About
Phended is a cybersecurity project built for humans.
Most security advice is written by experts, for experts. We write for the parent who just got a weird text, the retiree who doesn't know who to trust, and the small-business owner who got handed the admin password by accident.
Phended started as a side project in Vancouver in 2024. A few people, a Substack, and a growing annoyance at how inaccessible cybersecurity writing had become. Every breach was a shouting match. Every piece of advice assumed you already knew what SPF, DKIM, and DMARC were. The people getting scammed weren't reading any of it.
So we started writing things our parents would actually finish. Short pieces with one takeaway each. Plain-language playbooks for the moment after something's gone wrong. A cybersecurity helper named Dave who doesn't make anyone feel silly for asking.
We're still small, still in beta, still adding courses and sharpening the ones already live. If anything here is confusing or wrong, email us. We read every message.
How We Work
Five principles.
- Plain language, always.
- If a nine-year-old or a ninety-year-old can't follow it, we rewrite it. Acronyms get defined once and then retired.
- Canada-first.
- We lead with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, PIPEDA, and CRA guidance. US-applicable context follows for readers south of the border.
- No fear-mongering.
- Cybersecurity marketing loves doom. We don't. You can't stay safe online from a place of panic.
- Short beats thorough.
- Lessons fit in a coffee break. Articles fit in a bus ride. Doing something small today beats reading fifteen pages and doing nothing.
- Free stays free.
- Everything on phended.com and dave.phended.com is free to read. Teams pay for team features, that's it.