Next week, as you’re doing your annual IT work for parents, in-laws, aunts and uncles, take a few minutes and talk about protecting privacy and improving their cybersecurity.

This Motherboard article, recommended by Bruce Schneier, is a great place to start. Will it provide perfect privacy and security? No, but it’s a good start for your loved ones.

At a bare minimum I recommend:

• Installing an ad blocker (yes, I’m a marketer and yes, I use one)
• A good paid VPN on both desktop and phones
• Removing personal information from social media such as birthdays and “likes” of topics which can de-anonymize you (which means everything)
• Change social media default post settings to friends only
• Encrypting the hard drive
• Update the OS and applications
• Install (or use) a password manager

You can do the above during the end of the Lions game and still be finished in time to catch the Cowboys.

Happy Thanksgiving!