Welcome to Gaia! ::

Alright, like stated before, some of these are my opinion.

Okay, getting hacked can be a horrible thing. Especially if you're online and watching it happen.

1. Let's stress this again.
Moderators will never ask you for your password. EVER.
So NEVER give out your password.

2. Pay attention to the links you're clicking on. Since Gaia has the ability to change the name of links they can take you to places the look exactly like Gaia or to viruses.
_____They can be checked at the bottom of the window ( The load bar [Image] )
_____Right click the link and choose "Properties" from the list. A window will open and it should tell you the address that the link takes you to.
_____Since Gaia takes you to a warning page by default (you can have that page disabled) it will tell you the actual link before you actually go to the page.

3. Clear your cache/cookies occasionally. Cookie Grabbers/Cache Busters can take any information in there.


Windows
Start Menu > Control Panel > Network and Internet Connections > Internet Options
Then a new window should come up looking kind of like this. In the Browsing History section click the Delete button.
Again, another window should pop up looking like this one.
I usually just click the "Delete all" button because it clears space on my computer as well.

Keep in mind, if you do clear everything or the Temporary Internet Files, then webpages you visit will be cleared and you will have to download those pages again.

Internet Explorer
Tools Tab > Internet Options > follow the last two steps in the Windows one.

Firefox
Tools Tab > Clear Private Data (Ctrl+Shift+Delete)
Afterwards this should come up in another window. (You can select "Cookies" too, but that's just the default selection in the picture) then finally click the "Clear Private Data Now" button.
Authenticated Sessions (Explained by CrimsonRainFalling):
Authenticated Sessions are just what they say. A "session" can be though of as a visit to a website, and authenticated of course, means recognized or logged in.
Essentially, Authenticated Sessions are why Firefox will keep you logged into a site (Until you log out or delete the authed session) if you log into it a single time.

4. Scan your computer. Viruses like keyloggers or other harmful things can get on your computer and steal your information. Adware, Spyware and other harmful things should be cleared too to keep your computer running well.
Here's a list of programs you can use for scans.
_____McAfee
_____Norton Anti Virus
_____AVG Virus Protection (The Free Edition can be found at Free.grisoft.com.) Be sure to click the Free one.
_____Adaware (An Adware/Spyware scanner) (Adaware for free can be found at lavasoftusa.com. Remember to click the Free download.)
_____Windows Defender (protects against spyware mostly. I believe it is only for Windows. More information as well as the download can be found here. Windows Defender at Microsoft.com)

There are others, those are just some that I've used.

Here is a topic with a list of others:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/computers-technology/t.10685641/

5. Have a secure password. Many hackings occur because someone's password isn't very secure. If you make your password too simple then your account could be hacked into.

Ilikemilkandcookies ............ This is NOT a very good password, it is much too simple.
1l1k3m1lk4ndc0ok13s ......... This one is better, but can still be rather simple to guess.
alkdfjalkfdiwehg3498udDtaieojq ......... This one is completely random. It's pretty secure as well. The longer could be the better though.

Random passwords like the one above are (from what I can tell) pretty secure. If you are afraid of losing the password or just don't want to memorize the whole thing, send it to your email address and save the email. If you're worried someone will look there for your password, then don't label it as a password and don't put your username in the email.
All you'll have to do is copy and paste the password each time you want to log in or use it. Remember to be careful when copying it. Sometimes you can accidentally select something you don't want.
Be careful if you make a random password (the third one). My friend put a special character in their password and couldn't log in.
Here's a site that can help you with checking how secure a password is:
[Microsoft.com : Password Checker]
"It does not store, transmit or do whatever else with what you enter." - Vegie

6. Keep a mule account. Mules can come in really handy when you think you're going to be hacked soon or when you want to keep a few items on another account to keep them safe. If you're not using a valuable item that you're afraid is going to be taken or you want to keep some old items that can be sold or gold or something that you can fall back on when you're hacked, then I suggest you put it on a mule.