Every day I get suspicious emails entreating me to click on hyperlinks to learn about the latest Caribbean vacation sites, or to settle a bill from a vendor in the UK, or other unsavory reasons. Interestingly the original email scam of wiring money to claim a large inheritance from a long lost relative in Nigeria has largely faded from view.  Now cybertheives have moved on to other forms of theft and the pace of the attacks appears to be accelerating.  There does not seem to be a single person in America that is immune from the risk, and most people I know have been attacked multiple times.

In an attempt to keep you armed with the most helpful information on this topic, I found this article which suggests that the days of the lazy password are not only over, but that each individual bears responsibility if their online accounts are hacked due to weak passwords.  I’d be interested to know how you have increased your own security and what prompted the behavior change.  I hope you found this quick read as useful as I did.

— Walt Mozdzer, CFP®, CAP®