Optimal User-End Internet Security (Or, Rational Internet Browsing)

Hacking and Cracking, Internet security, Cypherpunk. I find these topics fascinating as well as completely over my head.

Yet, there are still some things that can be said to a layman, especially by the ever-poignant Russel Monroe:

https://​​www.xkcd.com/​​936/​​

https://​​www.xkcd.com/​​792/​​

I’m guilty on both charges (reusing poorly formulated passwords, not stealing them).

These arguments may be just be the tip of the iceberg of a [much larger problem that needs optimizing](https://​​secure.wikimedia.org/​​wikipedia/​​en/​​wiki/​​Social_engineering_%28security%29): Social Engineering, or [mainly how it can be used against our interests](http://​​wiki.lesswrong.com/​​wiki/​​Dark_arts) (to quip [Person 2](http://​​yudkowsky.net/​​singularity/​​aibox), “It doesn’t matter how much security you put on the box. Humans are not secure.”). I get the feeling that I’m not managing my risks on the Internet as well as I should.

So the questions I beg are: In what ways do our cognitive biases come into play when we surf the Internet and interact with others? Of which of these biases can actively we protect against, and how?

I don’t know how usefully I can contribute, but I hope that many on Less Wrong can.

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