Device and Account Security Checklist 2.0

@boblord
1 min readFeb 22, 2019

Whether you work on a campaign or in a state party, or are a student, small business owner, or CEO of a Fortune 100 company, you should download the checklist at https://democrats.org/security and complete it right away. Seriously.

The news is filled with stories about intrusions and foreign governments hacking into just about everything with an internet connection. Many people ask the DNC what they can do to stay secure. On a regular basis I have people call me asking what sort of firewall to buy, or how to tune their routers. While I have thoughts on those topics, I tell people to focus on the simple things that make the most common attacks much harder.

To that end, my team at the DNC created a simple checklist that covers devices(laptops, phones, tablets) and accounts (mail, social media). The checklist is exactly that: a list of steps you can complete and then check off. The goal is to print it out, and run through it line by line. I got it down to one page, and most people report it doesn’t take long to complete.

There are many things not on this checklist, and not just the firewall and router questions. For example, I had previously included a section on phishing. But I couldn’t find a way to make it fit the checkbox format. “Avoid getting phished!” is good advice, but not actionable.

If you really want to keep other people off your devices and accounts, start with the basics and complete the checklist today.

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@boblord

Former security executive for places like @TheDemocrats, Yahoo, Twitter