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OrientationLesson 2 of 2
7 min readBeginner

Where you are: Orientation · Lesson 0.2 · This lesson puts into practice the framing of Unit I of Dr. Al-Doori's Cyber Security Essentials: security is relative, so you start by finding out where you stand.

What you'll be able to do

By the end of this lesson you will have recorded an honest baseline of your accounts, devices and habits to compare against at the end of the course.

  • Check seven areas of your personal security in about ten minutes.
  • Spot the area where you are most exposed today.
  • Keep a private "before" snapshot that you will compare with your "after" snapshot in Capstone A.

Why Start With a Baseline?

You cannot make yourself un-hackable. What you can do is close weaknesses one at a time, and every weakness you close makes you a less attractive target. To do that, you first need to know which weaknesses you have.

This self-check is not a test, and nobody grades it. There are no right or wrong scores. A low score at the start is normal, and it is exactly why the course exists. Be honest: an inflated baseline only hides the places where you can improve the most.

Do not worry if some items use words you do not know yet, such as "passkey" or "multi-factor authentication". Count those as not true for now. Each one is explained later in the course, and that is part of the point of measuring now.

Real-World Example

Imagine two students, Sara and Daniel (a fictional scenario). Both have the same phone, the same apps and the same email provider. Sara reuses one password everywhere and has never turned on a second sign-in step. Daniel uses a password manager and has a second step on his email. When an online shop they both used suffers a data breach, criminals try the leaked email-and-password pairs on other sites. Sara's email falls, and with it every account that sends its reset links there. Daniel's leaked password opens nothing else. Same devices, very different outcomes: the difference was a handful of habits, and those habits are what this checklist measures.

Your Personal Security Self-Check

Privacy note: do this check privately on your own device. Never write down, share, upload or submit real passwords, recovery codes, MFA secrets or QR codes, account names, email addresses, phone numbers, home IP addresses, router credentials, screenshots of your accounts, or private messages. If anything is asked for, it is only a completion confirmation, redacted observations, a risk level and your action plan.

Go through each statement and note privately whether it is true for you today. The boxes on this page are for reading only and nothing is saved. If you are not sure, count it as not true.

1. Accounts

  • I know which of my accounts matter most (for example, my main email, banking and phone accounts).
  • My main email account has a password that I use nowhere else.
  • I do not reuse the same password across my important accounts.

2. Sign-in methods

  • I use a password manager (built into my phone or browser, or a separate app).
  • My main email account has a second sign-in step turned on (multi-factor authentication).
  • I know how I would get back into my main email if I lost my phone.

3. Updates

  • Automatic updates are turned on for my phone.
  • Automatic updates are turned on for my computer, and it still receives security updates.
  • I install app and browser updates when they are offered, rather than postponing them.

4. Backups

  • My important photos and files exist somewhere other than the device they are on.
  • At least one copy of them is not permanently connected to my device.
  • I have restored a file from a backup at least once, so I know it works.

5. Home Wi-Fi

  • My home Wi-Fi needs a password, and I know who has it.
  • I have changed the router's default admin password, or checked that it came with a unique one.
  • I know whether my router still receives updates.

6. Phone

  • My phone locks with a PIN, passcode or biometric.
  • I install apps only from the official app store.
  • I have checked which apps can use my location, camera and microphone.

7. Sharing habits

  • I have checked who can see my social media posts.
  • I never share one-time sign-in codes with anyone, even someone claiming to be from my bank.
  • Before acting on an unexpected request for money or codes, I check with the person or company another way.

Record your baseline privately

For each of the seven areas, count how many statements are true for you (0 to 3). Then give the area a risk level:

  • 0–1 true: high, so start here.
  • 2 true: medium.
  • 3 true: low, so keep it up.

Write down only today's date, your count and the risk level for each area, in a private note on your own device. Do not record any account details. In Capstone A you will run this same checklist again and compare.

From the Book to 2026

What the book teaches. Unit I of Dr. Al-Doori's book argues that security is relative. No one is perfectly secure, but criminals are practical, so closing your own weaknesses makes you a less attractive target than the person next to you.

Why it made sense. Criminals out to steal passwords or card numbers usually go after the easier targets, so this framing points beginners towards practical action rather than fear.

What has changed. The idea holds. Since the book's examples were written, though, it has become clearer which weaknesses matter most for ordinary people. Public campaigns from national cyber security agencies now focus on a small set of habits: strong, unique passwords kept in a password manager; a second sign-in step; automatic updates; and backups.

What to do now. This checklist is built on those 2026 basics, drawn from CISA's Secure Our World campaign and the UK NCSC's Cyber Aware advice. It turns "be more secure than the next person" into something you can measure.

What Would You Do?

Suppose your results show 3 true for Phone but only 1 true each for Sign-in methods and Backups. You have one free evening this week. Which area would you work on first?

Knowledge Check

This lesson is a self-check, so there is no quiz. Your first knowledge-check questions come in Lesson 1.1.

Our take on "What Would You Do?": there is no single right answer, but sign-in methods are usually the best first step. Your email is often the key that resets every other account, so a second sign-in step on it protects many accounts at once. Backups come next, because they are what save you when something does go wrong. Unit IV and Section 5B show you how to do both.

Key Takeaways

  • Security is relative: you improve by closing your own weaknesses one at a time.
  • Your baseline is private. Record only your counts and risk levels, never account details.
  • A low score today is normal. It shows you where to start.
  • You will repeat this checklist in Capstone A to see how far you have come.

Sources

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