by Kirsty O'Lone

Created on: May 10, 2011   Last Updated: August 11, 2011

There is really no fool proof way to prevent your online accounts from being hacked, but there are things that you can do to minimise your risk. Many of these things are not complicated to do at all and should not take up too much of your time, it is well worth spending a little time doing these things to minimise your risk of hacking and give you some piece of mind.

You should always make sure that you have good anti virus software, and that it is kept up to date. If your computer gets infected with certain types of virus then the person who infected your computer may be able to access your information. People who use these tactics are often looking for information such as online banking details or passwords for things such as paypal so that they can gain access to your finances.

The same goes for spyware, always make sure that you have anti spy ware software and run scans regularly. Once spyware is on your computer your files are no longer safe as someone could have access to them. The information on your computer can be worth a lot to a hacker, especially things like online banking details or credit card numbers, which in some cases are collected and sold on to other criminals.

Another very important thing to protect is your passwords, having a password that is easy to guess is really saving the hackers from actually having to hack your computer as they can simply guess your password and gain access to your information. A good strong password is made up of both letters and numbers and should not be something anyone else would know, for example don’t use your middle name and date of birth as this is information that other people could already know, or easily find out if they really wanted to.

You should never write your password down, but if you really have to then disguise it in some way. Perhaps the first letter of each word in a sentence makes up your password or a line in your address book with a number attached. You should also never use the same password for multiple accounts, think about it, if all your accounts have the same password then all a hacker has to do is get the password to your email and he or she has access to all your online accounts, including your online banking or ebay accounts.

If you are giving out personal information and in particular buying something online with your credit or debit card, make sure the site you are on is secure and trusted. Look at the address bar, just before www on a secure site you should

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>