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Your accounts · Law 8
Lock down the Big Four
Four accounts can really hurt you if they're broken into. Give each one a strong password and two-factor — then the one extra step that matters most.
Email — the crown jewel
Everything else can be reset through your email, so it comes first and gets your strongest password plus two-factor. This is the master key to your online life — guard it hardest.
ScreenshotAn email account's Security pageYour bank
Strong password and two-factor, then turn on transaction alerts by text or email so you're told the instant money moves. Catching a strange charge early turns a disaster into a quick phone call.
ScreenshotA bank app's "Alerts" settingsYour main social account
Facebook, Instagram, and the like: strong password and two-factor, then a quick privacy check of what strangers can see about you.
ScreenshotFacebook's "Who can see your posts" set to FriendsYour phone carrier
The one people forget. Open your carrier's app or call them and add a PIN or passcode to your account. Here's why: if a crook talks your carrier into moving your number to their phone, your texted codes start going to them. A carrier PIN slams that door.
ScreenshotAdding an account PIN in a carrier app
Do these one at a time over a few days. You don't have to finish in one sitting — each one you handle leaves you safer than before.