Sure it can be hard to keep a secret, but our computer passwords are secrets worth keeping.

When I used to audit companies back in the day, I was always surprised to see how many people kept their passwords posted at their desks or taped inside their top drawers or written on index cards that were tucked underneath their desk blotters.

I always thought these folks were playing with fire and I swore I would NEVER make that mistake. Still, in the last year, I’ve been the victim of cyber-crime not once, but twice.

First, imagine my surprise when I was showing my parents Zuburbia.com for the first time and discovered that every catalog page was displaying Google Ads! Some enterprising crook had somehow hacked in to my site and placed very unattractive Google ads on all the e-commerce pages so he could pocket pennies and dimes from the clickthroughs.

Then a few months ago my server company contacted me because I was exceeding my file capacity. A little investigation quickly revealed that all those files didn’t belong to me. They belonged to some other company who had hacked in and parked them on my server thinking I wouldn’t notice.

As you can imagine, I’ve since become much more savvy about my computer passwords.

Here are a few tricky tips I’ve implemented to create more secure passwords that you might also find helpful:

* Since you shouldn’t use personal information or easily obtained data for your passwords (like names of family members, pets, license plate numbers, etc.) try using a mnemonic itstead. The password Mhall is easy to remember since it’s the first letter of each word in the phrase Mary had a little lamb.

* To make your password even more secure, be sure to include a few capital letters so Mhall becomes MhAlL.

* Then, since this password is still too short for some sites, tack on a numerical extension or integrate numbers within the password itself. MhAlL could become 8MhAlL4 or MhAlL84.

* Since you should change your passwords frequently but NOT write them down, it’s helpful to use a consistent naming convention. For instance, next month I might change my password to FfOsRtS84 or 8FfOsRtS4 (for Fashion fades only style remains the same).

Of course, we don’t just need to protect our internet assets like unauthorized access to our Facebook pages or online checking accounts.

Remember I told you recently about my neighbors’ break-in on January 30?

Well they were dismayed to discover that the wedding ring that was stolen wouldn’t be covered by their insurance because it exceeded the $1,000 limit for jewelry on their Renters Policy.

Should you be the lucky recipient of a glitzy Valentine’s Day gift like today’s VPOD, a pair of gorgeous ruby and seed pearl dangle earrings from the 1970s, be sure to thank the gift-giver and then call your insurance agent pronto to make sure they’ll be protected from loss or theft.

These are just smart moves to protect the assets of Vintage Crusaders!

Available at Beladora.

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