In 2007 a pizza shop employee in Australia withdrew nearly $30,000 in one hour by using default passwords that allowed him to access the hard drives of certain ATMs. This could have been prevented if the bank and ATM vendor would have made sure that the default passwords on the machines were changed.

Two of the simplest security measures to protect your sensitive information are:

1. Change the passwords on devices that come with default passwords
2. Set up passwords on those that don’t have it turned on by default.

Good security is about having layers of protection. For example, if you are trying to protect your house, you might apply several layers of protection to better protect the house such as:

• installing deadbolt locks on the door
• installing a motion sensor alarm on all doors and windows
• hire an armed guard
• get a watchdog

You get the point. The more steps you take to protect your data, the less likely it is to be stolen or used inappropriately. Changing default passwords and adding passwords to unprotected devices adds layers of security to your data.

Let me give you some examples of where you can implement this advice.

Change the default password on your wireless routers

Anyone who sets up a wireless router from should change the administrative username and password, because a simple Internet search will quickly reveal a list of default passwords. Armed with this information, people can tamper with your equipment and spy on your Internet use. The pizza boy who stole money from the ATMs used default passwords he found in an ATM manual on the Internet. For goodness sake change the default passwords.

Set up a password on your desktop and laptop

People who don’t setup passwords on their personal computers usually say that they don’t want the inconvenience of logging in to use the computer. A small effort can go a long way, especially if your laptop ever gets stolen. Using a password alone may not necessarily prevent your data from being accessed (unless you are also employing disk and file level encryption), but its one additional barrier preventing people from accessing your data.

It’s also probably not a bad idea to turn on a screen saver password, so that when you walk away from your computer and a screen saver comes up, you need a password to resume your work. This prevents people from inappropriately accessing your computer while you go for a soda break. So turn on a screen saver password.

Put a Password on Your Cell Phone

Many modern cell phones give you the ability to put a PIN or passcode on your device. Although it may be inconvenient, you should use it. People can gain a lot of information about you from access your phone, especially if you have your email and other information accessible.

We’ll say it again. Good security is about using a layered approach, and using the two tips provided above will add layers of security to your digital life.