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Discussion on: What personal privacy/security measures do you take?

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Erika Wiedemann

I've had to increase my laptop security on two different occasions two totally different ways - I'm looking forward to this thread to fill in some gaps.

~5 years ago someone got into and locked me out of several of my social media and email accounts by 1) me not logging myself out at the end of my session (on their computer), and b) successfully guessing my security questions. This was before MFA was near-standard, so I at least implemented my own version with notifications/email. I then set MFA up as soon as it was available. I've beefed up my security questions and use LastPass as a PW manager (that never remembers me). I also only use my own laptop, or another computer I strongly trust. I also have a backup email and phone contact number.

The second time my laptop was physically stolen from my apartment. Luckily I'm confident my password was strong enough, and there was very little data stored on the machine - everything was backed up and also stored in 'the cloud.' Since then I've moved out and encrypted my HDD. I hope to get a kensington lock soon to try and bolt down the machine if I have to leave it at home. The laptop webcam is also covered.