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5_Privacy_Respecting_Software.md
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@ -1429,11 +1429,11 @@ adopt good networking practices and be mindful of data that are collected when b
### Important Considerations
**Compartmentalise**<br>
**Compartmentalise, Update and Be Ready**<br>
No piece of software is truly secure or private. Further to this, software can only as secure as the system it is running on. Vulnerabilities are being discovered and patched all the time, so you much keep your system up-to-date. Breaches occur regularly, so compartmentalise your data to minimise damage. It's not just about choosing secure software, you must also follow good security practices.
**Attack Surface**<br>
It is a good idea to keep your trusted software base small, to reduce potential attack surface. At the same time trusting a single application for too many tasks could be a weakness in your system. So you will need to judge the situation according to your threat model, and carefully plan which software and applications you trust with each segment of your data.
It is a good idea to keep your trusted software base small, to reduce potential attack surface. At the same time trusting a single application for too many tasks or too much personal data could be a weakness in your system. So you will need to judge the situation according to your threat model, and carefully plan which software and applications you trust with each segment of your data.
**Convenience Vs Security**<br>
There is often a trade-off between convenience and security. Construct a threat model, and choose a balance that is right for you. In a similar way in some situations there is privacy and security conflict (e.g. Find My Phone is great for security, but terrible for privacy, and anonymous payments may be good for privacy but less secure than insured fiat currency). Again it is about assessing your situation, understanding the risks and making an informed decision.
@ -1442,24 +1442,23 @@ There is often a trade-off between convenience and security. Construct a threat
When using a hosted or managed application that is open-source software- there is often no easyily way to tell if the version running is the same as that of the published source code (even published signatures can be faked). There is always the possibility that additional backdoors may have been knowingly or unknowingly implemented in the running instance. One way round this is to self-host software yourself. When self-hosting you will then know for sure which code is running, however you will also be responsible for the managing security of the server, and so may not be recommended for beginners.
**Open Source Software Considerations**<br>
Open source software has long had a reputation of being more secure than its closed source counterparts. Since bugs are raised transparently, fixed quickly, the code can be checked by experts in the community and there is usually little or no data collection or analytics. That being said, there is no piece of software that it totally bug free, and hence never truly secure or private. Being open source, is in no way a guarantee that something is safe. There is no shortage of poorly-written, obsolete or sometimes plain malicious open source projects on the internet.
Open source software has long had a reputation of being more secure than its closed source counterparts. Since bugs are raised transparently, fixed quickly, the code can be checked by experts in the community and there is usually little or no data collection or analytics.
That being said, there is no piece of software that it totally bug free, and hence never truly secure or private. Being open source, is in no way a guarantee that something is safe. There is no shortage of poorly-written, obsolete or sometimes harmful open source projects on the internet. Some open source apps, or a dependency bundled within it are just plain malicious (such as, that time [Colourama was found in the PyPI Repository](https://hackaday.com/2018/10/31/when-good-software-goes-bad-malware-in-open-source/))
**Proprietary Software Considerations**<br>
When using a hosted or proprietary solution- always check the privacy policy, research the reputation of the organisation, and be weary about which data you trust them with. Where possible choose open source software for security-critical situations.
When using a hosted or proprietary solution- always check the privacy policy, research the reputation of the organisation, and be weary about which data you trust them with. It may be best to choose open source software for security-critical situations, where possible.
**Maintenance**<br>
When selecting a new application, ensure it is still being regularly maintained, as this will allow for recently discovered security issues to be addressed. Software in an alpha or beta phase, may not only be buggy or lacking in features, but it could have critical vulnerabilities open to exploit. Similarly, applications that are no longer being actively maintained may pose a security risk. When using a forked application, or software that is based on an upstream code base, be aware that it may receive security-critical patches and updates at a slightly later date than the original application.
When selecting a new application, ensure it is still being regularly maintained, as this will allow for recently discovered security issues to be addressed. Software in an alpha or beta phase, may be buggy and lacking in features, but more importantly- it could have critical vulnerabilities open to exploit. Similarly, applications that are no longer being actively maintained may pose a security risk, due to lack of patching. When using a forked application, or software that is based on an upstream code base, be aware that it may receive security-critical patches and updates at a slightly later date than the original application.
**This List: Disclaimer**<br>
This list contains packages that range from entry-level to advanced, a lot of the software here will not be appropriate for all audiences. It is in no way a definitive list of secure applications, and aims only to be a guide, a collection of software and services that myself and others have used, and would recommend. There will always be new vulnerabilities discovered or introduced, bugs and poorly configured systems. It is up to you to do your research, and decide where and how your data are managed.
If you find something on this list that should no longer be deemed secure, please raise an issue. In the same way if you know of something that is missing, or would like to make an edit, the pull requests are welcome, and are much appreiciated!
This list contains packages that range from entry-level to advanced, a lot of the software here will not be appropriate for all audiences. It is in no way a definitive list of secure applications, and aims only to be a guide, a collection of software and services that myself and other contributers have used, and would recommend. There will always be new vulnerabilities discovered or introduced, bugs and security-critical glitches, malicious actors and poorly configured systems. It is up to you to do your research, draw up a threat model, and decide where and how your data are managed.
If you find something on this list that should no longer be deemed secure or private/ or should have a warning note attached, please raise an issue. In the same way if you know of something that is missing, or would like to make an edit, then pull requests are welcome, and are much appreiciated!
### Contributing
*Thanks for visiting! If you have suggestions, then you [open an issue](https://github.com/Lissy93/personal-security-checklist/issues/new/choose), or [submit a PR](https://github.com/Lissy93/personal-security-checklist/pull/new/master), see: [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md). Contributions are welcome, and much appreciated* ☺️
*Thanks for visiting! If you have suggestions, then you [open an issue](https://github.com/Lissy93/personal-security-checklist/issues/new/choose), or [submit a PR](https://github.com/Lissy93/personal-security-checklist/pull/new/master), see: [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md). Contributions are welcome, and always much appreciated* ☺️
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