Its always difficult to know how seriously to take the security issue for a private individual. Companies are obvious targets for scumbags but its difficult to imagine someone targetting me or rooting through a lot of data harvested elsewhere to then try and raid my bank account. Why me rather than the other 60 million Brits? There is a difference between what can be done and what is likely to actually happen.

How real is the threat to private individuals doing internet banking and using common sense eg not clicking on links in emails etc. Maybe you could comment.

I use LastPass to store passwords. Its free but then if I were a computer fluent scumbag and I wanted to harvest peoples passwords I would offer free computer software to store passwords. Even if that isnt the case, and I have no reason to think it is the case with LastPass, all of a sudden all my passwords can be accessed if the scumbag manages to crack just one, the one for Last Pass.

I used to use a password protected spreadshhet to store passwords and the data inside was memory joggers rather than the passwords themselves. Inevitably the passwords had to be simpler. There are no memory joggers for what Last Pass invents, such as 1sKg9kLYzJHku79

I'd be interested in your comments on my approach.