Family Cybersecurity
One compromised account. One night. Every person your family knows, hit simultaneously. That’s not a worst-case scenario. That’s Tuesday for professional cybercriminals. This book is how you stop being an easy target.
I drove 120 miles to San Luis Obispo to watch a bellydance show. Met the lead dancer afterward, exchanged numbers, connected on Facebook. Got home around 1am, couldn’t sleep, sat down at the computer.
There was already a Facebook message from her. She was in London. Needed $1,500 immediately or she was going to jail. Could I help?
I laughed. There was no way she’d gotten to London in a few hours. I knew it was a scam the moment I read it. I toyed with the person on the other end for a while before asking how the weather was in Nigeria.
Here’s what I didn’t know until later: they hadn’t created a fake account. They’d broken into her actual Facebook account. And while I was sitting there laughing at them, they were sending the same message to every single person connected to her. Her friends. Her family. Her students. People who had known her for years and had no reason to doubt the message was real.
I’d spent nearly twenty years as Director of Computer Operations at Trader Joe’s, managing IT infrastructure and cybersecurity for a $16 billion operation with 474 stores and 38,000 employees. I knew exactly what was happening and why. Most of the people in her contacts did not. Some of them almost certainly sent the money.
That’s why I wrote this book. Not because cybersecurity is complicated. It isn’t, once someone explains it clearly. Because the gap between knowing how attacks work and not knowing is the difference between laughing at a scammer and wiring $1,500 to Nigeria at 1am. Your family deserves to be on the right side of that gap.
Modern families live digital lives. Kids with smartphones. Grandparents banking online. Smart devices connected to everything. Cybercriminals target families specifically because family networks combine valuable financial information with weaker security than businesses maintain. Multiple users, different skill levels, shared accounts, convenience prioritized over protection.
This book covers every aspect of family digital security in plain language. Not theory. Actionable steps families can implement immediately, tested in real households, refined based on what actually works for busy people who aren’t IT professionals.
| Amazon Kindle | Paperback (IngramSpark) | epub (Kobo) |
| 📖 Look Inside | Need a Ghostwriter? Let’s Talk | |
| ISBN: | 978-1-946458-43-8 (Paperback) |
| ISBN: | 978-1-946458-63-6 (eBook) |
| Publisher: | The Writing King |
| Publication Date: | April 8, 2026 |
| Print Length: | 231 pages |
| Language: | English |
What Readers Say
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nicole Richards
“Very informative! I’m just okay with the very basics of emailing, surfing etc…..online security was like a foreign language to me before ordering this book! I recommend it to anyone who has ever had concerns with virus protection and account hackers!!! I feel more confident that now that I am able to protect my interests on the Internet.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ R. W. Locke Jr.
“I had the privilege of editing Richard’s book before he published it. I thought I was pretty computer savvy. I was under the false impression that I knew how to protect my computer from viruses and hackers. After editing Richard’s book I realized how wrong I was in my thought process. I did not know anything about all the scary things out there that could get into your identity, bank accounts, personal information, and hidden viruses. Richard gives you a step by step easy to understand lesson on how to protect all this information. My favorite are his best practices. Easy to understand and implement. This book is worth every penny if you are really serious about protecting your computer and all the information you put on it on a day to day basis. Believe it — there are hackers out there that can hack your password in seconds. Richard gives you a step by step easy to understand solution to protect that precious information.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Brandon Patterson
“I am actually pretty computer savvy, yet this book made me update the way I and my family use their PCs safely. Some of the main things I learned: there are many different ways to become a victim, how to be proactive and not be a victim, what to do if I ever became a victim, and that I know sufficiently less about PC protection than I thought.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Patsy Jolene Sleeman
“I received this book from Amazon yesterday morning and have been through the entire book. Now I am doing a second rereading and am going to highlight very important points for my grandson to read since he is now using the internet on his own without much help — it is time for him to learn proper security from someone with so much experience and knowledge. Since he is so independent now, this book is perfect for him to follow because it is not full of fluff and fancy wording that you need a dictionary to understand. I found this book to be easy to follow and I learned a lot that I did not know, that I thought I already knew. I will be making some changes with my use of the computer myself thanks to much of the information this book has given me. With so much more hacking and inappropriate use being made of the internet world these days you can never be protected enough. I highly recommend this book for everyone who is starting out in the computer world and for seniors like myself that thought they knew more than they really do.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lynda Dickson, Books Direct
“This book is written for the average Windows computer user who wants to protect their computer. The first quarter of the book simply deals with information and terminology. I was familiar with a lot of it in a vague sense, but the author has a knack of bringing it all together in a simple and coherent way. The author then provides tips and techniques to make your computer more resistant to hackers and data thieves. They include such simple practices as not using public wifi, using a PIN for your phone and tablet, shredding envelopes and documents before throwing them away, making sure no one sees you enter your PIN or password, not posting anything on the web that you don’t want to be public knowledge, and not using public computers to access personal information. The author explains cloud storage, backups, and using a password manager. The book is filled with highlighted best practices and includes examples of the personal experiences of the author as well as other people. Some advanced security features are also provided for the more technologically-savvy readers. A must-read for anyone using a computer — that means you!”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jim Frankel
“I found this book to be very easy to read. It’s a great book for non-techies. It’s very informative and contains useful information that anyone can use. All the key terms are defined so you know what is being talked about and the subject no longer seems mysterious. I highly recommend this book.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Steve Secara
“Excellently written. It is the way IT needs to be written for the non-IT folks. It is the ideal gift to give the older generation that is struggling with the computer revolution without insulting their intelligence (How would you like to get a ‘for dummies’ book to help you out.) Richard has explained things clearly and used his years of IT knowledge to make it simple and easy to understand.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wendy M. Williamson
“This book is clear and concise. It speaks to the lay person, as well as someone who knows just enough about computers to be dangerous. The writer also gives screen shots to help you through the steps to protect your computer. It was great! I will use all this information to protect my computer.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lucy Garvin
“It really helps in the understanding of today’s threats of hacking as well as the potential loss of records and photos in our computers. This is a perfect book to get our computers secured and organized. The description of the terminology is outstanding. The explanations regarding software and necessary devices to get protected is most valuable.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Barrus Family
“Lots of really great information, put in a way that non-IT people (like myself) can not only understand, but really GET! I learned a lot reading this, both about being safe, and about computers themselves. Thank you, Richard!!!!!”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Vicki Drane
“I have to admit I didn’t realize how much I did not know about computers until I read this informative all-in-one book. It taught me an enormous amount of useful information I will use.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐ YakupM (Canada)
“Well written but a little too simple for me — likely should not have bought it since I’m a network admin.”
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Questions
Read the Preface
The phone rang at 2:47 AM. I knew before I picked it up that someone’s digital life had just exploded.
“Richard, I need help. Everything’s gone.”
My friend’s voice cracked as she described watching thirty years of family photos vanish from her computer screen. Wedding pictures. Baby’s first steps. Her mother’s last Christmas before cancer took her. All of it disappeared because she clicked one innocent-looking email attachment.
I threw on clothes and drove to her house, carrying every data recovery tool I owned. We worked until dawn, trying everything I’d learned in thirty-five years of computer security. Nothing worked. The ransomware had encrypted every precious memory on her hard drive, and the criminals wanted $500 to maybe give them back.
She paid. They kept the money and the photos.
That morning changed how I think about computer security. All those years protecting corporate networks and million-dollar systems, I’d forgotten something crucial: the most devastating attacks don’t target banks or governments. They target ordinary families who store their entire lives on devices they barely understand.
Your smartphone holds more personal information than any government file ever compiled on you. Your laptop contains financial records that could bankrupt you if stolen. Every device in your house connects to the internet, and every connection creates an opportunity for someone who wants what you have.
The criminals have evolved. Twenty years ago, hackers were mostly curious teenagers showing off to their friends. Today, cybercrime generates more revenue than the global drug trade. Professional crime organizations employ thousands of people whose only job is stealing your information and money. They target families because families are easy.
Most security books read like technical manuals written by engineers for engineers. This book takes a different approach. Every technique I recommend, I use on my own devices. Every story I tell happened to real people I know. Every chapter starts with someone learning an expensive lesson, so you don’t have to.
The criminals are counting on you to stay confused and vulnerable. Let’s prove them wrong.