I can't tell you enough how important email and online security is [1]! I've been a little obsessed with the recent Sarah Palin email hacking scandal, but have put off saying much about it — until now. The suspected hacker — a 20-year old University of Tennessee student, and son of state representative Mike Kernell — was seen in front of the Grand Jury on Tuesday, and was let go without an indictment [2]. Although there aren't many details as to what was or was not found, I suspect that the search for the real hacker continues.

Although hacking into anyone's personal account is a violation of the law and should be prosecuted accordingly, what really makes me uncomfortable is knowing how easy it was for the hacker to break into her account [3]! Just by guessing a few password reset questions and some research on Wikipedia, they were in. I've talked in length about protecting your log-ins [4], but it's only a few security questions that separate hackers from your personal email when a password reset has been requested. Be diligent in keeping those questions and passwords hard to guess [5], and you won't have to worry about your emails displayed on the web, or your identity being stolen!

Source [6]