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Overview

⑦ Protect

Reduce risk. Prepare calmly. Recover methodically.

Guard turns recognised public guidance into clear habits for people, households and organisations. The goal is not fear or perfect security, but fewer avoidable failures and a dependable way back to normal.

This is a public learning space for defensive protection and everyday resilience. It does not provide offensive capabilities, private surveillance, counterattack methods or sensitive operational details.

Protection at three useful scales

The same principles apply at home and at work: know what matters, reduce exposure, detect problems early and practise recovery.

Person and household

Protect accounts, devices, important documents and the people who depend on them.

  • Use a password manager, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication.
  • Install updates promptly and remove applications or accounts you no longer use.
  • Keep tested copies of essential files and recovery codes.
  • Agree on simple family contacts and check-in arrangements before disruption occurs.

Organisation and team

Make continuity a shared operating discipline, not a document left unread.

  • Name owners for critical services, data, suppliers and decisions.
  • Apply least privilege and review access when roles change.
  • Maintain offline or isolated backups and rehearse restoration.
  • Provide one clear route for reporting anomalies without blame.

Everyday civil resilience

Prepare for short disruptions without turning daily life into a permanent emergency.

  • Know the local official alert channels and the risks relevant to your area.
  • Keep a modest 72-hour kit adapted to health, family and climate needs.
  • Plan for power, communications, payments and transport interruptions.
  • Check on neighbours or relatives who may need practical assistance.

NIST CSF 2.0

A complete defensive cycle, not a collection of gadgets

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 organises risk management around six connected functions. They form a repeatable cycle for households as well as organisations.

  1. Govern

    Set responsibilities, priorities and acceptable risk before a crisis forces decisions.

  2. Identify

    Know the people, information, services and dependencies that really matter.

  3. Protect

    Reduce likely harm with access control, updates, backups and simple procedures.

  4. Detect

    Notice unusual events through understandable alerts, checks and reporting routes.

  5. Respond

    Contain consequences, communicate clearly and preserve reliable information.

  6. Recover

    Restore priorities in a tested order, learn and improve the plan.

A practical hygiene baseline inspired by ANSSI

Most resilience comes from routine controls performed consistently. Start with a small baseline, assign it and verify it.

  • Maintain an inventory of devices, accounts, software and essential data.
  • Apply security updates on a defined schedule and treat urgent fixes quickly.
  • Use separate accounts for administration and ordinary daily activity.
  • Protect remote access and important services with multi-factor authentication.
  • Back up essential data, isolate at least one copy and test restoration.
  • Train people to pause, verify unusual requests and report mistakes early.

When something happens: stabilise before optimising

A short, rehearsed sequence reduces confusion. Adapt it to the event and follow the instructions of competent authorities or qualified responders.

  1. 01

    Protect people and essential activity

    Address immediate safety, health and continuity needs first.

  2. 02

    Contain carefully

    Limit affected access or equipment without destroying useful evidence.

  3. 03

    Communicate and document

    Use trusted contacts, record facts and separate confirmed information from assumptions.

  4. 04

    Restore and learn

    Recover from known-good copies, verify operation and update the plan from the review.

For danger to life, suspected crime or a significant cyber incident, contact the appropriate emergency service, authority, insurer or qualified incident-response provider.

A realistic 72-hour household buffer

Civil preparedness is ordinary continuity planning: enough autonomy to handle a short interruption while official services prioritise the most urgent needs.

  • Drinking water and non-perishable food suited to the household.
  • Regular medicines, basic first aid and copies of essential prescriptions.
  • Torch, radio, spare batteries and charged power banks.
  • Warm clothing, hygiene supplies and items for children or animals.
  • Copies of key documents, useful contacts and a small amount of cash.
  • A compact bag that is reviewed periodically rather than forgotten.

Adapt quantities and contents to official local guidance, household size, disabilities, medical needs, climate and the hazards in your area.

A clear public boundary

Useful protection does not require publishing capabilities that could harm others or expose real systems.

What Guard publishes

  • Defensive habits, risk literacy and recovery planning.
  • High-level frameworks, checklists and links to official guidance.
  • Safe exercises for continuity, communication and restoration.

What stays out of scope

  • Offensive techniques, intrusion instructions or weaponised material.
  • Counterattack, retaliation or vigilantism.
  • Private surveillance or profiling of people.
  • Network topologies, sensitive configurations, secrets or private programmes.

Official references

Guard summarises public guidance; consult the original, current documents for authoritative detail.

NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0The six-function framework for managing cybersecurity risk.ANSSI cyber hygiene guideA practical baseline of essential security measures.French Civil Security 72-hour kitOfficial household preparation guidance for major risks.