Example: What year did you graduate High School? (If it was 1992, use something like 1905). It wouldn’t be difficult for someone to do a bit of research online to gather the information needed to crack your accounts. You do not have to be exact. Just use something random.

I have also found that creating multiple e-mail accounts for different parts of your life is a good idea. Lets say you create one for financial and one for social. (Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter). Not allowing anyone to know the e-mail address you use for online Banking or other sensitive sites is extremely important.

I also recommend applications that store your user account information. One I have found that works well is Keepass (Free). It is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. Keepass creates a database that is encrypted and protected with a single password. (Use a secure password.) Using something like your pets name would be very foolish. Keepass generates a random password based on a predefined setting within the application. You can generate passwords as complex as you like. When using an application such as Keypass, It is an excellent idea to create random backups of the file. The one pitfall of an application that stores your passwords in a single file is the following. If you loose, delete or misplace the file. You will be lost. So please take the proper precautions. However this application can be installed or placed on a USB stick for potability. That is a definite plus.

Keepass for Windows – http://keepass.info/

Keepass for OS X – http://www.keepassx.org/

Keepass for Linux – Check your distros repository. In Ubuntu you search for Keepass in Add and Remove Applications.

Keepass in action – Hak5 Episode on Securing your passwords with Keepass – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7TtjOjtN_g&p=66F36D11CF83B9F4&playnext=1&index=8

This is just one angle on securing yourself online. Making sure your computer is protected from malware that is designed to steal private information is also important. You cannot protect yourself from every single threat out in the wild. But educating yourself is very important. Take the time to read everything you come across online or on your computer. Try not to randomly click on pop-ups and adverts. If you have issues with understand anything you happen to come across. Google is your friend! Search it online!

Other side notes:

Making sure your operating system is up to date.

Update your Anti-virus and Anti-malware software. Schedule regular scans on a weekly basis.

Keep track of the applications you install on your system. Write it down in a notebook.

Patch all 3rd Party Software. – The CNet Tech Tracker is an excellent (Free) application that keeps track of all software installed on your machine. It supports Windows and Mac OS X. It compares the version of software installed on your computer with the version listed in the CNet Database.

http://www.cnet.com/techtracker-free/

Hope this helps!

~wp