Safe Online
Clear explanations and practical choices for everyday digital life.
26 stories to explore
The lock never reviewed the shop
An encrypted connection is valuable. Deciding whether to trust the destination takes a different kind of attention.
The part of a photo you cannot see
A picture has pixels, but it can also have an envelope of information. We made a harmless one, emptied its envelope, and checked the result.
One letter, a different fingerprint
SHA-256 is excellent at noticing changed bytes. It takes more than a matching checksum to know who sent them.
A long password is not the whole story
Length helps most when the choices behind it are hard to predict. A small counting exercise separates a large space from a familiar phrase.
One key for every door is convenient for the wrong person
A small fictional account map shows why reuse changes the consequences of a single exposure.
What a second factor actually adds
A second check is useful when it asks for something the first stolen piece cannot supply.
The login secret you never type
Passkeys replace a reusable typed secret with a response tied to a service. The surrounding recovery plan still matters.
The backup that disappears with the original
Three copies can share one failure. A useful backup plan separates what can go wrong together.
A backup is a promise until you restore it
Copy three harmless files, read them back and ask what the check actually proves.