{"id":4533,"date":"2021-12-26T16:54:59","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T16:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/?p=4533"},"modified":"2021-12-26T22:56:15","modified_gmt":"2021-12-26T22:56:15","slug":"necessary-steps-to-secure-your-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/necessary-steps-to-secure-your-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"Necessary steps to secure your digital life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"default-content-clss content_4533 type_post \">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"483\" height=\"369\" src=\"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/security-pc-windows.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/security-pc-windows.png 483w, https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/security-pc-windows-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/security-pc-windows-400x306.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 483px) 100vw, 483px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span style=\"background-color: #ffa6b0;\"><b>Don&#8217;t miss any of the following concepts, otherwise you can&#8217;t reach the overall goal of having a secure computer.<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people use &amp; memorize passwords in mind, however, that is <strong>incorrect behavior<\/strong>. In your life, you will need to only memorize:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Only one Password<\/strong> <sup>[strong]<\/sup> (which we call <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>MASTER PASSWORD<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> throughout this article<\/span><\/span>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Only one Pincode <\/strong><sup>[around 5-6 digit]<\/sup> (which we call <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">MASTER PINCODE <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">throughout this article<\/span><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>You haven&#8217;t heard it &#8211; Let&#8217;s start.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><strong>Note1<\/strong> : Create a folder i.e. <strong><code>MyFolder<\/code><\/strong> on your desktop <\/em><em>and in the end you we will tell you what to do with it.<\/em><br><em><strong>Note2<\/strong>: The phrase &#8216;<strong>passcode<\/strong>&#8216; can be understood as a synonym of <strong>password or pincode <\/strong>together<strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">### 1) Use Password Manager &#8211; START FROM THIS POINT ###  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The most critical password you need to always remember in your mind and never forget, is your primary MAIL ACCOUNT password (let&#8217;s call it your <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">MASTER PASSWORD<\/span>) . You should have a password for your mail account, which you don&#8217;t use for any other services. Also, you must have 2-FA authentication enabled, i.e. &#8211; you can use SMS codes if you are an average user, but if you think you are targeted, then <a href=\"https:\/\/security.stackexchange.com\/questions\/202777\/\">SMS is less secure<\/a> and for higher security it&#8217;s better to use TOPT authenticator apps (any from the following: <strong>Authy | Lastpass authenticator | Goolge Authenticator<\/strong><sup><em>(not preferred)<\/em><\/sup><strong>&nbsp;| Aegis authenticator<\/strong>) and after scanning the <strong>QR code<\/strong>, save that <strong>QR code<\/strong> screenshot file into <strong><code>MyFolder<\/code><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Now, it&#8217;s time to simplify your digital life. In most cases when people hear this statement, they think this doesn&#8217;t relate to them at all. However, <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">you definitely need password manager <\/span>&#8211; just spend only10 minutes&nbsp; and you will never forget this day,<\/strong> as it will change your digital life into better and you will never look back. How does password manager works? You can find out on youtube, but I&#8217;ll go on with this article. I don&#8217;t suggest to use Chrome\/Mac builtin password manager, instead&nbsp;I like password-manager service called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lastpass.com\/\">LastPass<\/a> (even though I prefer Lastpass for different reasons, there exists competitor services: <strong>1Password <\/strong>and <strong>Bitwarder,<\/strong> and doesn&#8217;t matter whichever you choose<strong>)<\/strong>. It is the secure cloud storage where you automatically store <strong>passwords and secure notes<\/strong> (you will find out how good this is) with encryption, so neither that service can read your data. That solution can be run <strong>on any device&nbsp; &#8211; Windows\/Mac\/Chrome\/Androind\/IOS\/Linux etc<\/strong>&#8230;&nbsp; So, go install Chrome extension and sign up<sup> (<em> if you afford 3$\/month plan, then install mobile version too<\/em>)<\/sup>&nbsp; and during registration, set your <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">MASTER PASSWORD<\/span><\/strong> in a &#8216;<strong>master-password field&#8217;<\/strong>. <em>(Note: During registration, you might be also given a &#8220;recovery key&#8221; for that password-manager, which you will need to backup and save into <code>MyFolder<\/code>.)<\/em> When registration is finished, Hurrah! From now, when you login <strong>any website<\/strong>, your passwords will be stored automatically in Encrypted Vault (on cloud), and you don&#8217;t ever need to remember <strong>any website<\/strong>&#8216;s password. Instead, it will auto-fill the saved passwords from this moment. You can also save secure notes there, which you can access from other devices anytime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">### 2) BIOS protection ###<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, let&#8217;s start protecting your computer. When computer starts booting, on that same moment, enter BIOS by continuous clicking on F2 (or F9\/F10\/F12). From there you should will find places to set <strong>Pincode <\/strong>(<strong><strong>MASTER<\/strong><\/strong> <strong>PINCODE<\/strong>, which you will never forget) for the below elements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>A) <strong>to access BIOS <\/strong><sup>(sometimes also named as : <code>Administrator [or] Setup password<\/code>\u00a0 )<\/sup><\/li>\n<li>B) <strong>to turn on PC<\/strong> <sup>(sometimes also named as : <code>User [or] Machine password<\/code>)<\/sup><\/li>\n<li>C) to access <strong>Hard-Drive<\/strong> <sup>(Note: At this moment, temporarily, we don&#8217;t suggest you to enable <strong>HARD-DRIVE passcode<\/strong> in BIOS, instead we suggest you much better &amp; safer approach named &#8216;Drive Encryption&#8217; in the bottom of this article. If you won&#8217;t be able to do Drive Encryption for some reason, then return back and set <strong>Hard-Drive passcode<\/strong> in BIOS<strong>)<\/strong>.<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">### 3) Windows protection ###<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After protecting computer hardware from BIOS, the next step is to protect your Windows &amp; Data. For that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>A) <strong>Require Lockscreen passcode<\/strong> after turning on PC to enter your windows user &#8211; for that, you need to set <strong>user passcode <sup>(<\/sup><\/strong><sup>called as<\/sup><strong><sup> account password)<\/sup>. <\/strong>Even thought it is not high security, it is still good basic level. So, after turning on your PC and reaching to Windows Login screen, there will be additional <strong>Lockscreen for password <\/strong>specifically for your user.<\/li>\n<li>B) also enable <strong>Require Lockscreen<\/strong> after Wake-Up <sup>(instructions for: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcworld.idg.com.au\/article\/581512\/make-windows-10-ask-your-password-when-wake-up-your-laptop\/\">Win10<\/a><\/strong> | <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zG-9BDQ1cdU\">Win11<\/a><\/strong> )<\/sup><\/li>\n<li>C) also enable <strong>Require Lockscreen<\/strong> after arriving from Screensaver <sup>(instructions for: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcworld.idg.com.au\/article\/581512\/make-windows-10-ask-your-password-when-wake-up-your-laptop\/https:\/\/www.thewindowsclub.com\/password-protect-screensaver-in-windows-10\"><strong>Win10<\/strong>&amp;<strong>Win11<\/strong><\/a> )<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>NOTE<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">: this is not much critical part, if you work from home and thus, there is not everyday risk your pc was accessed while you are away, so you can set a very simple two letter password there, like <strong><code>aa<\/code> (<\/strong>or alike) to quickly enter your desktop (but if you are concerned, then use something more secure passcode, like <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">MASTER PINCODE<\/span><\/strong>)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\"> ### 4) Internal &amp; External Hard-Drives encryption ### <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Even after you setup bios or windows passwords, there are still chances someone could break into drive\/data. For that, there is a solution: <strong>Drive Encryption <\/strong><sup>(doesn&#8217;t affect performance negatively) <\/sup>called <strong>BitLocker<\/strong> &#8211; read instructions <a href=\"https:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows\/turn-on-device-encryption-0c453637-bc88-5f74-5105-741561aae838\">here<\/a> [or <a href=\"https:\/\/uit.stanford.edu\/service\/encryption\/wholedisk\/bitlocker#enable\">here<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.windowscentral.com\/how-use-bitlocker-encryption-windows-10\">here<\/a>]\u00a0 <span style=\"background-color: #ebebeb;\"><em>(However, it is available only for above <strong>Windows Pro<\/strong> versions, so if you are windows <strong>Windows Home<\/strong> user &#8211; read <a style=\"background-color: #ebebeb;\" href=\"https:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows\/turn-on-device-encryption-0c453637-bc88-5f74-5105-741561aae838\">this<\/a> [or <a style=\"background-color: #ebebeb;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.windowscentral.com\/how-enable-device-encryption-windows-10-home\">this<\/a>], or use <a style=\"background-color: #ebebeb;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=veracrypt+encrypt+windows+c+drive\"><strong>VeraCrypt<\/strong> <\/a>)<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">When turning on Bitlocker, in initial procedure it might not allow you to set password, but instead it will generate itself a <strong>48-digit RECOVERY KEY &#8211; <\/strong>it will be your main key which you need to save into your password manager (SAVE IT, DON&#8217;T IGNORE THAT 48-DIGIT KEY). After that you can<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/262720\/how-to-enable-a-pre-boot-bitlocker-pin-on-windows\/\">enable temporary passcode for bitlocker drive<\/a>, so when you boot your Windows on same PC, you can use passcode <em><sup>(set your <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">MASTER PASSWORD<\/span><\/strong> or <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>MASTER PINCODE<\/strong><\/span>)<\/sup><\/em> instead of 48-digit KEY. Also, other than system OS drive, you should bitlocker protect your external hard-drive too, where you make backups.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-aa338410-9001-45c5-8672-da74781655ad\" class=\"block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block is-selected wp-block-heading rich-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"group\" aria-multiline=\"true\" aria-label=\"Block: Heading\" data-block=\"aa338410-9001-45c5-8672-da74781655ad\" data-type=\"core\/heading\" data-title=\"Heading\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff; background-color: #000000; font-size: 24pt;\"><strong><span style=\"background-color: #000000;\">That&#8217;s all !<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Note: To mention about that <code>MyFolder<\/code>&#8211; you should compress that folder (using <strong>7zip <\/strong>or <strong>winrar<\/strong>) into <strong><code>.zip<\/code><\/strong> format, but when creating an archive, you should set <strong>PASSWORD<\/strong> for that <strong>zip <\/strong>file (use your <strong>MASTER PASSWORD<\/strong>, so no-one will be able to open the contents). After that <strong>send that archive to your email &amp; best friend&#8217;s email &amp; your external drive<\/strong> &#8211; so, even if your computer get stolen\/damaged, you can have an access to that archive.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"default-content-clss excerpt_4533 type_post \"><p>Don&#8217;t miss any of the following concepts, otherwise you can&#8217;t reach the overall goal of having a secure computer. Most people use &amp; memorize passwords in mind, however, that is<a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/necessary-steps-to-secure-your-windows\/\">(Continue Reading)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-windows-software"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puvox.software\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}