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Checklist A 20-minute security check-up No software to buy. Work through these in order and you will have closed the gaps that account for most real-world compromises. 8 min Threats Ransomware: how it works, and what to do The one category where what you did beforehand matters far more than anything you can do afterwards. 7 min Threats How to spot phishing Bad spelling stopped being the giveaway years ago. These are the checks that still work. 6 min Buying Free vs paid security software: an honest comparison The gap is not really about detection. It is about what else is in the box, and whether you want those things. 6 min Recovery Backups that actually save you Most people have something they call a backup. Rather fewer have one that would survive the situation it exists for. 6 min Mobile Phone security without the theatre Phones are attacked differently from computers, so the advice that works is different too - and it mostly is not about installing a scanner. 5 min Maintenance Speeding up a slow computer, honestly Most slowness has three or four ordinary causes. None of them need software that promises to make your PC fast again. 7 min Do this now Setting up a password manager properly The highest-value hour in personal security. Here is the order that avoids the usual mistakes. 7 min Recovery What to do when an account is hacked Order matters. Doing these in the wrong sequence lets the attacker undo your work while you are still doing it. 7 min Maintenance Securing your home router The one device every other device depends on, and the one almost nobody has opened since it was installed. 6 min Do this now Shopping and paying online without drama Fraud protection is mostly about which payment method you use and what you check before you type a card number. 6 min Recovery Wiping a device properly before you sell it Deleting files does not remove them. Here is what actually does, on each kind of device. 6 min