By far the most common reason accounts get hacked is that they had easy to remember and simple - sometimes even trivial - passwords.
In other words, the accounts have easy to hack passwords. Passwords like a pet's name, a friend's name spelled backwards, a favorite movie catch phrase, a significant other's name (or "iheart" followed by that name), and so on.
Hackers are extremely resourceful at guessing and ferreting out those all-too-common password schemes. And sometimes it's not even the hackers that end up with your passwords.
Here are seven key steps to keeping an account from being hacked due to simple and common password theft.
1 - Pick A Good Password. "iHeartSue" is bad. "qicITcl}" is great! The problem's pretty obvious, though - if it's easy to remember, then it's probably a bad password. Instead, use a blended approach: never use full words or names; mix upper and lower case letters, use numbers. Use at least 8 characters. A password like "ILoveWindows" is bad, but a variation - "1luvwind00s" could be very good. "CorgiDog", not so good, but "Igroc7Pup" might be ok. Get creative, using a technique you can remember that no one else could possibly guess.
2 - Keep Your Password Safe. Tell no one. Even in a close and presumably trusting relationship - if anything ever happens consider the damage that the person could do knowing your password. Too many account theft scenarios begin with trusting someone just a little too much, and then having the relationship go bad. Your friends are your friends until one day they're not. Especially if someone is pressuring you or if there's the least little bit of doubt, don't share your password.
3 - Use a "Secret Answer." Most systems use the answer to a "secret question" as a way to recover or reset a password. Unfortunately many people choose answers that anyone can guess, or easily research on the internet. Answers like where you were born or your pet's name are frequently easy to find out with a little searching. The good news is that your secret answer doesn't actually have to make sense. Pick something unrelated or bizarre instead; choose answers like "Pickle" as your city of birth, "Confusion" as your mother's maiden name, or perhaps "Flat Tire" as your favorite pet. As long as you can remember, it doesn't matter.
4 - Maintain That Alternate Email Address. An "alternate email address" is used by many mail accounts as a place to send you a password reminder or reset. Be sure to set up an account on a different email system for your alternate email address (any other free email system will do), and then use that address as your alternate everywhere else. Of course, keep the alternate account active so as not to lose it, since without it you may be out of luck.
5 - Remember. Remembering sounds easy, but like we said earlier: if it's easy to remember, then it's probably a bad password. And yet remembering and being difficult to guess are both critical. You must remember your password, failing that your secret answer, and failing that your alternate email account. Forget or lose them all, and you're severely out of luck. If written down, be sure to keep it all in a secure place - not something like the almost cliche scenario of finding poorly hidden sticky notes containing passwords near your computer. It might be safe to keep something in your wallet, since you already treat that as secure. An encrypted file or password container on your computer might be another option.
6 - Don't Get Taken. There are shady services that will claim to be able to retrieve your passwords and account access. Many are simply scams to take advantage of you when you are vulnerable and only take your money or login information for another account that they can then breech. The only place trustworthy enough for password and account recovery help is the service you've lost access to itself. If they can't help, then neither can a reputable third party.
7 - Learn From Your Mistakes. Finally, if you now know that you have a weak password, if you've told it to someone you shouldn't have, or if you've not set up that secret question or alternate account, fix it. Now. Change your password to something stronger, set up the alternate recovery methods, and keep your information private. If you've been hacked and you don't have any of that set up, you're very likely out of luck. Make sure to take more secure care of your account password and information with your next one.
Get more free tech help and advice from Leo Notenboom by visiting http://ask-leo.com With over 30 years of industry experience, including an 18 year career as a software engineer with Microsoft, Leo gives real answers to real questions from ordinary computer users at Ask Leo! Subscribe to Leo's weekly newsletter now and receive a free ebook: "Internet Safety - Keeping Your Computer Safe on the Internet", a collection of steps, tools and concepts you need to know to keep your computer and your information safe.
Comments on 7 Simple Steps to Keeping Your Account From Being Hacked
Hi Mike, i just wanted to say thank you so much for all your help,im sorry i am so slow at trying to do all this stuff just has been very busy lately with my physical thy and dr apts,but that is ok because i know one day all this hard work i am doing to get my shoulder will pay off and hopefully my shoulder will get strenght in it again- its very painful but the dr never said it would be easy especially since this is the 3rd time they have cut my shoulder open.ok now that you know what i do every day.i do have a real question i keep getting messages from myspace on my blackberry but the messages are drug messages i contacted Sprint over a week ago when started getting them,they put me on hold and came back and told me that someone has opened a account on myspace under on account using my gmail-they -Sprint told me not to open them which i have not.my myspace account is all through my "old yahoo email kimwilliamsm@yahoo"old email i do not want my old yahoo email to connect to my new one because my old email on yahoo was first account hacked into then it was my gmail,google,myspace,twitter,everything has been compromised except this new email im using now on my lap top,which i have not went to any social sites on lap top.also i use to have a hotmail account -chicago kim was my user name but i dont even know how to find that account to close it so if you stumble upon it please let me know so i can delete it,it is not been used by me in year or 2.My old yahoo account i need a couple email addresses from it then i need to delete it on it i have several people that kept connecting to me and i would delete them but they always showed back up-i dont know any of them i tried reporting them to yahoo before but i was never able to get anyone from yahoo to get help on my account so i just have not been on actual site for over a year.I only see emails from old yahoo address that is still hooked to my blackberry.I have to go to Sprint in next few days and get new phone and at that time my new phone will not be connected to any of my old email addresses-what i have to do is manually add whatever i want from my old (presently using)blackberry and put it into my new phone.If we just transfer the info from old to new then i will just do a circle like i have done 8times now with new blackberrys so that is why i have to do it manually and then after i get all info i need from old phone and old email addresses then i will be able to delete all my old email at that time.If u know of better way please let me know.Also reguarding myspace is there any way u would be able to do a security check or something like that on my contacts and get rid of the ones that dont look right to you? i dont want to delete my myspace so that is why i am wandering if we can clean my contacts and then i will set my page to private.i have guys on there that i have no clue where they r coming from its seems like a dating service 'which i have not put my self on a dating service"i got into a arguement with one guy who keep showing up on my y messenger 'asking all kinds of sick questions,which finally after days of getting these messages i finally clicked and asked him where did he find me on the internet? that i was married and not on a dating service -he came back and said ya you r probley a virgin to!then 'stupid me"came back with all i asked was a question because i would like to clear up what ever is out there that keeps making guys send me messages like that but needless to say the guy wouldnt say anything else.i reported it to sprint and they told me never answer anything like again that, that is how they are able to get into my computer more etc &SAFETY so i have never clicked on any of that stuff i get now.I have alot more questions on how to do things and on if i am able to get help cleaning my contacts i can even go through and tell u ones i want to keep for sure and then if u would b able to help me get rid of the ones i dont know or ones i dont want but im not able to get rid of them completely (they just keep popping up)i have asked tom from myspace for help since last feb when all my accounts got compromised but he has been no help to me i send him messages asking for help and i get them back!!!!so if u could help me i will pay you mike i dont care i just want a safe computer etc that i can use and finally be able to feel secure on it after i am able to get rid of all the people who is hacking into my things.I do have the email address hat sprint found in my blackberry,dont know if that will help or not.Well mike i have to go now i have to check couple emails before i shut down for day,have to go to Linconshire (home away from home) my phy thy.ps i will b trying to go through my gmail account 2day from my blackberry -not until later but just letting u know if u see someone in my gmail and deleting people from it it is me-same with twitter im not sure how 2straighten it out because it shows half the people following me do not show up under followers.So i guess with twitter i will write down the names of who i want and then contact you or what?My gmail is really hacked into bad need help on getting it straight so i dont do anything wrong.On my gmail and twitter account i should have same pic (wearing pink shirt).Ok once again i will say bye sorry i just have so much i want to get done so i can use lap top,new computer and new phone but i have to clean out or delete all old sites before i can hook new computer or new phone,thank you mike i hope you are able 2help me. Take Care and God Bless Kim
For step 2, I would highly recommend a password manager such as the open source KeePass Password Safe.
Kimberly, I hope you were able to get your email & social networking accounts straightened out and back in your hands. Keep your antivirus up to date, use a firewall (like Comodo), use strong passwords (and a different one for each site so that if one is compromised, all of your online accounts aren't open and vulnerable at the same time), use a good browser (Firefox, Chrome, Opera), use discernment in what you click online and what you download and install.