A strong password is never a guarantee that your information online will not be compromised. In this wired (and wireless) age of communications, you give up your right to privacy in the public domain (the internet). Being lazy will cost you. Being dumb will cost you. Here is how to not be so dumb with your internet security:
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1) Adequate virus protection. I hate Symantec and McAfee: they are memory hogs and rarely catch viruses or malware. AVG free anti-virus and Spybot Search and Destroy are my personal freeware saviors. They are free, and they work. SS&D has never "not" found a problem when I knew there was one. Windows Firewall always stays on on my machine. Scan regularly for trojans, and especially keyloggers. If you find a keylogger, contact your financial institution immediately and put a watch on your account.
2) Do not go to unsafe websites. Learn how to proxy if you must go to the shady parts of the internet.
3) Use a strong password. They tell you "letters, upper case, lower case, and a number". If you want to be fort knox about your security, keep a list of passwords (physically). NEVER use the computer to type them out. Write them down, and secure this list. Keep it away from those that have no need to see. Go to Random.Org. Go to the tab for >Lists and More then select >Passwords. Generate as many as you would like, and keep them between 8-10 characters. You can also use the String generator.
4) Here is how to really piss off hackers (well, make their day harder). Every few months, rotate your passwords. All of them. Do not use the same login name for one site on another, and never use the same password on two different sites. On your list, assign a "tier 1", "tier 2" etc to different sites. The tier number is not important.
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It seems like a lot of work, but it will be more work for them than it will be for you. After a while, you will get used to your new passwords if you log in frequently.
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