Plain Security

Plain Security Guides

No jargon. No tech background needed. Just the security things everyone should know, answered in plain English.

Doesn't the Firewall Block All This?

A firewall controls which doors are open. Almost every modern attack arrives through a door you deliberately left open, which is why it passes straight through.

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Plain Security Guide

Do Macs Get Viruses?

Yes, and macOS already includes protection you may not know about. Here is what it covers, what it misses, and whether to add anything.

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Plain Security Guide

Does Incognito Mode Make Me Anonymous?

It hides your history from the next person using the device. Your employer, your provider and the sites themselves see exactly as much as before.

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Plain Security Guide

How Do I Know If a Website Is Fake?

Read the address, not the page. The padlock proves nothing about honesty, and the polish of a site proves even less.

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Plain Security Guide

Is It Safe to Plug In a USB Stick?

A drive you did not buy is a device somebody else configured. Here is what can actually go wrong, and what to do with one you have found.

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Plain Security Guide

Is My Cloud Storage Actually a Backup?

Syncing is not backing up. If ransomware encrypts a synced folder, the encrypted version syncs too. Here is the difference and what to do.

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Plain Security Guide

Is the Café Wifi Safe, and Do I Need a VPN?

The risk is real but different from what you were told. Here is what actually matters on a shared network, and when a VPN genuinely helps.

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Plain Security Guide

Someone Rang Saying They're From Microsoft

Microsoft does not ring about a virus, and your bank will never ask you to move money. Hang up and dial the number you already had.

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Plain Security Guide

We've Got Nothing Worth Stealing

They are not after your trade secrets. They are after your payroll run, your mailbox and the machines themselves, which every business has.

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Plain Security Guide

Our IT Company Handles Security, Don't They?

Keeping systems running and defending them are different jobs. Five questions that tell you which one you are paying for.

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Plain Security Guide

Should I Install That Update?

Yes, if it came from the device itself. No, if it appeared in a browser. That single distinction covers almost every case.

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Plain Security Guide

Someone's Left. What Do I Need to Switch Off?

Email is the obvious one and the least of it. Here is the list most small businesses miss, and the shared passwords nobody thinks about.

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Plain Security Guide

An Email Says They Have My Password and a Video

It is a mass-sent bluff, and the password came from a data breach. Here is why there is no video, and the one thing worth doing.

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Plain Security Guide

What Is Ransomware, in Plain English?

Somebody locks your own files and sells you the key. Here is how it gets in, what actually happens, and the three things that decide the outcome.

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Plain Security Guide

Is It Safe to Use WhatsApp for Work?

Encryption is not the issue. Where the records live, who can retrieve them, and what happens when somebody leaves is the issue.

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Plain Security Guide

Would I Even Know If I'd Been Hacked?

Probably not, and that is by design. Here is what to actually check, and the handful of signals that genuinely mean something.

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Plain Security Guide

Do I Have to Tell Anyone We Were Hacked?

Sometimes yes, and the clock is 72 hours. Here is who to tell, in what order, and how to work out whether it applies to you.

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Plain Security Guide

I Clicked a Phishing Link. What Happens Now?

Clicking is usually survivable. What you typed next is the part that matters. Here is what to do, in the order that actually helps.

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Is My Password Actually Safe?

Length beats symbols, and reuse beats both. Here is what actually decides whether a password holds, and what to do about the ones you have.

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Plain Security Guide

Is That Text From Royal Mail or the Tax Office Real?

Almost certainly not real. Here is the tell that works every time, and the free number that takes the scam text off the network.

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Plain Security Guide

Two-Factor Authentication Is Unnecessary Hassle

A strong password is one stolen list away from useless. Here is why the extra step matters, and what the NCSC now recommends instead of it.

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Plain Security Guide

My Email Has Been Hacked. What Do I Do?

Work in this order: password, second step, then the hidden forwarding rule almost everyone forgets. That last one is how they get back in.

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Plain Security Guide

A Supplier Emailed New Bank Details. Is It Real?

The email is genuine, the invoice looks right, and the account is the criminal's. Here is the one check that catches it, in two minutes.

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Plain Security Guide

My Business Is Too Small to Be a Target

Attackers rarely pick you by name. Automated scanning sweeps every business on the internet, and 43% of UK businesses saw a breach last year.

8 min read

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Antivirus Is All I Need

Antivirus catches known threats. Most attacks today use phishing, fileless malware, and social engineering that bypass signature-based detection entirely.

4 min read

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