Editor, Times-Union:
Just because you don’t want to do something doesn’t mean it’s impossible. For years I have written about possible ways to prevent computer hacking and nothing much has been done, it seems.
Creating a password that is as unbreakable as possible is a start. Also, people need to know who is logging in to a site. If you have information you don’t want most people to have, make sure of the identity of those who have access to the information. You would think that after decades of knowing the weaknesses of computer security that  hacking would be harder to do. If a person can’t get into a site after three tries, he should be kept out or diverted into a fake site that will seem authentic. If a hacker thanks he is gathering forbidden information, he should be fooled into thinking he has succeeded. The hacker might be led into dead ends or obtain electronic tags that he will take back to his electronic home that can be traced. Or if the hacker is considered a criminal, cyber enforcement agents should be able to trace the tags back to the hacker.
If a person suspects that he is being hacked, he could set some electronic traps that might infect the hacker’s computer with a virus or an access code that will allow the person being hacked to invade the hacker’s computer. Electronic junk might be programmed into the hacker’s computer when certain bait information is downloaded. A combination of words that are downloaded might be the trigger to bring in junk that will make the hacker wish he had never hacked into a site. The hacker might even be exposed publicly.
If a person is supposed to be a friend of someone who has secret information, they should be as open as possible and willing to prove they are allowed to have the information they want. They should be expected to answer security questions that the person with the information would know. It could be a question as simple as, “Where did you and your wife celebrate your 10th wedding anniversary?” Hackers might guess that there was a party. But the real person who should be allowed to know the information might say they had dinner at their favorite restaurant and afterward went to a movie.
I?don’t believe Russians hacking into our system of electing the president is a valid reason for Hillary using. She has herself to blame for losing. Any information the Russians might have hacked would have been taken because people weren’t willing to do what it took to prevent hacking. If you leave your doors unlocked at night, don’t complain when a burglar robs you. Russian hackers might be as real as the boogeyman. That is yet to be found out.

Rick Badman
Warsaw