Email addresses allow hackers to access personal information that can cause problems for individuals. Hackers are talented criminals that can obtain information from personal email accounts. There are a variety of ways to protect yourself from this type of access.

Following a few simple guidelines while online will help protect your email address from hackers.

1. Have an email address that is used for personal and business information and another email address that is used for signing up for newsletters or websites.
2. Never use the personal email address for purchasing online because the addresses from purchases are some times sold to other businesses.I found some more information here.
3. Never open an attachment that is sent to the email for public information. Email attachments can contain a virus, spy ware or malware that can access information on the computer used.
4. Create unusual passwords for your email consisting of letters, capital letters, numbers, and symbols. The more difficult the password is the harder it is for hackers to crack the accounts.
5. Do not use public WiFi locations to check your email. Unsecured WiFi connections can be monitored by individuals to access personal information.
6. Use caution when downloading anything to the computer. Some downloads can contain a trojan or virus to steal personal information.