where you’re traveling can help with overall speed. Alternatively, being able to login to a server in another country could help bypass country restricted content from entertainment providers like Netflix and Hulu. Finally, with most people owning multiple devices a good VPN service will allow for multiple devices to simultaneously use one account.
With that criteria in place, NETPRAETOR.com recommends two best VPN service providers, NordVPN and ProtonVPN. Both companies meet and exceed the purpose and features of increased privacy, increased security, speed, reliability, and support for multiple devices. As expected, they both charge fees for the quality services they provide. Also, both VPN service providers operate from countries known for their end-user privacy centric laws. Respectively, NordVPN is based in Panama, while ProtonVPN is based in Switzerland.
Check out their details below!
Fast
speeds with 5200+
servers
in 59
locations;
Privacy – strict no logs of user activity;
6 simultaneous connections;
Streaming –unblocks Netflix, Hulu, etc.;
Torrenting/P2P allowed;
ParagraphBuilt-in ad and malware blocking;
Works in China (if the case);
Easy-to-use VPN apps;
Specialty servers like Onion over VPN, Double VPN;
24/7 live chat;
30-day money-back guarantee.
610 servers in 44 countries;
Secure
core – traffic routed through privacy-friendly countries
Perfect
forward secrecy prevents traffic being decrypted
Part II on the NETPRAETOR.com overview of the nine main categories of information technology which have the most impact on end user data privacy and data security through daily use.
Across devices, operating systems, applications and websites, passwords are the common thread which tie them altogether. From logging in to a device as a local user, accessing social media platforms, or checking banking information, signing in to any of these will require a password. Factoring in entertainment platforms such as Netflix or online shopping with Amazon, most individuals end up juggling between 6 and 12 passwords on a daily basis, and that is most likely a very low estimate.
As more people are managing an ever growing list of login credentials comprised of user id’s, passwords, and sometimes two-factor authentication (2FA), it becomes an unmanageable situation for most. This usually results in people adopting one or two bad habits concerning their login credentials. The most common scenario is that people begin to standardize their usernames and passwords across devices, websites, and applications. For example, someone may pick ‘jdoe’ as a user id and ‘random25’ as a password. They begin to use that login and password for multiple accounts spanning banking, entertainment and social media.
Under this scenario it creates one weak link, whereby a breach in one area could allow access to all other sites using the same credentials. What should be an isolated breach, automatically cascades to other websites and systems like a domino effect.
Another bad habit people use to try and cope with an unmanageable list of login credentials is to physically write them down, or store them unencrypted on digital storage such as a usb stick. Both options are very bad ideas for obvious reasons. Physically writing them down means someone else can physically gain possession of them. Even if they are stored securely, they must be removed from secure storage while being used to login to a system or website. During that time the passwords would be vulnerable to theft, or more likely, someone observing over your shoulder who could potentially memorize some of the credentials.
Unencrypted digital storage of login credentials is also a very bad idea. This is due to anyone with access to the storage device having the ability to physically steal the digital storage, or quickly copy it while leaving the original file intact. There is a solution for these common password issues experienced by millions of individuals everyday.
Password managers address both problems faced by individuals trying to cope with an ever growing list of user id’s and passwords. First, they allow you to access your user id’s and passwords from any device via secure cloud storage. The best password managers will allow a local device created encryption key to be established at the time of account creation. This ensures that even the company who owns the password manager cannot access any of the data since they physically don’t have the means to decipher it. Anyone trying to view data stored with the password management company would only see garbled and unintelligible data.
Secondly, password managers allow for the creation of extremely strong and custom passwords unique to each website or system. Additionally, really good password managers will even go so far as to provide an alert when it detects the same password being used more than once. Ensuring a unique password for each site provides assurance that even if a breach does occur, it will be isolated to only that specific system or website.
NetPraetor currently recommends 1Password as the password manager of choice. They employ zero-knowledge encryption along with enterprise class security standards while offering plans covering a family of 5 for only $4.99 per month. 1Password has received multiple third-party audits attesting to their security standards. Finally, they have seamless integration with the NetPraetor recommended Apple MacOS operating system along with Apple’s entire eco-system including iPads and iPhones. Individuals choosing to use an open source operating system such as OpenBSD can even access 1Password from the command line via their CLI tool.
Now is the time to begin using a password manager, or switch if the one in use currently does not maintain zero knowledge encryption via a locally created encryption key. Secure passwords are foundational to secure data and privacy, a compromise in this area makes privacy and data security efforts in all other areas wasted time and money.
Part I on the NETPRAETOR.com overview of the nine main categories of information technology which have the most impact on end user data privacy and data security through daily use.
Data Generating Activities
Everyones online data generating activities begins and ends with their choice of operating system. In the consumer and small business realm, end users usually fall into one of two main camps. Those who use Microsoft Windows based products and those who use Apple MacOS based products. Of those two offerings, Microsoft Windows is the dominant force in terms of market saturation.
Microsoft Windows is not a NETPRAETOR recommended operating system for individuals who are privacy conscious. There are many reasons for this. Microsoft’s own success at market saturation is the number one reason. There are more nefarious individuals and entities targeting this larger user base due to increased opportunity for exploits.
In addition to Microsoft Windows users being a larger target for malware, spyware, viruses, and trojan horses, out of the box, Windows users have to exert more energy in hardening their systems against malicious activity and data leaks.
For example, limiting Cortana (Microsoft’s version of Siri, Alexa, etc.), location access, ad tracking, app permissions, feedback and diagnostics settings is far less intuitive than other operating systems.
Finally, most consumer versions of Microsoft Windows come loaded with data leaking and exploitable bloatware. Bloatware is a term coined by the early users of some of Microsoft’s Windows legacy variants such as Windows XP. It denotes mostly useless software and applications from non-Microsoft vendors. The only purpose it serves is the wasted time of the person trying to uninstall it.
Apple MacOS
Concerning the two giants of the operating system market, Apple MacOS is the recommended operating system for privacy conscious individuals. Contrasting with Microsoft’s dominant market share, Apple’s smaller user base is not the inherent reason for its increased security and privacy reputation. Although being a smaller target for malicious actors is a factor, Apple has been making concerted efforts in protecting its users data and privacy for many years.
For example, they were early adopters of implementing user friendly full-disk encryption capabilities through File Vault. Apple’s MacOS is also the cornerstone of its zero knowledge end to end encryption of devices in its ecosystem. It’s been a pioneer in this area and has been protecting its users messages and FaceTime video chats for many years as well.
These capabilities inherent in Apple’s MacOS are also built into their iOS for iPhones and iPadOS for iPads. Among market leaders offering comparable operating systems and devices, no one has come as close to Apple as creating a user friendly, secure, and privacy centric ecosystem.
Closed Source Operating Systems
Collectively, Apple’s MacOS and Microsoft’s Windows are two of the biggest proprietary operating systems. Proprietary operating systems are those whose source code, either whole or in-part, is closed from public view for review, audit, and improvement purposes.
Individual’s use these proprietary operating systems on the premise of the full faith and credit of their respective operating systems privacy policies and ultimately, their word. Apple’s MacOS has been earning consumer capital in this area for some time now and their actions appear to be speaking louder than their words for the time being. For those heavily invested in their ecosystem, lets hope it stays that way.
Open Source Operating Systems
For individuals who like to go ‘under the hood’ of their operating systems and exercise more control and customization, there are a myriad of open source alternatives. As the name implies and contrary to the proprietary operating systems, the source code is completely open and fully accessible for review, audit, and improvement purposes. Many go by the name Linux, of which there are many distributions, all tailored for various degrees of user friendliness or other narrow purposes. Linux operating systems are ultimately derived from Unix operating systems. In the heyday of early command line Unix operating systems, an open source ‘Unix-like’ operating system was born through a partnership with AT&T and University of California, Berkeley.
OpenBSD Project
This open source ‘Unix-like’ operating system became known as the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). Fast forward many decades and there are a few BSD distributions evolving with targeted goals, similar to the Linux distributions. In the sea of open source operating systems NetPraetor recommends OpenBSD as the best open source choice.
The OpenBSD project developers hold themselves to extremely high standards of code correctness and minimalism. Without a doubt security is their niche and they have helped to pioneer some of the important cryptographic solutions widely in use today, such as OpenSSH.
Although there are many excellent open source operating systems to choose from, NETPRAETOR only recommends OpenBSD. Our perspective is that everyone has limited time to allocate to various pursuits. Anyone seriously considering ‘nix’ operating systems, already has an inherent interest to go ‘under the hood’. Invest the time to go all-in learning one from the start rather than switching between distributions and never gaining a solid foundation in any of them. With OpenBSD the investment pays off, it can be configured as fully-capable desktop or a business class server or gateway and firewall appliance.
The first NETPRAETOR.com posts will encompass the nine main categories of information technology which have the most impact on end user data privacy and data security through daily use.
I. OPERATING SYSTEMS
II. PASSWORD MANAGERS
III. VPN SERVICE
IV. WEB BROWSERS & EXTENSIONS
V. SEARCH ENGINES
VI. EMAIL PROVIDERS & EMAIL CLIENTS
VII. COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION
VIII. CLOUD STORAGE & CLOUD BACKUPS
IX. AUTOMOTIVE CYBERSECURITY & HOME AUTOMATION
Covering these categories which impact the lives of billions of individuals daily is not enough. The hope is that individuals who find the NETPRAETOR.com resources and read them, will be able to see how all of these information technology elements coalesce to form their data footprints and feed big data.
With that knowledge, individuals can take a holistic approach to ensure their data is managed according to their own privacy thresholds and not those of third-parties.
The Israel Decree: Understanding God's Unbreakable Covenant with His People and Their Land View on Amazon →
As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases.
Pin It on Pinterest
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
