Practive Security 101 in Book Format!
Exciting news! The collection of written works we have published for our Essentials Membership customers at PractiveSecurity.com under the categories of Security 101 and Personal Security, have been compiled into a single book, Practive Security 101, which is now available in Paperback and Kindle formats exclusively from Amazon.com. Use this direct link to order today!
What is this book and why did we write it?
If you are using online resources, then you are under attack and you are under the influence. Not only are our devices being targeted, but you are being monitored, monetized, spied on, hunted, influenced, and robbed. But you can protect yourself.
Practive Security was founded in 2025 by Matt Johnston to bring together and distribute to everyone, the culmination of his experience working at the very peak of the Cyber Security industry for over 25 years. He believes that everyone has value that is intrinsic in nature, and he wants to do what he can to protect and defend that, and to prevent our online adversaries from succeeding in their efforts to enrich themselves at our expense.
Throughout these decades, Matt was regularly approached by friends and family who had questions about Internet safety & security, or who shared stories of how they or their family were harmed by hackers, predators, and other forms of online influence. The sentiment of “if I had only known before…” spoken by those enduring tremendous difficulty due to online threats always bothered Matt, because working in the industry he knew that personal and home security for everyday life is intentionally ignored and the impacts covered up by the professional institutions who should be protecting us. He also knew that the very platforms designed for online engagement and used by most of us have been weaponized and are designed to manipulate us and often to facilitate violations of our privacy and security.
Over the years, others often approached Matt with a general concern about online threats and safety, but unsure of what they were or how to manage them. Out of an abundance of caution, friends have shared with him that they decided to simply “opt out” of using the Internet when it came to raising their kids. While a noble endeavor, Matt realized that part of this decision came from an admission that parents simply didn’t know what the threat was, and that these children will still need to be prepared for online engagement at some point.
Worse still, looking at the well documented negatively transformative effects online engagement is having on our youth and on all of us, Matt felt called to bring his experience to everyone in a practical manner to help everyone build effective security practices for their life: to protect the totality of who you are – heart, mind, body, soul, and yes your property too. He realized that as parents were asking him for advice, no one was actively preparing the younger generations with the knowledge and skills to protect themselves in the digital spaces in this digital age, while they are often engaged in ways that are setting them up for harm.
Throughout these conversations, Matt also noticed that many parents and individuals rarely think intentionally about Internet safety and security and simply assume that the providers of online resources are doing everything they can to protect their us, their customers. Still others rely on the safety ratings of websites, content, and apps, assuming that someone has vetted and validated things of the Internet as made appropriate and safe accordingly. Many others do not realize that the very platforms and providers of the digital spaces are a new form of an adversary we need to counter. Sadly, this will simply cause these individuals to fall into a trap that could be devastating.
In the fall of 2025, Matt set to the work of writing a series of articles designed to bring awareness and build a basic understanding of the threats that exist online, along with strategies and tactics that he has found effective for countering them. This book brings all the essentials among those works together into one place – one portable format that you can use in your home and every day.
His goal is simply this: to help you understand the threats and to be your trusted advisor to help you forge the best shield you can to protect you and your loved ones from harm.
Cyber security, online safely, digital health matter, because you matter.
What’s in it?
In this book you will find 23 chapters written originally as independent works that each focus on a primary topic. The table of contents is below for reference, but we cover everything we think you need to know about online threats including hacking, identify theft, financial crime, web and email threats, safe web browsing, home network security, securing online accounts, secure communications, social media, discerning truth among misinformation, influence and radicalization, AI related threats and more.
Each chapter provides informational sections that describe the threat or concern, followed by our guide for understanding the threat along with strategies and tactics you can use to address them.
Having been written by a Christian man, Homeschool Dad, and Cyber Security professional, you will find a blend of technical information, philosophy, Christianity, and parental concern.
Who is it for?
The 101 and Personal Security articles were originally written for adults and parents. While writing, Matt assumed he was speaking to his family and friends who he wanted to reach with this information to help them protect themselves and their households. Therefore, you will find a lot of the content addressed specifically to parents and heads of household.
Again, having been written by a Christian man, you will find a lot of Christian morality, Biblical references, and philosophical influences from Christian writers in some sections of this book where an appeal to higher values is needed. Matt writes from his Christian faith as the basis of truth through which he understands all things.
While written originally “to” adults, the content of this book is totally appropriate for high school aged youth. In fact, we recommend parents use this book to augment or as part of their child’s education. While researching the topics of online threats and influences as they pertain to children, Matt realized that we are generally not doing enough to prepare our kids for online engagement. This book should help fill that gap. Parents, read it first, but this can be used as a text book for teens.
What’s not in it?
Being a book about cyber security, you will find that this text is not highly technical. Its not meant to be. While Matt does attempt to describe technical aspects to the online world and tools we use, you will not find significant technical depth in here, though you will find wisdom gained from practicing cyber security at great depths.
While we would love to put everything we have written into portable book format, when it comes to Internet safety and security, there’s just too much to cover and there is always something new to address. We decided for this initial book to focus on the basics – to help you build a solid foundation upon which you can build with the other content and information we produce through PractiveSecurity.com. There is much, much more to share.
Some of our threat advisories that have been published for Practive Security Essentials Members also contain foundational information about online threats, but we excluded those from this work because they didn’t fit the general style.
Also, we have another book coming later this summer (subject to editorial reviews and distribution) focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is of a very different kind of book. While Practive Security 101 is meant to be an informational guide, our AI book will be focused heavily on philosophy and interpreting the AI Revolution for its greater practical and theological implications. That work yet to come is essentially our appeal to our fellow man…but more on that later.
We do briefly address AI in Practive Security 101, but only to get you the essentials.
Do I still need an Essentials Membership?
Yes! The Practive Security Essentials Membership not only provides you access to all that is in this book and much more, but the service includes additional features that we can’t deliver in book format, including the ability for you to submit your questions about online security and digital health to us. Essentials members also receive new articles and periodic updates of those that have been previously published as information and threats change. Plus Practive Security Essentials Members have access to our Self Assessment tool, and receive threat advisories that outline new and emerging threats and trends.
In Closing
We sincerely believe this work will be a helpful guide for you in the everyday things of life. We would be honored if you would buy a copy of the work and provide us your feedback. Also remember to sign up for a Membership on our website to continue receiving updated information, threat advisories, and to be able to engage us directly with any questions or concerns you have.
We are here to be a resource to your – a trusted advisor in your life to help you protect the totality of who you are from the threats that lurk online. Please leverage us.
Table of Contents
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INTRODUCTION
1 AN INHERENTLY DANGEROUS WORLD
2 INTRODUCING YOUR ONLINE ADVERSARY
3 THE INTERNET GOLD RUSH: FREE APPS AND THE MONETIZATION OF DATA
4 CYBERCRIME AND THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY
5 WHAT YOU SHOULD PROTECT AND HOW
6 AN INTRODUCTION TO CYBER SECURITY
7 DIGITAL PRIVACY
8 OPSEC - MANAGING YOUR ONLINE EXPOSURE
9 VPN EXPLAINED
10 DEVICE PROTECTION FUNDAMENTALS
11 ACCOUNT SECURITY AND YOUR SMARTPHONE
12 PASSWORDS AND ACCOUNT ACCESS SECURITY
13 STRATEGIES FOR SECURE MESSAGING
14 WEB BASED THREATS
15 SAFE WEB BROWSING
16 ENGAGING IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA
17 FINDING THE TRUE AND THE REAL
18 GUARDING OUR HEARTS AND MINDS FROM INFLUENCE
19 EMAIL SECURITY
20 ESSENTIAL SECURITY FOR YOUR HOME
21 AI ESSENTIALS
22 AI-GENERATED IMPERSONATION ATTACKS
23 ANALYZING THE TRENDS OF THE WEAPONIZATION OF AI
IN CLOSING