Advanced Security Vasudev's PC Security Config

[TairikuOkami]

I am perplexed why Google DNS? Considering you try to avoid tracking by using Chromium Hibbiki, PrivateZilla, VPN,

 

[Vasudev]

I am perplexed why Google DNS? Considering you try to avoid tracking by using Chromium Hibbiki, PrivateZilla, VPN,

Cloudflare has random ping timeouts or spikes to 300ms when switching from South or North India killing connectivity unless the router is power cycled. It took out smart devices which refused to connect or renew IPs after dns flush. Haven't been using Mullvad very much because of the same issue with wireguard. Sometime it works great with 10Gbps server but 1GBps server have poor performance for the same location.
Tried Quad9, NextDNS etc and even Secure DNS on Chrome,Android behaves exactly the same frequently. With Google, timeouts are reduced to once per day versus couple of disconnections especially during afternoon/evening/night.

 

[Vasudev]

Skipped October updates on both my Windows 10 ESU and 11 machines.

 

[Vasudev]

Updated Win 10 and 11 builds to Dec 2025 Updates.

 

[Vasudev]

Skipped all 2026 updates and even March update is not without the issue so ordered a Mac mini a first one after 25 years of being windows user and 12 years+ being Linux user.

As part of new laws I am moving from LMDE 7 because of slower performance on my 15 y.o lenovo while Devuan without systemd works wonderfully using 300MB out of the box with xfce4 or cinnamon with vendefoul wolf.
Never thought I'd be distro hopping after 7 years of being Mint user migrating from Ubuntu.

 

[Vasudev]

Managed to switch to Mac Mini M4 and devuan migration is pending.

 

[Vasudev]

Migration to Devuan Peppermint is complete on 15 yo machine and got me an extra hour of battery life on the original battery. macOS updated to 26.5

 

[Vasudev]

Thinking of migrating to BD Free version as WD is starting to block CU on 25H2 and disabling it sped up the offline update install significantly by 4x instead of waiting for 1-2hrs then failing.

 

[Vasudev]

Updated W10 & W11 builds to July 26 patches. Migrated from Chromium to Brave and added Quad9 DNS at router. Windows 11 Laptop was forcefully downgraded from 25H2 to 23H2 July 2026 patches due to terrible driver and system stability issues.

 

[Vasudev]

Repurposed eGPU setup for Raptor Lake Refresh 14400F and 4070 Super. Couldn't find any DDR5 under 200$ as it was costing 600-1200$ for 32/64GB 6400 RAM.

 

[harlan4096]

I would set UAC to Always Notify.

 

[Vasudev]

I would set UAC to Always Notify.

Turned it to default due to too much nag screens. It only takes a tired eye to click on suspicious file/link that my muscle memory moves to click Allow.

 

[Vasudev]

Updated to October Patches for 22H2 and 23H2

 

[Vasudev]

Vasudev's PC Security Config · Setup v5
Updated Oct 25, 2026

What changed

• Real-time protection: WD with DefenderUI 2.x paired with hardening rules from Andy Ful → WD with DefenderUI 2.x paired with hardening rules from Andy Ful. On some Windows 10/11 I have added Kaspersky Standard MultiDevice 3Yr License
• Browsers and extensions: Brave
  ZoomWE, Chrono Download Manager, Osprey, Old reddit redirect & Bitwarden → Brave
  ZoomWE, Chrono Download Manager, Osprey, Bitwarden & Bramble
• Desktop VPN: Mullvad → None
• Secure DNS: Quad9 DNS → Quad9 DNS, Google, CF
• Password and passkey manager: Bitwarden → Bitwarden, Bramble
• Notable changes: OS patches July 2026 → OS patches October 2026
• On-device encryption: Older selection — review required → Encryption not enabled
• Device sign-in security: Older selection — review required → Windows Hello PIN or biometric sign-in (face / fingerprint / Touch ID), Account password
• Smart App Control: Older selection — review required → Off
• Two-factor authentication: Not specified → None. All Stored on Phones
• Usage and exposure: Older selection — review required → Visiting familiar websites, Working from home, Making audio/video calls, Online shopping and card payments, Logging into my bank account, Downloading software and files from reputable sites, Downloading files from unknown or untrusted sources, Sharing and receiving files and torrents, Requesting and accepting remote access, Gaming, Gaming with third-party mods, Streaming audio/video content from trusted sites or paid subscriptions, Coding and development

Spoiler: Full setup snapshot

My current setup

• Operating system: Windows 11
• OS version and support details: Devuan Peppermint and Mac OS 26
• Real-time protection: WD with DefenderUI 2.x paired with hardening rules from Andy Ful. On some Windows 10/11 I have added Kaspersky Standard MultiDevice 3Yr License
• File and photo backups: Separate HDD/SSDs
• Device firewall: Microsoft Defender Firewall
• Browsers and extensions: Brave
  ZoomWE, Chrono Download Manager, Osprey, Bitwarden & Bramble
• Main use of this computer: For home and private use
• On-device encryption: Encryption not enabled
• Device sign-in security: Windows Hello PIN or biometric sign-in (face / fingerprint / Touch ID), Account password
• Security updates: Check for updates and Notify
• Update channels: Allow stable updates only
• User Account Control (UAC): Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer
• Smart App Control: Off
• Network firewall: Enabled
• Router and network details: TPLink Omada EAP650 and Ubiqom GPON.
• Custom security settings: None. Tweaked OS for minimal tracking
• Periodic malware scanners: EAM, WD Offline
• Malware sample testing: I do not participate in malware testing
• Environment for malware testing: N/A
• Secure DNS: Quad9 DNS, Google, CF
• Desktop VPN: None
• Password and passkey manager: Bitwarden, Bramble
• Two-factor authentication: None. All Stored on Phones
• Maintenance tools: Bleachbit, Wise Ultilities(Disk, Reg and Program uninstaller), Hibit uninstaller
• Subscriptions: Google One Basic 100GB
• System recovery: Macrium Reflect, CloneApp
• Usage and exposure: Visiting familiar websites, Working from home, Making audio/video calls, Online shopping and card payments, Logging into my bank account, Downloading software and files from reputable sites, Downloading files from unknown or untrusted sources, Sharing and receiving files and torrents, Requesting and accepting remote access, Gaming, Gaming with third-party mods, Streaming audio/video content from trusted sites or paid subscriptions, Coding and development
• Computer specs: Vasudev's New Rig | MalwareTips
• Notable changes: OS patches October 2026
• Feedback preference: Only essential issues, please

Feedback on this setup is welcome.

 

[Vasudev]

Added Bramble PW to migrated from BW due to being slow and unresponsive to load <200 items even on dual core/quad core/octa/deacore making me recall LP 4.x when BW was at 0.1.x or 1.x with less features being much faster and secure.

 

[Vasudev]

Vasudev's PC Security Config · Setup v6
Updated Oct 31, 2026

What changed

• Browsers and extensions: Brave
  ZoomWE, Chrono Download Manager, Osprey, Bitwarden & Bramble → Brave
  ZoomWE, Chrono Download Manager, Osprey, Bramble
• Maintenance tools: Bleachbit, Wise Ultilities(Disk, Reg and Program uninstaller), Hibit uninstaller → Bleachbit, Wise Ultilities(Disk & Reg Cleaner), Hibit uninstaller
• Device firewall: Microsoft Defender Firewall → Other - Internet Security (3rd-party)

Spoiler: Full setup snapshot

My current setup

• Operating system: Windows 11
• OS version and support details: Devuan Peppermint and Mac OS 26
• Real-time protection: WD with DefenderUI 2.x paired with hardening rules from Andy Ful. On some Windows 10/11 I have added Kaspersky Standard MultiDevice 3Yr License
• File and photo backups: Separate HDD/SSDs
• Device firewall: Other - Internet Security (3rd-party)
• Browsers and extensions: Brave
  ZoomWE, Chrono Download Manager, Osprey, Bramble
• Main use of this computer: For home and private use
• On-device encryption: Encryption not enabled
• Device sign-in security: Windows Hello PIN or biometric sign-in (face / fingerprint / Touch ID), Account password
• Security updates: Check for updates and Notify
• Update channels: Allow stable updates only
• User Account Control (UAC): Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer
• Smart App Control: Off
• Network firewall: Enabled
• Router and network details: TPLink Omada EAP650 and Ubiqom GPON.
• Custom security settings: None. Tweaked OS for minimal tracking
• Periodic malware scanners: EAM, WD Offline
• Malware sample testing: I do not participate in malware testing
• Environment for malware testing: N/A
• Secure DNS: Quad9 DNS, Google, CF
• Desktop VPN: None
• Password and passkey manager: Bitwarden, Bramble
• Two-factor authentication: None. All Stored on Phones
• Maintenance tools: Bleachbit, Wise Ultilities(Disk & Reg Cleaner), Hibit uninstaller
• Subscriptions: Google One Basic 100GB
• System recovery: Macrium Reflect, CloneApp
• Usage and exposure: Visiting familiar websites, Working from home, Making audio/video calls, Online shopping and card payments, Logging into my bank account, Downloading software and files from reputable sites, Downloading files from unknown or untrusted sources, Sharing and receiving files and torrents, Requesting and accepting remote access, Gaming, Gaming with third-party mods, Streaming audio/video content from trusted sites or paid subscriptions, Coding and development
• Computer specs: Vasudev's New Rig | MalwareTips
• Notable changes: OS patches October 2026
• Feedback preference: Only essential issues, please

Feedback on this setup is welcome.

 

[Vasudev]

Migrated from BW Free to Bramble due to high memory usage, slow vault loading on web and extension (intel quad-core, a Ryzen OCTA core, intel RPL DECA cores and Apple Silicon M4 DECA cores), big UI that is not even visible on my ancient Linux pentium dual laptop with 720p.
It felt like LP 4.x until I jumped to BW 1.x