Staying Secure

Practical setup for not leaking your data everywhere. Nothing paranoid, just reasonable defaults.

VPN

Either host your own server and connect to it with Tailscale, or use a paid VPN like Mullvad or ProtonVPN. I don't recommend free VPNs since you know the drill, if its free you are the product.

Browser

Brave. No login required, no cloud sync, blocks most ads out of the box with the right settings. Firefox with uBlock Origin is also fine.

Search Engine

Whatever you prefer but I would recommend Kagi. DuckDuckGo or Brave Search if you care about not being tracked. Google for searching your favorite restaurant.

Ad Blocking

Ads are not just annoying, they're a security risk. Block them at the DNS level:

• NextDNS - custom DNS server that blocks ads, trackers, and malware domains
• Pi-hole - self-hosted alternative if you want full control

Putting It All Together

Use NextDNS and add it as a custom DNS server in ProtonVPN. This way all your traffic goes through the VPN and ads get blocked at the DNS level before they even load. Simple and effective.

Premium

Get yourself a good router/modem. I recommend the ones from Ubiquity since I can set firewalls and block regions I don't want to interact with.