Poker Security

One of the most important fundamentals of playing poker online is having a secure computer and poker account. We have all heard the horror stories of peoples' accounts being hacked and vast sums of money being stolen, but the fact of the matter is that if you are smart about the security and protection of your computer your poker account will be almost impossible to get hacked. You would be surprised by even high stakes players' lack of computer security considering the vast amount of money they keep online.

There are several key points to keeping your computer and poker money safe:

1. Make sure you have up to date anti-virus and anti-malware software on your computer that scans your entire computer on at least a weekly basis.

2. Create a separate email account for your poker account. Do not use an e-mail that people know! And be sure to use a security question on this e-mail that no one would know the answer to.

3. Use a separate password for your poker account. Create a random password with alternating numbers and letters that does not use any information about yourself (i.e.: birthday, pet name, etc.) Be sure to change your poker account password every month or so.

4. Use an RSA token whenever possible. If the site you play on offers one, GET ONE!

5. Do not download and run files off the internet if you are not 100% sure that they are legitimate. Trusted friends may link you to a site or funny video, but there's a chance that your friends instant messaging account was hacked and you're next in line.

6. Depending on your level of play and how much money you keep online, it is always a good idea to use a separate computer solely for poker. YES, JUST FOR POKER! Use a different computer to browse the web, use instant messaging services and generally any internet activity.

7. Never log in to a public wi-fi network to play poker. This goes for all hotels and casinos; their wi-fi networks aren't the securest of places to play online. If you plan on playing poker while you are traveling, buy an air card. These are great for using the internet on the go and are also great for a backup source of internet if you catch a wi-fi hotspot.

8. Keep your wireless network as secure as possible. Use a random hard to guess password for the security key. You can choose to not broadcast the network and only allow certain computers access to the network (for this I recommend doing some research on the subject, or hiring a professional to secure it for you).

9. Make sure your computer is password protected. Do not let people use your computer unsupervised. This seems a little drastic, but when there's large amounts of money involved, even trusted friends might turn against you and install a virus or key logger to get at your account.

If you follow these instructions your computer and poker account will be virtually impenetrable. You should also use these tactics for any other accounts you may have that contain funds or sensitive information you wish to keep private.

This article was written by Charlie Ivey and published courtesy of http://www.pokertrainingnetwork.com. For more information about a proven success system that delivers immediate results go to http://secureyourfutureforever.com/.