...it's true: ask three random people about security and you'll probably get three unique answers. Each person has their own take. But no matter where you land, one thing is clear: staying secure online shouldn't require eyes-bleeding complexity.

Hiiiii. I'm Jon Fedor and this is InCyber Regular, edition eight. I talk about cyber security issues and awareness for smaller enterprises and the cyber-curious. I also tweet about great books I'm reading.

In today's edition: Decent Security. Humble name for a fantastic resource.

Greatness isn't fancy

You should know that by now. Scratch that. *I* should know that by now.

Some of the best things in life are simple and effective. Cups. Floss. TP. Etc.

Problem: when it comes to areas of knowledge that *seem* like they *should* be complex, we twist ourselves up in knots conjuring a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Security on the internet is no exception. It's amazing how many paywalls, gated content, advertising and marketing-driven content, and other tom-foolery is out there on the internet related to the topic of cyber security.

This guy is different.

SwiftOnSecurity

Who is this person? Wikipedia sheds some light.

"SwiftOnSecurity is a pseudonymous computer security expert and influencer on Twitter who pretends to be Taylor Swift. As of February 2020, they have over 300.000 followers. The name was chosen due to Taylor Swift's caution with regard to digital security."

He kinda doesn't pretend to be Taylor Swift at all. But that's beside the point.

This pencil didn't spend enough time in the sharpener. Here's an autobiography.

"Beginning in first-line helpdesk as a temporary employee and working up, starting in 2007 I worked for ten years to tale over, implement, and run Windows deployment, patching, management, antivirus, auditing, and security across over 1400 computers in 50+ offices nationwide. I was a Windows Systems Administrator for the North American subsidiary of a multinational, billion-dollar company.

In 2018, I was hired to run Special Projects and act as an endpoint monitoring lead for a Fortune 500 company.

Through my professional identity I am a Microsoft MVP, and have direct contacts with senior contributors to the Windows ecosystem - including authors, journalists, security experts, and many Microsoft staff. I often solicit their advice and ask them to review what I publish."

Cool; this person knows his stuff. Sooo?

He runs a site called Decent Security based on the philosophy, "Everyone can be secure."

Everyone can be secure?

That's naive, right?

Not necessarily.

Security is all about hygiene. And how do you keep yourself looking and smelling so good, personally? Regular maintenance performed on short, iterative cycles. (And boy, if you don't, we *know*).

Decent Security is personal hygiene for security. The author walks readers through topics such as:

1. How you get infected
2. Windows security from the ground up
3. Router / wifi configuration
4. A whole section written for the Enterprise
5. And other topics

It's a great read. I highly recommend it.

Seems like you're always giving us homework

It's true. But don't get overwhelmed. Short, iterative cycles. This is key for effective hygiene.

Learn something everyday. Get better. Get stronger. Repeat.

Shoot, I forgot a step: read InCyber Regular.

There we go. That feels complete.

Thanks!

A parting thought from SwiftOnSecurity himself:

If you read tweets, SwiftOnSecurity is a great account to follow.

If you enjoyed this or learned something then I dare you (triple dog) to forward this email. Or pass along the link to sign up for InCyber Regular.

I love writing this thing for y'all and I want to keep doing it. And I want it to get better weekly. So let's make it happen already.

Have a good'un, Good Lookin'.

~Jon Run-As-Admin Fedor