Book Updates & Errata (5th edition)

As I find errors and recommendations that require updating, I will post them here.

A Note About Android Phones

Because I focus on regular, everyday folks, I steer clear of more elaborate solutions. There are a ton of more secure and private hardware and software solutions, if you’re technically savvy and plenty of time and patience. One such solution is using a custom, non-Google version of Android OS. There are actually several to choose from, including GrapheneOS and CalyxOS. However, this is not for the faint of heart. To get an idea of what’s involved, look at this article and I think you’ll understand why I didn’t include this topic. However, it’s an entirely valid option and it can be very secure and private.

Tip 5-5. Enable Two-Factor Authentication

Installing the Authy app is as easy as installing any smartphone app. However, there are some account setup steps that I glossed over. You should create an account with Authy (owned by Twilio) so that you can have secure, cloud backups of your various account seed codes (the QR codes you scan). You can find instructions here. Note that Authy also makes a desktop app for macOS and Windows. If you configure the backup functionality, your 2FA accounts will sync to all of your Authy app instances.

Note also that Google Authenticator finally supports backing up your 2FA accounts between devices, synchronizing your codes so that you can easily access them from multiple devices. However, as of this writing, the syncing appears to be unencrypted – which is bad. I still recommend Authy.

Tip 7-7. Create a QR Code for Easy Guest Network Access

Note that some “free” QR code generators online can end up charging you money. See this blog article for details.

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