It seems like I’ve been seeing more friends with hacked accounts this year. I had breach earlier this year myself. I’ve been thinking about security more these days. As more of our lives go online, techniques that used to be sufficient aren’t any more.

People like top 10 lists so here are 10 easy steps to improve your security, Even adding one will sure help. They don’t all have to be done, or done at the same time, I hope you’ll read and I hope these help:

1.    Secure your e-mail. This is key. Your e-mail is what you will use to re-set your passwords — and get alerts — so this needs to be secure. Do not use the same combination of username and password for your e-mail that you use for anything else. Choose a strong password.
2.    Know what makes a password strong. Make it as long as practically possible. Combine uppercase and lowercase letters. Use numbers and special characters. Make every password as strong as you can make it. Use a password generator when you can.
3.    Use a password generator. There are several options turned up in a Google search. I don’t know how secure they are. I’m sure there are reputable versions of standalone programs or apps. I’ll have to look for something. You can certainly get one included in a larger suite, such as a password manager.
4.    Get a password manager. It doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming to set-up and at least one major option is free. I got my start at this Lifehacker article “Five Best Password Managers” (May 2, 2010). They highlighted five programs — KeePass (Windows/Mac/Linux/Mobile, Free), Roboform (Windows, Basic: Free/Pro: $29.95), LastPass (Windows/Mac/Linux/Mobile, Basic: Free/Premium: $1/month), SplashID (Windows/Mac/Mobile, Desktop: $19.95/Mobile:$9.95), 1Password (Mac OS X/iPhone, Desktop: $39.95/iPhone:$14.95). KeePass is open source, which matters a lot to some folks. LastPass may have been hacked, which is not good, but might make them even more vigilant. The main point is, it’s important to have help, if you’re going to have a lot of unique username/password combinations.
5.    Have as many unique username/password combinations as you can. It’s this simple — any username and password combination that is used in more than one location is much less secure. And each time you re-use that combination, it gets worse. This mixes well with the previous tip, obviously, but you can easily start this one at any moment you’re online. Think of anyplace you use the same username/password combination. This info will be important to fix soon. But for now you can get by with changing the logins that are really important to you.
    6.    What log-ins are really important to you? This is key. Honestly, there are some websites that don’t have any significant information about you. If it’s of no importance, you can leave the others, once you’ve changed those important ones. E-mail, banking, work, and your key social networks should all receive unique, strong username/password combinations. You can make this even easier by remembering to also focus on your usernames.
7.    Usernames help create complexity. People frequently use the same username, or their e-mail address as an identifier on many sites. This makes your log-in more vulnerable. Your most important log-ins shouldn’t just have unique passwords — they should have unique usernames too. This may begin to sound like a lot but relax. You can always burn your passwords if needed.
8.    Burn your passwords. This is simple psychology. One simple reason that people re-use the same username/password combination is they’re scared they’ll forget their log-ins. But if it’s not one of your most important websites, and it’s not a site you use often enough to just remember it, just reset your password. They’ll send instructions to the e-mail address you’ve already secured! Just re-set it. Click on that convenient e-mail link….
9.    Never click on e-mail links! I know. I just said to do that. Sometimes you won’t be able to avoid it. But if it’s not a link you specifically expect, don’t click on it. E-mails are a common source of viruses and links can be part of highly sophisticated phishing attempts. Say you look at your e-mails and see a friend made a comment on your social network. If you click on that link it will probably take you to your genuine log-in, but you browser can take you as easily. In most browsers you use this fast shortcut — press the combination of “Control-T” (on Windows and Linux) or “Command-T” (on Mac) for a new browsing tab. Most modern browsers remember the addresses you visit. You can get to most of your regular site by typing a letter or two of the name in the browser’s address bar.
10.    Use your browser’s address bar. Depending on the size of your browser’s cache, it may store hundreds of addresses for websites you have already successfully visited, instead of clicking links, you can reach a lot of destinations without trusting a link you don’t know. Use bookmarks to keep even more destination happening, or visit the site’s main page through a trusted referrer or a search engine instead.