Every day it seems we hear about another hack or security vulnerability, and theft of account and login information from various websites. While it’s impossible for end users to prevent these types of events, you can take some simple steps to enhance your security and reduce your risk when incidents occur.

The first step is one you’ve probably heard before: don’t reuse passwords. If your login information is compromised on one website or via one vendor, using the same password on other websites or services makes those accounts vulnerable as well. By using a unique password for every login, if one gets compromised it limits your risk to just that specific account.

Yes this is a pain, but the extra effort is worthwhile. How do you remember all this? For those who have few passwords, you can create a secure document (like a Word or Pages file) to store your information. For more complex situations and to sync passwords between devices, password management software is available.