Online identity theft happens to thousands of innocent people every day - You would be surprised how easy it can be for a hacker to crack your password.  This could allow someone to access your computer when you’re not around, or to get into online accounts that store personal and financial information.  Even if it’s just your Facebook being hacked, the resulting pain can be high.

It’s important when creating passwords not to create the obvious, like your name or a family member’s name.  A person with the smallest amount of knowledge about your family can make that connection and try different versions until they get in to your account.  It’s also important to use different passwords for each login so that the identity thief cannot simply find one password and then use it across multiple accounts.  Do not use common patterns that are easy to type (where the keys are all next to each other) or simplistic number patters (i.e. 12345), and surely do not use your account numbers.

Here’s a helpful lesson about picking passwords to keep your identity safe: http://bit.ly/hslGci