// Interactive Tool

How Exposed Am I?

12 questions across 5 risk areas. Answer honestly — you get a score and a personalized priority list, not a list of everything you should do.

3 minutes • No account required • Nothing stored or sent

Resources

Privacy Checklist

Ten steps, ranked by impact. Work through it once and your threat surface shrinks significantly.

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// Privacy Checklist

Ten steps, ranked by impact.

Work through these once. Each one addresses a real attack vector — not a theoretical risk. Start at the top; the first two alone cover most account compromises.

0 of 10 complete

Account Security 01

Critical

Use a password manager

Most people reuse the same password across dozens of accounts. One breach exposes all of them. A password manager generates and stores a unique password for every site — you only need to remember one master password.

Try: Bitwarden (free & open source) or 1Password ($3/mo)

Critical

Enable two-factor authentication (2FA)

A second factor means a stolen password alone can’t get someone into your account. Use an authenticator app — not SMS text codes, which can be intercepted. Start with email, banking, and social accounts.

Try: Google Authenticator or Authy (both free) — avoid SMS 2FA when possible

Device Security 03

High

Turn on automatic updates

Most successful attacks exploit known vulnerabilities that already have patches available. Software updates aren’t just new features — they’re security fixes. Turn on auto-updates and stop running old software.

Where: iPhone: Settings → General → Software Update → Automatic Updates — Mac: System Settings → General → Software Update — Windows: Settings → Windows Update

High

Lock your phone properly

Your phone contains your email, banking apps, photos, and contacts. A 4-digit PIN was crackable in 2015. Use a 6-digit PIN minimum, enable Face ID or fingerprint, and set auto-lock to 1–2 minutes.

Also: Disable notification previews on the lock screen so sensitive messages don’t show to anyone who picks up your phone

High

Audit your app permissions

Most apps ask for more access than they need. A flashlight app doesn’t need your contacts. A game doesn’t need your location. Check which apps have access to your camera, microphone, location, and contacts — and revoke anything that doesn’t need it.

Where: iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security — Android: Settings → Privacy → Permission Manager

Financial Protection 06

High

Freeze your credit

A credit freeze prevents anyone — including identity thieves who already have your Social Security number — from opening new accounts in your name. It’s free, takes 10 minutes, and you can unfreeze it temporarily when you apply for credit.

Do all three: Equifax: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services — Experian: experian.com/freeze — TransUnion: transunion.com/credit-freeze

Online Habits 07

Medium

Check if your data was breached

Billions of email and password combinations are sitting in criminal databases right now. Find out if yours is one of them. If your email appears, change the password for any account using that combination immediately.

Go to: haveibeenpwned.com — enter your email address. Free, no account required.

Medium

Tighten your social media privacy settings

Public profiles let anyone see your friends list, check-ins, family connections, and life schedule. That information is useful to scammers, stalkers, and social engineers. Set accounts to private, disable location tagging on posts, and revoke access for apps you no longer use.

Check: Settings → Privacy on each platform. Also audit which third-party apps have connected access — revoke anything you don’t recognize.

Medium

Use a VPN on public Wi-Fi

On coffee shop, airport, or hotel Wi-Fi, your traffic is visible to anyone on the same network. A VPN encrypts your connection and routes it through a secure server. Not magic — but meaningful protection for banking or email on public networks.

Try: Proton VPN (free tier, no data cap) or Mullvad ($5/mo, no account required)

Medium

Opt out of data brokers

Data brokers collect and sell your name, address, phone number, family members, and income estimates. Search your name on Google — you’ll find yourself on Spokeo, WhitePages, BeenVerified, and dozens more. Each site has an opt-out process. It’s tedious, but worthwhile.

Manual: Search your name + site name + “opt out” for each. Automated: DeleteMe ($129/yr) or Incogni ($7/mo) handles removal for you.

// Done

Checklist complete.

You’ve done what most people never will. These ten steps address the most common ways accounts get compromised, identities get stolen, and data gets exposed. Check back in six months — your threat landscape will shift.

// Reference Library

Go deeper.

Standalone reference tools. Each one covers a specific problem in full.

Reference ↗

Plain-English Glossary

35 cybersecurity terms defined in plain language. Searchable, filterable by category. No jargon defining jargon.

35 terms • 5 categories

Reference ↗

Scam Pattern Library

Real scam templates, annotated. Each entry shows the manipulation tactic, not just warning signs. Filter by channel.

10 patterns • Email, SMS, Phone, Social

Scenario ↗

Scenario Guides

Step-by-step guides for real situations — protecting your family, setting up a new device. Specific actions, not general advice.

2 guides • Family Security, Device Setup