Secure Your Online Life the Easy Way

There are add-ons, VPNs, and apps galore that offer a safer browsing experience-but the browser you use, and the sites you visit, offer plenty of strong but simple security tools, too. Here's the best of the no-hassle, no-install-required options you should be using now. More »

Encrypt your web browsing session (with an SSH SOCKS proxy)
You're at an open wireless hotspot, but you don't want to send your web browsing data over it in plain text. Or you want to visit a non-work-approved web page from the office computer without the IT team finding out.

How I'd Hack Your Weak Passwords
Internet standards expert, CEO of web company iFusion Labs, and blogger John Pozadzides knows a thing or two about password security-and he knows exactly how he'd hack the weak passwords you use all over the internet.

Choose (and remember) great passwords
A secure, memorable password is easy for you to remember, and hard for others to guess.

How to Ditch Big Brother and Disappear Forever
So you've decided you want to drop off the map and leave Big Brother behind. It's harder than ever in our always-connected world, but if you're ready to plan your big vanishing act, here are a few tips to get you started.

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How to Boost Your BitTorrent Speed and Privacy
BitTorrent's been around for a whopping ten years, but it continues to evolve and remains one of the best file-sharing tools available. If you really want to make your downloads soar-and keep Big Brother out of your business-this guide's for you.

How to Break into a Windows PC (And Prevent It from Happening to You)
Whether you've forgotten your password or you have a more malicious intent, it's actually extremely easy to break into a Windows computer without knowing the password. Here's how to do it, and how to prevent others from doing the same to you.

Shift Your Fingers One Key to the Right for Easy-to-Remember but Awesome Passwords
You're constantly told how easy it would be to hack your weak passwords, but complicated passwords just aren't something our brains get excited about memorizing. Reader calculusrunner offers a brilliant tip that turns weak passwords into something much, much better.

Five Ways to Download Torrents Anonymously
With anti-piracy outfits and dubious law-firms policing BitTorrent swarms at an increasing rate, many BitTorrent users are looking for ways to hide their identities from the outside world. Here's an overview of five widely used privacy services.

Top 10 Privacy Tweaks You Should Know About
With all the talk lately about Facebook's flawed privacy systems, it's a good time to consider what you're making available elsewhere on the web and on your system. These 10 settings tweaks and setups make your web life a little less public.

How to Crack a Wi-Fi Network's WEP Password with BackTrack
You already know that if you want to lock down your Wi-Fi network, you should opt for WPA encryption because WEP is easy to crack. But did you know how easy? Take a look.

Lessons I Learned When My Laptop Was Stolen
A month ago, developer Nikhil Kodilkar's laptop was stolen. He had a few security measures in place, but he also learned a lot from the experience. Here are a few of his more important takeaways.

Forums and Tips

Continue the conversation in our Open Thread forum, and if you've got a great tip, trick, hack, or app that you think would be a good fit on Lifehacker, send an email to tips@lifehacker.com, or submit it to our Tips page.