Cybersecurity

A hands-on guide to securing open Wi‑Fi in coworking spaces without breaking usability

I spend a lot of time working from coffee shops, libraries and coworking spaces, and one question keeps coming up from readers, founders and friends: how do you secure devices and data on an open Wi‑Fi network without turning every connection into a fortress that destroys usability? In this hands‑on guide I walk through the practical steps I use to protect myself and my team in shared spaces. No theoretical laundry list — just workable...

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Practical privacy audit: what Google, Apple, and Microsoft really collect from your phone

I started this practical privacy audit because I got tired of vague privacy promises from big tech and wanted something I could apply to my own phone in under an hour. If you carry a smartphone from Google, Apple or Microsoft, you’re handing that company a lot of signals about your life—even when you think you’ve turned everything off. Below I walk through what these companies actually collect, how to find the evidence on your device and...

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Can consumer smart locks be safely integrated with Alexa and Google Home?

I’ve been testing smart home gear for years, and door locks are the one device that makes me pause: they protect your physical space and they're now tied into cloud services, voice assistants and mobile apps. Integrating a consumer smart lock with Alexa or Google Home can be convenient — unlocking your door with voice or automating guest access — but it also raises real security and privacy questions. In this piece I walk through the...

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How to choose the right small business firewall for hybrid teams

I’ve spent years helping small teams pick tools that actually make work safer and simpler, so when hybrid setups started becoming the norm I quickly realised the firewall conversation had to change. A firewall for a small business in 2025 isn’t just a box at the office edge — it’s the glue between on‑prem users, remote staff, cloud services and SaaS apps. Choosing the right one means balancing security, manageability and cost while...

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How to build an incident response playbook for a small e‑commerce site

Running a small e‑commerce site means juggling product listings, payment flows, customer support and marketing — all while hoping the infrastructure quietly hums along. When something goes wrong, "let’s fix it" is not a plan. Over the years I’ve helped small teams translate that gut reaction into repeatable actions. Below I’ll walk you through a pragmatic incident response playbook tailored to a small e‑commerce business: what to...

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Which password managers resist phishing and how to configure them correctly

I get asked a lot which password manager will actually protect you from phishing, and the short answer is: some do a lot better than others — but only if you configure them correctly. Over the years I’ve tested and reviewed most major managers (1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass, Dashlane, Keeper, and the major browser-built managers), and the pattern is the same: a tool can only stop phishing reliably if you understand how its autofill and...

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