Defence — writing by Peter Bassill
Defence
Controls, hardening and how-tos: the unglamorous work that holds. 43 articles
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Installing NextCloud Securely on Ubuntu with Apache
A hardened NextCloud deployment on Ubuntu 24.04 with Apache, PHP 8.3, MySQL, Redis and Let's Encrypt.
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Making it stick: the second-half-of-2026 roadmap
Part four: making the strategy run — tested backups, a rehearsed incident plan, metrics a board will read, and a month-by-month roadmap to be certified and rehearsed by Christmas.
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Teaching Children About Online Safety — A Practical Guide for Parents
Age-appropriate rules for internet access, how to talk to children about online risks, managing social media, and what to do when something goes wrong.
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From self-assessment to assurance: Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001
Part three: turning a self-assessment into assurance. What Cyber Essentials Plus actually tests on your real machines, and how to build a proportionate ISO 27001 management system that keeps the controls alive.
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Parental Controls on Windows, macOS, ChromeOS and Linux
Configure built-in parental controls on every major operating system — screen time limits, content filtering, app restrictions, activity reports — plus browser, gaming platform and mobile device controls.
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The five controls that do most of the work
Part two: the five Cyber Essentials controls one by one, what the Danzell question set now demands of each, the mistakes that fail firms at assessment, and how each maps onto its ISO 27001 counterpart.
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Securing Your Home Network to Protect Your Family
Harden your router, deploy DNS-level content filtering, segment your network for children's devices and IoT, and schedule internet access — a practical guide for parents.
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A Parent's Guide to Spotting Phishing and Social Engineering
Your children receive the same phishing messages you do, with less experience recognising them. This guide teaches you what to look for and how to explain it.
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A cyber strategy for UK small business: the foundations
Part one of a four-part cyber strategy for UK SMBs to run in the second half of 2026: three frameworks — Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001 — nested into one spine, plus the two decisions everything hangs on: scope and ownership.
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Backup Strategy for a Small Business: The 3-2-1 Rule in Practice
Three copies, two media, one offsite. Everyone knows the rule. Almost nobody tests the restore.
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Deploying Wazuh for Home and Small Business — All-in-One Server with Linux, Windows and macOS Agents
Build a complete SIEM and endpoint detection platform with the Wazuh all-in-one server on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or Docker on Windows, then deploy agents across Linux, Windows and macOS.
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Configure Fail2Ban: Protecting Linux Services from Brute Force
Install and configure Fail2Ban on Ubuntu to protect SSH, Apache and other services with rate-limiting and IP banning.
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What it changed about my other machines
Last in the six-post series on the Covert Cyber Deck. The deck as catalyst, not destination — what designing and living with it changed about how I look at my work laptop, my home network, the firm's estate, and the boards I advise.
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Incident Response Planning for a Small Business Without a SOC
You do not need a security operations centre to have a plan. You need a single page, an out-of-band phone number, and a Saturday morning.
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Living with it: the costs of offline-first
Post five of six on the Covert Cyber Deck. Honest notes on using the slate as a daily driver for several months. What I gave up. What surprised me. Where the bargain felt good and where it felt silly.