Info on securing a new Chromebook

securing-chromebook.md

Securing a Chromebook

Chromebooks are pretty resistant to most viruses and trojans, but that isn’t foolproof. To avoid malicious software, make sure you do these two things:

1. Do not put it into developer mode. That removes the security built into the hardware and allows any software to run on the computer.
2. Be very careful what Chrome extensions you install. Stick to the reputable ones.

When you get a new Chromebook, it may be setup more for convenience than security. For example, you might log in, then leave it, and an hour later someone else opens it up and starts sending emails as you. That's not great. Update the settings to make more secure defaults.

Settings

To open the settings, after you login, click on your icon in the bottom right corner of the screen, then on the gear icon in the bottom left of the window that pops up.

Screen Lock

Click into Screen lock and make sure "Show lock screen when waking from sleep" is turned on and "password only" is checked.

Sleep When Idle

For the sake of the environment (and security), make your machine go to sleep when it's idle. Click into the Power settings and choose "Turn off display and sleep" on the When idle line:

Privacy and Security

At the bottom of the settings page is the word Advanced. Click that and scroll down to the Privacy and Security section. Then set the following options:

• Use a web service to resolve navigation errors: off
• Use a prediction service to load web pages more quickly: off
• Automatically send some system information...: off
• Protect you and your device from dangerous sites: on
• Automatically send diagnostics to Google: off
• Send "Do Not Track"...: on
• Enable verified access: on
• Keep wi-fi on during sleep: off
• Use a web service to help resolve spelling errors: off

Passwords and Forms

Scroll down to Password and Forms and disable autofill and manage passwords. You should use a 3rd-party password manager such as 1Password for that. 1Password in particularly will also fill credit card details and your personal info if you configure it correctly. LastPass and Dash are other options.

Plugins

You can make your machine even more secure and private with a few plugins that I recommend. Please install these and learn how to use them:

• uBlock Origin or, if you're bad-ass and want minute control, go with uMatrix instead.
• HTTPS Everywhere
• Privacy Badger

That's a start. A VPN can be useful when in coffee shops.